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l 1 


INTERNATIONAL 
REFERENCE WORK 


A Library of 

HISTORY, GEOGRAPHY, BIOGRAPHY, BIOLOGY, LITERATURE, 
ECONOMICS, CIVICS, ARTS, SCIENCES, DISCOVERIES, 
EXPLORATIONS, INVENTIONS, COMMERCE, ETC. 


Cyclopaedia of General and 
Authoritative Information 


Prepared by Over 100 Leading- 
Educators of the World 


VOLUME I 

i 


CHICAGO - BOONE REGINA SEATTLE 

The Holst Publishing Company 

1923 







INTERNATIONAL 
REFERENCE WORK 


At? 

\ <\ 'Zjt 


Editor in Chief 
BERNHART P. HOLST 

Editor “The New Teachers’ and Pupils’ Cyclopaedia,” “Home and School Methods,” 
and “Practical American EncyclopaediaInstitute Lecturer and Instructor; 
Author of “Poems of Friendship;” Traveler, Translator, and 
Interpreter; Superintendent of Schools, Iowa 


Associate Editors 
HILL M. BELL 

Educator, Ex-President Drake University 

RURIC NEVAL ROARK 

Economic Writer, Former President Kentucky 
State Normal School 


Assisted by over one hundred Leading Scientists, Artists, Educators, Statesmen, and 

Public Thinkers of the United States and Canada 


Copyright 1909, 1913, 1916, 1918 and 1923 
THE HOLST PUBLISHING COMPANY 


APR 16'23 


© Cl A 7 0 5 2 'J 0 

'Vo I 







to 

r\ 


PREFACE 


HIS work of reference is given to the public as the result of many years of 
labor and application of energy. Men and women of recognized ability, 
especially those engaged in educational work, have been freely consulted in 
gathering the material and in putting it together for easy, convenient, and 
useful reference. The product of this research is not the accumulated 
knowledge of one individual, nor even of one class of critics and investiga¬ 
tors, but it represents the fund which has been gathered by the diligent 
research of many. 

A work of general reference, such as this publication, has a place in the homes and 
schools wherever facts of human experience are of utility. This has been recognized in 
accumulating the material and arranging the subject-matter, making the volumes that constb 
tute the set of books both convenient for use and of utility in finding the desired information. 

The value of a work of this kind depends to a large extent upon the accuracy of the 
information which it contains. Therefore, to secure reliable information and place it in the 
most convenient form have been important objects of the editors, and to which they gave 
their undeviating attention. 

To obtain the newer information, a large amount of correspondence was necessary. 
Letters were written by the correspondence department to all the civilized countries of the 
world, and the responses obtained in this way furnished a large part of the material to build 
up the departments that involve the newer and more progressive ideas of the world in politics, 
commerce, and other civilized arts. In addition, men and institutions were invited to give 
freely their views of what a library of reference should contain. The former brought to¬ 
gether the more vital facts, while the latter enabled the editors to arrange and classify them in 
the most helpful manner. 

Students, both at home and in the school, are frequently in need of help in the spelling 
and pronunciation of names and other words. This work is an ideal aid from this stand¬ 
point, since all but the simplest titles are divided into syllables and the vowels are marked 
diacritically. This wholesome feature has been universally commended by professors in 
colleges and teachers in all classes of schools. 

The possession of a modern encyclopaedic work of reference enables the student to 
make his own hours of study. He may become his own teacher, at least to a large extent, 
and by diligent search find the information which makes self-reliance a reality. 

No labor and expense have been spared to make the volumes a real help to the students 
in all the departments of educational work. The pupils in the grades will find a vast fund 
of information to supplement the courses of study. Indeed, to secure such a help as they 
require has been the direct aim of many teachers and school superintendents who contributed 
to make the work of special value along this line. 















PREFACE 

The maps are the newest and are richly colored so as to convey the best possible idea 
of contour and outline. Many fine colored plates have been embodied in the work, giving 
accurate ideas of the form and color in nature, especially of such objects as shells, gems, 
minerals, flowers, and birds. The physiological manikins are recognized to be the best that 
were ever produced, showing lifelike colors and the relative size of the organs. These fine 
works of art, supplemented by concise and clear descriptive matter, are invaluable in research 
work. 

The type is clear and readable. A system of cross reference enables those consulting 
the articles to obtain the benefits that would be found in a much larger work. Reference is 
made both by the Latin term quo vide (q. v.) and by distinct indication of certain titles or 
sub-heads. 

While many American and British works were consulted, special mention may be made 
of the Century Dictionary , the Standard Dictionary , the TVebster's International Dictionary , 
and the Encyclopaedia ‘Britannica. Credit is likewise due to Spamer’s Konversation Lexikon t 
Brockhaus’ •Konversation Lexikon, and Muret’s Encyclopedic. 

Hundreds of letters were written by the publishers to prominent educators, including 
college professors and county, city, and state superintendents. The purpose was to obtain a 
consensus of views regarding what are generally considered essential elements of a modern 
reference work. The responses were carefully studied in connection with the representative 
school courses of study. In addition, a large number of prominent educators and others 
contributed articles relative to important topics, including educational themes, cities, states, 
and institutions. To these the editors are greatly indebted for valuable assistance. 

To sum up the objects of the editors, it may be said that the aim was to prepare a 
work which, while comprehensive and complete within its scope, would be adequate to the 
demands and prove, like the dictionary, a requisite in every library and on the desk of every 
home and school. Such a work, it would seem, should commend itself to all who cooper¬ 
ate in promoting the greatest aims of the human race—the conservation of knowledge and 
the proper education of the rising generation. 

B. P. H. 


/ 


iL. 


EDITORS AND CONTRIBUTORS 


Editor in Chief 
BERNHART P. HOEST 

Teacher, Institute Instructor and Superintendent of Schools, Iowa 


Associate Editor 
HILE M. BEEE 

Ex-President Drake University, Des Moines, Iowa 


PARTIAE LIST OF CONTRIBUTORS AND ASSISTANTS 


William A. Mowry, 

Author of History of the United States and 
Writer of School Text-Books, Boston, 
Mass. 

Maurice Hutton, 

Principal of University College, Toronto, 
Ont. 

Bertram Paul Holst, 

Graduate Drake University; Graduate Uni¬ 
versity of Chicago. 

David B. Barrows, 

Director of Education, Philippine Islands, 
Manila, P. I. 

Howard A. Gass, 

State Superintendent of Public Instruction, 
Missouri. 

D. M. Mackenzie, 

Deputy Minister of Education, Alberta. 

J. M. Greenwood, 

Former City Superintendent of Schools, 
Kansas City, Mo. 

O. E. Mathieu, D. D., 

Archbishop Diocese of Regina, Sask. 

J. W. Olsen, 

Former State Superintendent of Public In¬ 
struction, Minnesota. 


J. Y. Joyner, 

State Superintendent of Schools, North Caro¬ 
lina. 

J. R. Inch, 

Chief Superintendent of Education, New 
Brunswick. 

J. H. Herron, 

Captain Second Cavalry, United States Mili¬ 
tary Academy, West Point, N. Y. 

J. J. Doyne, 

Ex-State Superintendent of Public Instruc¬ 
tion, Arkansas. 

A. H. MacKay, 

Superintendent of Education, Nova Scotia. 

H. M. MacCracken, 

President New York University, New York. 

J. L. McBrien, 

Former Superintendent of Public Instruc¬ 
tion, Nebraska. 

J. L. Nicholson, 

Registrar of McGill University, Montreal, 
Que. 

George H. Martin, 

Secretary State Board of Education, Massa¬ 
chusetts. 





EDITORS AND CONTRIBUTORS 


Nathan C. Schaeffer, 

Former State Superintendent of Public 
Schools, Pennsylvania. 

E. N. Henderson, 

Professor at Adelphi College, Brooklyn, N. Y. 
Edward Hyatt, 

State Superintendent of Public Instruction, 
California. 

Chas. W. Needham, 

President of George Washington University, 
Washington, D. C. 

Katherine L. Craig, 

Former State Superintendent of Schools, 
Colorado. 

L. L. Wright, 

State Superintendent of Schools, Michigan. 

H. C. Morrison, 

State Superintendent of Schools, New Hamp¬ 
shire. 

Mary E. Woolley, 

President Mount Holyoke College, South 
Hadley, Mass. 

Arthur J. Jones, 

State Commissioner of Schools, Rhode Island. 
Marshall S. Snow, 

Dean of Washington University, Saint Louis, 
Mo. 

S. Bell Chamberlain, 

State Superintendent of Schools, Idaho. 

Orvis Ring, 

State Superintendent of Schools, Nevada. 
Isaac M. Cox, 

Secretary of the Department of Public In¬ 
struction, Hawaiian Islands. 

Isabel Maddison, 

Assistant to the President of Bryn Mawr 
College, Bryn Mawr, Pa. 

John A. W. Haas, 

President Muhlenberg College, Allentown, Pa. 


E. J. Taylor, 

Deputy State Superintendent of Public In¬ 
struction, North Dakota. 

A. O. Thomas, 

State Superintendent of Public Instruction, 
Nebraska. 

B. F. Kizer, 

Teacher of English in the Manual Training 
High School, Kansas City, Mo. 

G. R. Glenn, 

President of the North Georgia Agricultural 
College, Dahlonega, Ga. 

Geo. T. Little, 

Librarian of Bowdoin College, Brunswick, 
Me. 

G. A. Clark, 

Secretary of Leland Stanford Junior Univer¬ 
sity, Stanford University, Cal. 

H. M. Martin, 

Principal of the Morse School, Kansas City, 
Mo. 

T. R. Ball, 

Registrar Johns Hopkins University, Balti¬ 
more, Md. 

Chas. F. Roland, 

Industrial Commissioner, Winnipeg, Man. 

Francis M. Austin, 

Librarian Illinois Wesleyan University, 

Bloomington, Ill. 

. „ ' \ 

Dean C. Mathews, 

Executive Secretary of Western Reserve 
University, Cleveland, Ohio. 

Joseph H. Hill, 

President of the Kansas State Normal 
School, Emporia, Kan. 

Jos. E. Thompson, 

Commissioner of Industries and Publicity, 
Toronto, Ont. 

J. L. Lyon, 

Superintendent of Schools and Institute In¬ 
structor, Iowa. 


KEY TO PRONUNCIATION 


VOWELS 

a (short), as in hat, cat. 
a (long), as in ale, hate. 
a (Italian), as in car, mar. 
a (short Italian), as in fast, class. 
a (broad), as in all, fall. 
a (circumflex), as in care, snare. 
a (short obscure), as in final, spinal. 
a (long obscure), as in surface. 
a = 6, as in was, what. 

ae = e, as in Caesar (sounded as though they 
were e alone). 

e (short), as in net, met. 
e (long), as in me, eve. 
e (circumflex = a), as in there. 
e (tilde), as in her. 
e (short obscure), as in patent. 
e (long obscure), as in delay, 
e — i, as in pretty. 

1 (short), as in hit, hit. 
i (long), as in kite, mite. 

(tilde), as in sir. 

. I 

i (long obscure), as in idea. 


6 (short), as in pop, hop. 
o (long), as in cone, hone. 

6 (circumflex = a), as in for. 

6 (long obscure), as in hero. 
do (short), as in hook, brook. 
oo (long), as in moon, spoon. 
o — u, as in word. 
p = do, as in who. 
o = oo, as in wolf. 

6 — u, as in son. 

u (short), as in rut, cut. 
u (long), as in muse, fuse. 
u (circumflex), as in turn, urn. 
u (long obscure), as in unite. 

w is a vowel only after a vowel, when it forms 
the second element of certain diphthongs, as 
in few, how. 

y (short) — l, as in hymn. 
y (long) — I, as in by, cry. 

CONSONANTS 

* 

c (hard) = k, as in cat, cape. 
g (cedilla) = s, as in cell, fagade. 
g (hard), as in dog, gave. 
g (soft), as in gem, gentle . 


k for the German ch, as in ich, Bach (bak). 
u for the German ii, as in Blucher, Grunherg. 

6 for the German o, as in Gottingen, Gorgey. 
n for the French n, as in bon, Breton (bra-ton'). 








A, the first letter in the alphabet of all Indo- 
European languages. In many modern tongues 
it has but one sound, that equivalent to a in 
father. In English this symbol represents nine 
distinct sounds, as in fate , senate, fare, mat, arm, 
ask, final, all, and what; besides variations when 
used in digraphs, as ea in 'meat, oa in float. The 
letter a is used as a mark or symbol on account 
of its place at the beginning of the alphabet. In 
music it stands as the sixth note in the diatonic 
scale of C major; in logic it represents a univer¬ 
sal affirmation; while in algebra it is used with 
other letters to denote known quantities. 

AA, the name of about forty small rivers in 
Central and Northern Europe derived from the 
Celtic Ach, or Teutonic A a, meaning flowing 
water. Among the most important of them are 
the following: I. A river of Holland, in North 
Brabant, which, passing Helmond, joins the 
Dommel at Bois-le-Duc. II. A river in Gronin¬ 
gen, called Westerwolden Aa, which falls into 
the Dollart. III. A river in Overyssel, which, 
after uniting its waters with the Vecht, flows 
into the Zuyder Zee. IV. A river of Belgium, 
in the province of Antwerp, which flows into the 
Neethe. 

AACHEN (a'ken). See Aix-la-Chapelle. 

Al, a symbol used in Lloyd’s “Register of 
British and Foreign Shipping” to designate ves¬ 
sels for the guidance of shippers and insurers. 
A designates the hull of the ship, and the figure 
1 the efficiency of her stores, cables, and anchors. 
When these are insufficient for any reason, the 
figure 2 is united with a, and in like manner 
other figures and letters are used to constitute a 
complete nautical language. 

AALBORG (al'bork), a seaport and city of 
Denmark, province of Jutland, situated on the 
south shore of the Lymfiord, near its outlet into 
the Cattegat. It has a school of navigation, a 
large herring fishery, and manufactures of 
clothing and machinery. Direct communication 
is maintained by steam and packet boats with 
Copenhagen. The city library has 81.000 vol¬ 
umes. Population, 1906, 31,509; in 1921, 41,613. 

AALI PASHA (a'lee pa-sha'), Mehemed 
Emin, eminent statesman, born in Constanti¬ 
nople, Turkey, in 1815; died there Sept. 7, 1871. 
He was the son of a high priest, entered official 


service at an early age. and was secretary of 
legation in Turkey in 1834-36. In 1838 he was 
made secretary of legation in London, and was 
ambassador there in 1841-44. He was made 
pasha in 1846, and grand vizier in 1852, and be¬ 
came closely identified with the reforms of the 
sultans of the Ottoman Empire. In 1856 he 
represented the Porte at the Congress of Paris, 
and, after conducting the cause of Turkey with 
rare diplomacy and skill, signed the peace treaty 
that ended the Crimean War and settled the 
Rumanian question. In 1867 the sultan made a 
tour of Europe and Western Asia, and during 
his absence Aali Pasha was regent. Subsequently 
he suppressed the Cretan Rebellion, and also 
took effective measures in suppressing an upris¬ 
ing in Egypt. He is noted among the most emi¬ 
nent and efficient diplomats of Turkey in the 
last century. 

AAR or Aare (ar),a noted river in Switzer¬ 
land, next to the Rhine and Rhone the largest 
stream in that country. It contains the Falls of 
Handeck, 200 feet high, and joins the Rhine at 
Coblentz after a course of 200 miles. From Lake 
Thun it is navigable for small craft. 

AARD-VARK (ard'vark), a burrowing and 
insectivorous mammal common to large parts of 
Africa. Three species are known, one each in 
Senegal, Nubia, and South Africa. These ani¬ 
mals have affinities with the ant-eaters and arma- 



AARD-WOLF. 


dillos, and are timid and harmless. Both natives 
and Europeans regard the flesh of value as food. 
The hams, salted and dried, are especially 
favored for eating in the summer season. 

AARD-WOLF (ard'woolf), a carnivorous 
burrowing animal of South Africa. In size and 
























AARHUS 


2 


ABBOT 


habits it resembles the fox, and is allied to the 
African hyenas. It feeds on small mammals, 
white ants, and carrion. The aard-wolf is timid, 
spending most of the day in its burrow, but 
comes out at night in search of food. 

AARHUS (or'hoos), a city of Denmark, cap¬ 
ital of a district of the same name, 36 miles east 
of Viborg. It occupies a fine site on the Cattegat. 
The manufactures include clothing, earthenware, 
and ships. Electric and steam railways furnish 
communication with the leading cities of the 
country. It has a fine cathedral, several schools 
of higher learning, and a library of 200,000 vol¬ 
umes. Population, 1906, 55,193; in 1921, 74,256. 

AARON ( ar'on), the son of Amram, of the 
tribe of Levi, eldest brother of Moses, and first 
high priest of the Israelites. He was the spokes¬ 
man of Moses at the court of Pharaoh, and as¬ 
sisted in rescuing the Jewish people from Egyp¬ 
tian bondage. His death occurred on Mount Hor 
at the age of 123 years. He was succeeded in 
the office of high priest by Eleazar, his eldest son. 

ABACUS (ab'a-kus), a device used in kin¬ 
dergartens and primary schools to teach the ele¬ 
ments of numbers. It consists of a rectangular 

frame, in which 
parallel wires 
are fastened to 

contain count- 

\ 

ers or beads. In 
architecture, the 
abacus is a 
square or ob¬ 
long tablet on 
the crown of a 
column. In the 
new Ionic, Gor¬ 
in t h i a n, and 
Roman styles 
the abacus has 
truncated a n - 
abacus. gles and con- 

cave sides, 

while in the old Ionic, Doric, and Tuscan styles 
it is oblong. 

ABAD (a-bad') I., first Moorish king of Sev¬ 
ille, died in 1042. His father, Ismael ben Abad, 
came from Emesa in Syria. Having gained the 
confidence of the King of Cordova, he procured 
for himself the office of chief cadi of Seville, 
and, by his intrigues and the support of the 
sheiks and viziers during the dissensions of the 
Kingdom of Cordova, he was enabled to render 
himself independent in 1023. On the massacre 
of the Ommyiades, he assumed the supreme title 
of king, and to give force to his pretensions, he 
proclaimed himself the legatee of Hashim al 
Mowaiad, the last of the Ommyiades, and by 
this means secured the affection and allegiance 
of his new subjects, who clung to the memory of 
their old sovereigns. He was succeeded by 
Abad II., his son, who died in 1069. The Abadite 
dvnasty terminated with the son of the preceding, 
Abad III., in 1095. 


ABALONE (ab-a-lo'ne), the name of several 
species of marine gastropods common to Cali¬ 
fornia, and found more or less widely distributed 
throughout the warmer seas. The name abalone 
is of Spanish origin, in California, but these ani¬ 
mals are better known generally as ear-shells or 
sea-ears. They are allied with the limpets, and, 
like them, when frightened or at rest, withdraw 
the soft part under the shell, which is a broad 
spiral and has a richly colored mother-of-pearl, 
used in making buttons and ornaments. Large 
quantities are gathered by the Orientals on the 
coast of California for food, to be consumed lo¬ 
cally, and for shipment to China and Japan. 

ABATIS, or Abattis, in military strategy, a 
bulwark made of felled trees, in frequent use in 
rude mountain warfare. On emergency, the 
trees are laid lengthwise, with the branches 
pointed outwards to repel the invaders, while the 
trunks serve as a breastwork for the defendants. 

ABBEY (ab'bi), a monastery or society of 
persons of either sex, who seclude themselves 
from the world and lead a life devoted to relig¬ 
ion. The name abbey is also applied to the 
monastic building or buildings. Men located in 
these establishments are called monks, and are 
governed by an abbot; while the women are 
called nuns, and are governed by an abbess. 

ABBEY, Edwin Austin, artist, born in Phil, 
adelphia, Penn., April 1, 1852. At an early age 
he became fond of literature, especially of the 
study of poets and dramatists. After taking a 
course of instruction at the Pennsylvania Acad¬ 
emy of Fine Arts, he devoted himself to produc¬ 
ing book and magazine illustrations and in 1883 
removed to London. He was a member of the 
New York Water-Color Society and similar or¬ 
ganizations in England, and in 1898 was chosen a 
member of the Royal Academy in London. His 
work in pastel is noted for excellent coloring, 
and he takes rank as one of the most successful 
painters of his time. Among his best-known 
works are “Search for the Holy Grail,” “Rose 
in October,” “Lady Anne,” and “Richard, Duke 
of Gloucester.” He died Aug. 1, 1911. 

ABBOT (ab'but), a prelate in the Roman 
Catholic Church, who governs a principal con¬ 
vent or monastery of the old religious orders. 
An abbot is solemnly consecrated by a bishop, 
though this is regarded as a merely ecclesiasti¬ 
cal and not a sacramental rite. Abbots are al¬ 
lowed to use the mitre, pastoral cross, ring, and 
crozier, and to celebrate pontifical mass and are 
styled right reverend. Some of them, in former 
times, exercised a quasi-episcopal jurisdiction 
over a small district, and were allowed to con¬ 
fer tonsure and minor orders. During the Mid¬ 
dle Ages many abbots, especially in England, 
were powerful feudal barons. In modern times 
they are simply superiors of religious houses. In 
ecclesiastical councils an abbot has a delibera¬ 
tive but not a decisive voice. Superiors of con¬ 
vents in the Greek Church are called mandrites 
and general abbots are known as archimandrites- 

























ABBOT 


3 


ABBREVIATIONS 


ABBOT, Ezra, biblical scholar, born at 
Jackson, Maine, April 28, 1819; died March 21, 
1884. After attending Phillips Exeter Academy, 
he studied at Bowdoin College, where he grad¬ 
uated in 1840, and in 1856 was made assistant 
librarian at Harvard. In 1872 he became asso¬ 
ciated with the Cambridge Divinity School, as 
professor of New Testament criticism, and until 
his death he was active in that position. He be¬ 
came widely known as an exegetical and critical 
reviewer, and as a member of the American 
Committee assisted in the revision of the New 
Testament. He revised Schaff’s “Companion to 
the New Testament” and published “Literature 
of the Doctrine of the Future Life.” 

ABBOT, Henry Larcom, soldier and engi¬ 
neer, born in Beverly, Mass., Aug. 13, 1831. In 
1854 he graduated at the United States Military 
Academy, West Point, and served with distinc¬ 
tion in the corps of engineers until his retire¬ 
ment in 1895. He was employed on the hydro- 
graphic survey of the delta of the Mississippi, 
and in 1861 was military engineer and took part 
in the Battle of Bull Run, where he was wounded, 
and later commanded the siege artillery around 
Richmond. He was brevetted Brigadier-General 
of the United States army at the close of the 
war, and was in command of the garrison of 
engineers at Willetts Point, New York. While 
holding that position he developed the torpedo, 
and later designed and constructed submarine 
mines. In 1897 he was made a member of the 
Technical Committee of the Panama Canal Com¬ 
pany. Among his writings are “Siege Artillery 
in the Campaign against Richmond,” and with 
General A. A. Humphreys he wrote “Physics 
and Hydraulics of the Mississippi.” 

ABBOTSFORD, the country home of Sir 
Walter Scott, on the Tweed River, in Scotland, 
built in the Scottish baronial style of architec¬ 
ture. Scott spent large sums of money in adorn¬ 
ing the buildings and grounds, a circumstance 
that was the chief cause of his financial failure. 
The mansion passed to the only surviving daugh¬ 
ter of Scott, and was long used as a Roman 
Catholic seminary for girls. The Abbotsford 
Club was organized at Edinburgh for publishing 
literature and history connected with the writ¬ 
ings of Sir Walter Scott. This organization 
issued thirtv-four volumes in the vears 1835-64. 

ABBOTT (ab'but), Charles Conrad, author 
and naturalist, born in Trenton, N. J., June 4, 
1843. He graduated at the University of Penn¬ 
sylvania in 1865, and soon after made a large 
collection of archaeological specimens, many of 
which are in the Peabody Museum, where he 
was assistant in 1876-89. His writings deal 
largely with biological and archaeological sub¬ 
jects. They include “The Stone Age in New 
Jersey,” “A Naturalist’s Rambles about Home,” 
“The Freedom of the Fields,” “The Birds about 
Us,” “In Nature’s Realm,” and “Archaeological 
Explorations of the Valley of the Delaware.” 

ABBOTT, Jacob, author and educator, born 


at Hallowell, Maine, Nov. 14, 1803; died Oct. 31, 
1879. His reputation rests largely on his “Young 
Christian,” which went through many editions. 
Other publications include “Science for the 
Young,” “The Franconia Stories,” and “The 
Rollo Books.” 

ABBOTT, Sir John Joseph Caldwell, 

statesman, born at St. Andrews, Quebec, Mar. 
12, 1821; died Oct. 30, 1893. He studied at 
McGill University, and was called to the bar 
in 1847. In 1867 he was chosen a member of 
the Dominion Parliament, where he had a long 
and useful career, and in *1891 succeeded Sir 
MacDonald, as premier. He was knighted in 
1892. For ten years he was dean of law at 
McGill University. 

ABBOTT, John Stevens Cabot, historian, 
brother of Jacob Abbott, born at Brunswick, 
Maine, Sept. 18, 1805; died June 17, 1877. 
His writings include “Romance of Spanish 
History,” “Lives of the Presidents,” “Practical 
Christianity,” “History of Napoleon I.,” “The 
French Revolution of 1789,” and “The History 
of Frederick the Great.” 

ABBOTT, Lyman, clergyman, son of Jacob 
Abbott, born in Roxbury, Mass., Dec. 3, 1835. 
He graduated from the University of the City of 
New York was 
ordained a minis¬ 
ter of the Congre¬ 
gational Church, 
and in 1865 settled 
as pastor of the 
Congrega tional 
Church in Terre 
Haute, Ind. Sub¬ 
sequently he held 
appointments i n 
New York City, 
and was editor of 
the I llus tr a led 
Christian Weekly 
in 1871-76. Later 
he became widely 
known as editor-in-chief of the Outlook. After 
1899 he devoted himself entirely to literary and 
editorial work. His publications include “Jesus 
of Nazareth: His Life and Teachings,” “Evolu¬ 
tion of Christianity,” “Results of Emancipation 
in the United States,” “Old Testament Shadows 
of New Testament Truths,” “Life and Litera¬ 
ture of the Ancient Hebrews,” and “The Rights 
of Man.” 

ABBREVIATIONS (ab-bre-vi-a'shuns), the 
name applied to certain contractions employed 
in writing and printing to represent a letter or 
group of letters taken from a word or group of 
words, and used mainly to save time and space. 
The most common form of abbreviations is the 
substitution for a word of its initial letter, or of 
some arbitrary sign. Most of the sciences and 
arts have sets of signs, abbreviations, or sym¬ 
bols peculiar to themselves. It is quite impossi¬ 
ble to give all the abbreviations now in general 



ABBREVIATIONS 


4 


ABDICATION 


use, but below is a list of those considered most 
important: 


A. B. Bachelor of Arts. 
Abp. Archbishop. 

A. D. Anno Domini, in 
the year of our Lord. 
Admr. Administrator. 

Ala. Alabama. 

Alas. Alaska. 

Alb. Alberta. 

A. M. Anno Mnndi, in 
the year of the world. 

A. M. Master of Arts.. 

A. M. ante meridian, 
forenoon. 

Ariz. Arizona. 

Ark. Arkansas. 

A. U. C. Ab urbe condita, 
meaning from the build¬ 
ing of the City of Rome. 

Aug. August. 

Ave. Avenue. 

Bart or Bt. Baronet. 

B. C. Before Christ, Brit¬ 
ish Columbia. 

B. D. Bachelor of Divin¬ 
ity. 

B. L. Bachelor of Laws. 
Bp. Bishop. 

B. V. Blessed Virgin. 

Cal. California. 

C. Consul, Caesar. 

Can. Canada. 

C. E. Canada East. 

C. E- Civil engineer. 
Cent. Centum, or hun¬ 
dred. 

Chap. Chapter. 

Co. Company or county. 
Col. Colonel. 

C. O. D. Cash on delivery. 
Col. or Colo. Colorado. 

C. R. Civis Romanus. 

Cr. Creditor, credit. 

C. S. A. Confederate 
States of America. 

Ct. or Conn. Connecticut. 
Cwt. Hundredweight, 

D. Five hundred. 

D. Denarius, a penny. 

D. C. District of Colum¬ 
bia. 

D. D. Doctor of Divinity. 
Dec. December. 

Del. Delaware. 

D. F. Fidei defensor, de¬ 
fender of the faith. 

D. G. Dei Gratia, by the 
grace of God. 

Do. Ditto, the same. 

Dr. Doctor, debtor. 

D. V. Deo volente, God 
willing. 

Dwt. Pennyweight. 

E. East. . 

E. G. Exempli gratia, for 
example. 

Esq. Esquire. 

Exr. Executor. 

Feb. or Febr. February. 

F. G. S Fellow of the 

Geological Society. 

F. O. B. Free on board. 

F. R. S. Fellow of the 

Royal Society. 

Fla. Florida. 

Frank. Franklin. 

Ga. Georgia. 

Gal. Gallon. 

G. A. R. Grand Army of 
the Republic. 

G. B. Great Britain. 

Gen. General. 

G. C. B. Knight of the 

Grand Cross of the 
Bath. 

Gov. Governor. 

Hhd. Hogshead. 

H. I. Hawaiian Islands. 

H. M. S. His Majesty’s 

ship. 

Hon. Honorable. 

H. R. H. His or Her 
Royal Highness. 


l a. Iowa. 

l b. or Ibid, Ibidem, in the 
same place. 

Id. Idem, the same. 

Ida. Idaho. 

I. e. Id est, that is. 

I. H. S. Jesus Hominum 
Salvator, Jesus the Sav¬ 
iour of mankind. 

Ill. Illinois. 

Incog. Incognito, un¬ 
known. 

Ind. Index, Indiana. 

Inst. Instant, of the pres¬ 
ent month. 

Jan. January. 

J. P. Justice of the Peace. 
Jr. Junior. 

Kans. Kansas. 

K. B. Knight of the Bath. 
Kew. Kewatin. 

K. G. Knight of the Gar¬ 
ter. 

Kt. Knight. 

Ky. Kentucky. 

La. Louisiana. 

Lab. Labrador. 

Lat. Latitude. 

L. or lib. Libra, a pound; 
or liber, a book. 

L. I. Long Island. 

Lb. Libra, pound. 

Lieut. Lieutenant. 

LL. D. Legum doctor. 
Doctor of Laws. 

Lon. or Long. Longitude. 

L. S. Locus Sigilli, place 
of the seal. 

M. Mile, or a thousand. 

M. A. Master of Arts. 
Mack. Mackenzie. 

Man. Manitoba. 

Mar. March. 

Mass. Massachusetts. 

M. C. Member of Con¬ 
gress. 

M. D. Medicinae' doctor, 
doctor of medicine. 

Md. Maryland. 

Me. Maine. 

Messrs. Messieurs, gen¬ 
tlemen. 

Mex. Mexico, or Mexican. 
Mich. Michigan. 

Minn. Minnesota. 

Miss. Mississippi. 

Mo. Missouri. 

Mon. or Mont. Montana. 

M. P. Member of Parlia¬ 
ment. 

Ms. Manuscript. MSS. 
Manuscripts. 

N. North, note, noon. 

N. A. North America. 

N. B. Nota bene, mark 
well. 

N. B. New Brunswick. 

N. C. North Carolina. 

N. D. No date. North Da¬ 
kota. 

N. E. New England. 

Neb. Nebr. Nebraska. 
Nev. Nevada. 

Nfld. Newfoundland. 

Nem. con. Nemine con- 
tradicente, unanimously. 
N. H. New Hampshire. 

N. J. New Jersey. 

N. M. New Mexico. 

No. Number. 

Nov. November 
N. P. Notary Public. 

N. S. New style, Nova 
Scotia. 

N. Y. New York. 

Ob. Obit, died. 

O. Ohio. 

Oct. October. 

Okla. Oklahoma. 

Ont. Ontario. 

Or. or Ore. Oregon. 

O. S. Old style. 


Ox. Oxon, of Oxford. 

Oz. Ounce. 

Pa. or Penn. Pennsyl¬ 
vania. 

Pari. Parliament. 

Per ann. By the year. 

Per cent. Per centum, by 
the hundred. 

P. I. Philippine Islands. 

PI. Plural. 

P. M. Post meridian, af¬ 
ternoon. 

P. M. Postmaster. 

P. O. Post office. 

Prof. Professor. 

Pro tern. Pro tempore, 
temporarily. 

Prox. Next month. 

P. S. Postscript. 

Q. Question. 

Que. Quebec. 

Qy. Quaere, query. 

Q. C. Queen’s Counsel. 

Q. E. D. Quod erat dem¬ 
onstrandum, which was 
to be demonstrated. 

Q. S. Quantum sutHcit, a 
sufficient quantity. 

Q. V. Quod vide, which 
see. 

R. A. Royal Academy, 
Royal Artillery. 

R. E- Royal Engineer. 

Rev. Reverend. 

R. I. Rhode Island. 

R. N. Royal Navy 

Rt. Hon. Right Honor¬ 
able. 

S. South, of solidus, a 
shilling. 

S. A. South America. 


Sask. Saskatchewan. 

S. C. South Carolina. 

S. I) South Dakota. 

Sec. Secretary. 

Sept. September. 

5. P. Q. R. Senatus Pop- 
ulusque Romanus. 

SS. Scilicet, to wit, name¬ 
ly- 

St. Saint, street. 

Tenn. Tennessee. 

Tex. Texas. 

U. C. Urbs Condita, year 
of Rome. 

Ult. Ultimo, last month. 
Ung. Ungava. 

U. S. United States. 

U. S. A. United States 
Army. 

U. S. N. United ' States 
Navy. 

Ut. Utah. 

V. or Vs. Against. 

Va. Virginia. 

Viz. Videlicet, namely. 

V. S. Veterinary surgeon. 
Vt. Vermont. 

W. West. 

Wash. Washington. 

Wis. Wisconsin. 

W. Va. West Virginia. 
Wy. Wyoming. 

Xmas. Christmas*. 

Yr. Your, year. 

Yuk. Yukon. 

6, etc., and &c. Et cetera, 
and so forth. 

Y. M. C. A. Young 
Men’s Christian Associa¬ 
tion. 


ABD-EL-KADIR (abd-el-ka'dir), celebrated 
prince or emir of the Arabs in Algeria, born in 
Mascara, in the early part of 1807. He acquired 
a reputation for wisdom and piety at an early 
age, and developed extraordinary skill in horse¬ 
manship and muscular exercises. At the age of 
twenty-four years he was chosen emir of Mas¬ 
cara, and later commander of the united tribes 
to quash the French power in Africa. At first 
successful, temporary peace was concluded in 
1834, but war broke out again five years later, 
and was waged with great vigor for several 
years. In 1841 the French army numbered about 
100,000 men, under Marshal Bugeaud, and, after 
determined resistance, Abd-el-Kadir surrendered 
to the Due d’Aumale on Dec. 22, 1847, with the 
assurance that he would be allowed to retire to 
Alexandria. However, he was taken to France 
and imprisoned at Toulon, but was promptly 
liberated by Louis Napoleon in 1852. His death 
occurred at Damascus, Syria, on May 26, 1883. 

ABDICATION (ab-di-ka'shun), the act 
whereby an office or dignity is given up before 
the expiration of the term of incumbency, and 
may be either voluntary or compulsory. The 
abdication of Diocletian and Maximian are the 
best known cases in antiquity. In absolute 
monarchies despotic sovereigns may abdicate at 
any time, but in a limited monarchy or independ¬ 
ent state it usually requires the consent of the 
legislative branch of government. The follow¬ 
ing is a list of important abdications occurring 
in the last century: 


Charles Emmanuel IV. of Sardinia-.June 4, 1802 

Charles IV. of Spain.March 19, 1808 

Joseph Bonaparte of Naples.June 6, 1808 

Gustavus IV. of Sweden.March 29. 1809 






ABDOMEN 


5 


ABD-UR-RAHMAN 


Napoleon I. of France. -j ^Pnl 14. 1814 

Victor Emmanuel of Sardinia.March 13, 1821 

Charles X. of France.August 2, 1830 

William I. of Holland...Oct. 7, 1840 

Louis Philippe of France.Feb. 24, 1848 

Ferdinand of Austria.Dec. 2, 1848 

Charles Albert of Sardinia.March 23, 1849 

Isabella II. of Spain.June 25, 1870 

Abdul-Aziz of Turkey . May 30,1876 

William of Albania.Sept 2, 1914 

Nicholas II. of Russia.March 15,1917 

William II. of Germany.Nov. 9, 1918 

ABDOMEN (ab-do'men), in anatomy, the 
lower part of the trunk of the body; the trunk 
being divided by the diaphragm into two cavi¬ 
ties—the upper being the thorax, and the lower 
the abdomen. It is walled in by broad muscles, 
fasciae and skin, except behind, where the pro¬ 
jecting processes and the bodies of the five lum- 


J 

/ 



THORAX AND ABDOMEN. 

A, the heart: B, the lungs drawn aside to show the inter* 
nal organs; C, the diaphragm; D, the liver; B, the gall cyst; 
F, the stomach; G, the small intestines; H, the transverse 
colon; I. muscles of the chest; J, trachea. 

bar vertebrae assist, above by the walled dia¬ 
phragm, and below by the bones of the pelvis. 
The capacity of the abdomen varies according 
to the nature of its walls. It is lined by a 
clothed serous sac, the peritoneum, whose visceral 
layer is reflected over the contained viscera, 
forming a thin exterior coat. In entomology, 
the abdomen is the last of the three parts into 
which the body of an insect is divided. It is 
composed of a number of rings or segments, 
frequently nine, more or less distinct from each 
other. In many insects the last part of the abdo¬ 
men contains pincers, stings, borers, etc. > 

ABDUL-AZIZ (ab-dool-a-zez'), Sultan of 
Turkey, born Feb. 9, 1830; died June 3, 18 1 6. 
In June, 1861, he succeeded his brother, Abdul- 
Medjid, thirty-first Sultan of the Ottoman Em¬ 
pire, to the throne, and made professions of 
liberality in furthering governmental reforms, 
but soon became unpopular by levying heavy 


taxes to beautify the capital and enlarge the 
army. The important events of his reign in¬ 
clude an insurrection in Crete, the struggle of 
Servia and Rumania for independence, and 
cruel treatment of the Christians in the Balkan 
region. Treaties were concluded with France 
and England, and his policy with Russia caused 
revolts in Bosnia, Bulgaria, and Herzegovina. 
He was compelled to abdicate in May, 1876, 
and four days later died by his own hand, or 
was assassinated. 

ABDUL-HAMID (-ha-med'), II., Sultan of 
Turkey, born Sept. 22, 1842; died- Feb. 

10, 1918. In 1876 he succeeded Murad V. as 
the thirty-fourth Sultan of the Ottoman Em¬ 
pire. His accession to the throne came at a 
time of much political dissatisfaction in Tur¬ 
key; Servia had declared war against Turkey,, 
and the insurrection in Bosnia and Herzegovina 
had grown formidable. Russia, to protect its 
interests in the Balkan region, declared war in 
1877, and its army advanced victoriously almost 
to Constantinople. By the Treaty of Berlin, 
Turkey lost all claim to Servia, Bosnia, Bul¬ 
garia, Rumania, Montenegro, and Herzegovina, 
and escaped dismemberment only because of 
European jealousy of Russia. The Sultan was 
obligated to introduce certain reforms in the 
Christian provinces, but they were not carried 
out in good faith. Turkish misgovernment 
caused a revolt in Crete in 1897, which finally 
resulted in a war with Greece, but Greece was 
defeated and forced to pay an indemnity. Ab- 
dul-Hamid II. gave support to orthodox Mo¬ 
hammedanism and pretended to the actual 
headship of Islam. He granted a constitution in 
1908, but was deposed in 1909 and was succeeded 
by Mohammed V. (born Nov. 3, 1844). 

ABDUL-MEDJID ( -me-jed'), Sultan of 
Turkey, born May 6, 1822; died June 25, 1861. 
In 1839 he succeeded his father, Mahmud II., 
at the time when Mehemet Ali, Viceroy of 
Egypt, threatened the Ottoman Empire. The 
Egyptians defeated the Turks in the Battle of 
Nisib in 1839 and began an advance on Con¬ 
stantinople, but the European powers inter¬ 
vened and restricted the power of Mehemet Ali 
to Egypt. In 1846 he established a system of 
free public schools and founded a number of 
colleges of medicine and agriculture. The Cri¬ 
mean War made many difficulties for his gov¬ 
ernment, but his decrees for greater political 
rights and religious equality show him to have 
been more progressive than his nation. 

A B D-U R-R A H M A N (abd'ur-ra-man), 
Ameer of Afghanistan, born in 1830; died Oct. 
3, 1901. He was the eldest son of Mohammed 
Afdal Khan and the grandson of Dost Moham¬ 
med, and became a refugee in Russian territory 
in 1869, because he had supported the preten¬ 
sions of his father against his uncle, Shere Ali. 
After the death of Shere Ali, in 1879, his son 
Yakub became ameer, but he was driven from 
the throne by the British within a year, and 



























ABEL 


6 


ABERDEEN 


Abd-ur-Rahman was recognized by the leading 
chiefs as supreme commander. His administra¬ 
tion was successful and vigorous, on account of 
which the tribes of the Hindu-Kush mountain 
district became subjugated. The British gov¬ 
ernment made him grand commander of the 
Star of India. 

ABEL (a'bel), the individual mentioned in 
the Book of Genesis as the second son of Adam, 
and who was by occupation a shepherd. His 
brother Cain slew him while under the influ¬ 
ence of jealousy, because his offering was re¬ 
jected by Jehovah, while Abel’s sacrifice of the 
firstling of the flock was accepted. In the 
Epistle to the Hebrews his offering is spoken 
of in these words: “By faith Abel offered 
unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain.” 
The Christian church in all ages has regarded 
Abel as a type of innocence and faith. 

ABELARD (ab'e-lard), Pierre, scholar, the¬ 
ologian and philosopher, born near Nantes, 
France, in 1079; died April 21, 1142. His great 
desire for knowledge and scholastic logic caused 
him to resign his parental inheritance to his 
brothers, and he was thus enabled to begin a 
course of study in Paris. Owing to extraor¬ 
dinary natural ability and devotion to research, 
he made remarkable progress, and ultimately 
eclipsed his teachers. In 1101 he established a 
school of natural philosophy near Paris to which 
were attracted students from many adjacent 
cities. Many of his students afterward rose to 
eminence, among them Pope Celestine II., Peter 
Lombard, and Arnold of Brescia. While in the 
height of his successes, and surrounded by stu¬ 
dents of all countries, drawn by the fame of 
his teaching, in which acuteness of thought was 
relieved by simplicity and grace of exposition, 
he became infatuated with one of his pupils, 
Heloise, the beautiful niece of Canon Fulbert, 
then seventeen years of age. This terminated 
unfortunately, and Abelard entered an abbey at 
Saint Denis as a monk, and induced Heloise 
to enter as a nun at Argenteuil. He soon after 
began to lecture on religious subjects, but was 
persecuted by the hatred of the monks. His 
death occurred in the abbey of Saint Marcel. 
Heloise had him buried at Paraclete with the 
wish that some time she would be interred by 
his side. She survived him' twenty years. In 
judging of Abelard’s merits we are to look to 
the influence that his great power of public 
disputation enabled him to exercise over public 
thought, rather than to his writings. His doc¬ 
trine as well as character gave marked offense 
to the people of his time, a circumstance to be 
expected on account of the general low ebb 
of educational interest. He is generally credited 
with the invention of a new system of philoso¬ 
phy midway between realism and nominalism. 
The first collection of his writings was made by 
Frangois Amboise and published in Paris in 
1616, but his complete works were not published 
until in 1849-59. 


ABENCERRAGES (a-ben'se-raj-ez), the 
name of a distinguished Moorish family, whose 
mortal feud with the Zegris, another noble fam¬ 
ily of Granada, contributed to the fall of the 
Granadian monarchy. The quarrel originated 
in the varying fortunes of Mohammed VII. of 
Granada, who was alternately a monarch and 
an exile, and whose cause the Abencerrages es¬ 
poused with unswerving fidelity. It is told that 
one of the youth of the Abencerrages, having 
loved a lady of the royal house, was climbing to 
her window, when he was discovered and be¬ 
trayed, and the king, in revenge for the outrage 
on the sanctity of his harem, shut up the whole 
Abencerrage family in a tower, and, letting 
loose the fury of their hereditary enemies, had 
them butchered in cold blood. This tragical 
tale has been the foundation of both Spanish 
and French dramas. 

ABEN EZRA (a'ben-ez'-ra), Abraham ben 
Mair ben Ezra, born in 1093, died at Rhodes 
Jan. 23, 1167. He was one of the most esteemed 
biblical commentators among the Jews of the 
12th century, and was distinguished as a physi¬ 
cian, mathematician, and philologist. He trav¬ 
eled extensively, and his writings were numer¬ 
ous. His “Commentaries on the Old Testament” 
has been used by subsequent Hebrew scholars. 

ABERCROMBIE (ab'er-krum-bi), James, 
general, born in Scotland in 1706; died April 28, 
1781. He commanded in America during the 
French and Indian War, in 1758. In that year 
he made a signal failure in an attack on Ticon- 
deroga in July, which place he attempted to 
capture with a force of 15,000 men, but was re¬ 
pulsed with a loss of 2,000 killed and wounded. 
On returning to England, he became deputy 
governor of Stirling Castle and a member of 
Parliament. Consult Parkman’s “Montcalm and 
Wolfe.” 

ABERDEEN (ab-er-deen'), the chief sea¬ 
port city in the north of Scotland, county seat 
of Aberdeen County, on the North Sea, at the 
mouth of the Dee River. The city is conven¬ 
iently situated on a number of important rail¬ 
roads, has extensive wharfage, and a large ex¬ 
port and import trade. There are manufactures 
of cordage, linen and woolen goods, chemicals, 
ships, machinery, stone and iron wares, paper, 
and spirituous liquors. The streets are substan¬ 
tially paved, and improved with gas and elec¬ 
tric lighting, sewerage, and extensive street 
railways. Union Street is its main thorough¬ 
fare and its numerous notable buildings cause 
it to rank as one of the finest streets of Europe. 
Among the chief buildings of the city are the 
University of Aberdeen, the custom-house, the 
Royal Infirmary, and numerous hospitals, 
schools, and churches. The extensive use of 
granite in the larger buildings has caused it tc 
be known as the “Granite City.” It was char¬ 
tered in 1179, and has long ranked as a city of 
great wealth, educational progress, and com¬ 
mercial importance. Population, 1920, 167,685. 


ABERDEEN 


7 


ABOLITIONISTS 


ABERDEEN, a city of South Dakota, coun¬ 
ty seat of Brown county, 120 miles northeast 
of Pierre, on the Chicago and Northwestern, 
the Great Northern,, the Chicago, Milwaukee and 
Saint Paul, and other railroads. It is surround¬ 
ed by a fertile agricultural country, and is an im¬ 
portant shipping point for cereals and live stock. 
There are manufactures of farming implements 
and a considerable jobbing trade. It has a fine 
high school, three hospitals, two public parks, and 
the Northern Normal and Industrial School. The 
city was incorporated in 1882. Population, 1900, 
4,087; in 1910, 10,753; in 1920, 14,537. 

ABERDEEN, a city in Grays Harbor County, 
Wash., on the Northern Pacific and other rail¬ 
roads. The chief buildings include the city 
hall, public library, and high school. It has a 
large shipping trade. Population, 1920, 15,337. 

ABERDEEN, John Campbell Gordon, sev¬ 
enth Earl of, statesman, born Aug. 3, 1847. He 
was educated at University College, Oxford, 
and in 1870 succeeded to the title and estates, on 
the death of his brother. In politics he was in 
sympathy with the Conservative party until 
1880, when he became a supporter of Gladstone, 
and in 1886 was appointed Lord Lieutenant of 
Ireland. For five years, from 1893 until 1898, 
he was Governor-General of Canada. 

ABERNETHY (ab'er-ne-thi), John, emi¬ 
nent surgeon, born in Scotland in 1764; died 
in Enfield, England, April 18, 1831. He was a 
pupil of the celebrated John Hunter, an eminent 
surgeon. He ranks high as a lecturer on anatomy 
and surgery, and laid the foundation of a school 
of surgery. The most important of his works, 
“Observation on the Constitutional Origin and 
Treatment of Local Diseases,” was published 
in 1806. His “Lectures on the Theory and 
Practice of Surgery” was published in 1830. 

ABERRATION (ab-er-ra'shun), in optics, 
the wandering of rays of light from the normal 
path, caused when reflected from curved mir¬ 
rors, or made to pass through curved lenses, 
which form portions of a sphere instead of por¬ 
tions of a parabola. This is due to the unequal 
refraction of the lenses of the rays of light and 
renders images formed about the edges in some 
degree undefined. In astronomy, aberration is 
the difference between the observed position of 
a heavenly body and the one really occupied, 
the result of the combined effect of the motion 
of the eye of the observer and that of the light 
caused by the annual or diurnal motion of the 
earth, or of the motion of light and that of the 
body from which the light proceeds. The aber¬ 
ration of light, discovered by James Bradley 
(1693-1762), an English astronomer, is proof of 
the motion of light and of the earth’s motion. 

ABIGAIL (ab'i-gal), the wife of Nabal, a 
rich man of Carmel, and subsequently the wife 
of King David. She was famed for her beauty 
and discretion, and gave food to David at the 
time of his flight from Saul. She became the 
wife of David after the death of Nabal, was 


captured during a raid by the Amalekites, but 
David recovered her. She was the mother of 
Chileab, a son of David. Her name is frequent¬ 
ly applied to any female servant. 

ABINGTON (ab'ing-tun), a manufacturing 
town of Plymouth County, Mass, twenty miles 
southeast of Boston. The principal manufactures 
are boots and shoes. It has a municipal water¬ 
works plant, several fine schools and churches, 
and good railroad facilities by the New York, 
New Haven, and Hartford Railway. The first 
settlement in its vicinity was made in 1680. 
Population, 1905, 5,081.; in 1920, 5,787. 

ABNER (ab'ner), the son of Ner and cousin 
of Saul, and the general of his troops. He was 
greatly loved by Saul, and faithful to him until 
his death, and then transferred his allegiance to 
Ishbosheth, Saul’s son, to whom he preserved 
the throne of Israel for seven years against the 
rival claims of David, who kept his state of 
Judah at Hebron. At length Abner went over 
to the cause of David, but the aid he might 
have rendered to that king was cut off by his 
sudden death at the hand of Joab, David’s 
captain, who was probably moved with jealousy 
at the influence of so powerful a rival for the 
king’s favor, though Joab alleged the object of 
the assassination was to avenge the death of his 
brother Asahel. David was deeply afflicted at 
the death of Abner, and lamented him in a sort 
of funeral dirge, (2. Sam. iii.). 

ABO (o'bob), a city of Russian Finland, 
built on both sides of the Aurajoki, not far 
from where it flows into the Gulf of Bothnia. 
It was founded in 1157 by the Swedes, and was 
the capital of Finland until 1819. The bishopric 
established here in the 13th century was raised 
in 1817 by the Russian government to an arch¬ 
bishopric. In 1827 the greater part of the city 
was destroyed by fire, including the university 
buildings and the library containing 40,000 vol¬ 
umes. The university was rebuilt in Helsing¬ 
fors, the new capital. It is-important as a ship¬ 
building port and has extensive cotton mills and 
sugar refineries. Population, 1921, 39,238. 

ABOLITIONISTS (ab-6-lish'un-ists), a 
political party in the United States, whose ob¬ 
ject was to secure the immediate abolition of 
slavery. Early in the 18th century a strong sen¬ 
timent became widespread throughout the coun¬ 
try in favor of the abolition of all slaves. As 
early as the close of the Revolutionary War a 
number of Northern states provided for imme¬ 
diate or gradual emancipation. Before the end 
of the century many abolition societies were 
founded. The movement secured new impetus 
when William Lloyd Garrison and his follow¬ 
ers in 1829 demanded the immediate and total 
abolition of slavery throughout the country. 
Other influential advocates of abolition, besides 
Garrison, include Wendell Phillips, John G. 
Whittier, Edmond Quincy, Samuel J. May, and 
William Jay. The sentiment grew in popularity 
until the movement ended Jan. 1, 1863, when 
Lincoln emancipated the slaves. 


ABOMEY 


8 


ABSALOM 


ABOMEY (ab-6-ma'), a town in West Af¬ 
rica, in Dahomey, about sixty miles from the 
coast of Guinea. It is inclosed by an earthen 
wall, surrounded by a ditch, and the houses are 
mostly of mud or are wooden structures. For¬ 
merly it had some importance as a slave mar¬ 
ket, but at present its trade is chiefly in ivory, 
gold, and palm oil. Population, 21,000. 

ABOUKIR (a-bdo-ker'), or Abukir, a vil¬ 
lage in Egypt, thirteen miles northeast of Alex¬ 
andria, near the site of the ancient Canopus. 
Its harbor is spacious, and on its western side 
is a castle of considerable strength. In 1798 
Aboukir Bay was the scene of the famous Bat¬ 
tle of the Nile, in which an English fleet under 
Nelson defeated a French fleet commanded by 
De Bruycs, thus destroying the naval power of 
France in the Mediterranean. Napoleon de¬ 
feated the Turks under Mustapha near Aboukir 
in 1799, and Sir Ralph Abercromby (1734-1801) 
repulsed the French in its vicinity in 1801, the 
engagement being known as the Battle of Alex¬ 
andria. 

ABOUT (a-boo'), Edmond, novelist, born 
at Dieuze, France, Feb. 14, 1828; died Jan. 17, 
1885. He studied in Paris, and in 1853 began 
to contribute to periodicals. His novels are 
numerous and popular, being quite humorous 
and interesting in style. He was decorated with 
the cross of the Legion of Honor and elected 
to the French Academy. Among his chief works 
are “The Notary’s Nose,” “The Roman Ques¬ 
tion,” and “The Man with the Broken Ear.” 

ABRACADABRA (ab-ra-ca-dab'ra), a word 
used as a magical formula to invoke the assist¬ 
ance of good spirits against all evils and sick¬ 
ness. It was probably 
A A B T?^\ C r A \^ A A B p R R A fi rst used by the Persians, 

who inscribed it in the 
form of an inverted trian¬ 
gle on gems that formed a 
class of Abraxas stones. 
Worn on the bosom for 
nine days and then de¬ 
stroyed secretly, it was 
supposed to cure fevers 
and other ailments. Severus Sammonicus, a 
Gnostic physician, recommended its use as early 
as 200 a. d. 

ABRAHAM (a'bra-ham), the first of the 
Hebrew patriarchs, husband of Sarah, born at 
Ur, in Chaldea, about the year 2000 b. c. He 
was the greatest of the Hebrew patriarchs, the 
father of Isaac and Ishmael, and these two sons 
were the progenitors of the Hebrews and Arabs, 
respectively. Tradition ascribes to Abraham a 
knowledge of philosophy and astronomy, abil¬ 
ity to interpret dreams, and the invention of al¬ 
phabetic writing. The Mohammedans reckon 
him among the prophets, and attribute to him 
the building of the sacred Kaaba at Mecca. 

ABRASIVE (ab-ra'sTv), the name applied 
to any natural or artificial material employed in 
the art of grinding and polishing. In modern 


manufacturing the use of natural abrasives has 
given way to a large extent to the artificial sub¬ 
stances in cutting and polishing stone, wood, 
and metal. To the former class belong sand, 
emery, quartz, garnet, and corundum. Sand is 
employed extensively in the sandblast and in 
the form of sandpaper for cleaning wood and 
ironwork, while emery is used in the form of 
powder to polish stones and plate glass. Em¬ 
ery wheels have faces coated with emery or are 
solid emery stone, and emery paper or emery 
cloth is paper or cloth coated with powdered 
emery. Quartz is used for buhrstones, and gar¬ 
net, which, by its cleavage, presents new cut¬ 
ting edges instead of wearing smooth, is an 
excellent material for polishing wood and leath¬ 
er. Corundum is mined extensively in North 
Carolina and is made into an abrasive powder 
by crushing and grinding. Carborundum, pum¬ 
ice, tripoli, and crushed steel are other abra¬ 
sives. Whetstones and grindstones are cut from 
natural rocks, while pumice is a volcanic ash 
and is used for polishing and scouring. 

ABRUZZI (a-broot'se), Luigi Amedeo, 
traveler and explorer, born in Madrid, Spain, 
Jan. 29, 1873. He studied at the naval college 
in Leghorn and be¬ 
came captain in the 
navy of Italy. In 
1897 he made an 
ascent of Mount 
Saint Elias, on the 
border between 
Alaska and Yukon. 

Two years later he 
made his famous 
voyage toward the 
North Foie, reach- 
ing, in 1900, the 
highest latitude at¬ 
tained up to that 
time, 86° 33', and in 
September returned 
to Christiania, Nor- LUIGI AMEDE0 abruzzi. 
way. In this expedition he explored part of 
the northern boundary of Franz-Josef Land. 
He published “On the Polar Star in the Arctic 
Sea” and “The Ascent of Mount Saint Elias.” 
In 1915 he was placed in general command of the 
fleet of Italy. 

ABSALOM (ab'sa-lom), the third son of 
David, King of Israel, and distinguished for his 
manly beauty and unjust rebellion against his 
father. He first won the affection of the people 
by popular acts, and then instigated a powerful 
rebellion against the government with the view 
to overthrowing it and making himself king. 
The rebels were defeated in a battle in the for¬ 
est of Ephraim, and in the flight Absalom, while 
riding under a tree, was caught in its branches 
and held suspended by his hair. Joab, the com¬ 
mander of David’s army, found him in this 
position, and, contrary to the king’s expressed 
orders that he should be spared, thrust him to 


ABRACADAB 
ABRACADA 
ABRACAD 
AB R A CA 
ABRAC 
AB R A 
AB R 
A B 
A 





ABSINTH 


9 


ABYDOS 


death with his spear. David’s grief at the loss 
of his son was excessive and touching. 

ABSINTH (ab-smth'), a liquor prepared 
from the leaves and the flowering tops of vari¬ 
ous species of wormwood with roots of sweet 
flags, angelica, the leaves of the dittany of 
Crete, star anise fruit, and other aromatics, usu¬ 
ally by being steeped in alcohol. While the 
beverage is pleasant to the taste, it is quite 
harmful to the system and dangerous to health. 
It is manufactured in Switzerland and France, 
but is consumed chiefly in the latter country. 
Its introduction into France dates from the 
Algerian War of 1844-47, when the soldiers 
returning to France, who had acquired the 
habit of drinking it in Algeria, caused the 
custom to become extensive, but it was legally 
restricted after 1914. 

ABSOLUTION (ab-so-lu shun), the pardon 
and remission of the sins of a penitent. In the 
Roman Catholic Church the priest pronounces 
absolution in foro externo, the remission of cer¬ 
tain ecclesiastical penalties, or absolution in 
foro interno, the remission where mortal and 
venial sin is remitted. The Augsburg Confes¬ 
sion of the Lutheran Church retained absolution 
as the individualization of the promise of Scrip¬ 
ture to the penitent rightly disposed. In the 
Episcopal Church absolution is a formula of 
publicly praying for, or declaring, the remission 
of the sins of the penitent, and in visiting the 
sick pardon from sin is pronounced after pri¬ 
vate confession. 

ABSOLUTISM (ab'so-lu-tiz’m), a form of 
government in which the executive power is 
vested in a ruler who is not controlled by any 
constitution or law. It was the prevailing gov¬ 
ernment of ancient time, and reached its high¬ 
est development in Europe after the downfall of 
the feudal system. Louis XIV. of France was 
its most arbitrary modern champion, and de¬ 
clared, “I am the state.” Japan and Russia a 
few years ago changed to representative gov¬ 
ernments. Turke} r , though usually classed as 
an absolute government, has had a constitution 
since 1908. 

ABSORBENTS (ab-sorb'ents), the vessels 
by which the nutritive elements of food are car¬ 
ried into the circulation of plants and animals. 
In plants this function is carried on by the ex¬ 
tremities of the roots, and in vertebrate animals 
it depends chiefly upon the skin, lacteals, and 
lymphatics. 

ABSORPTION (ab-sorp'shun), in physi¬ 
ology, the act of taking up material suitable for 
nourishment by means of tissues. The nutri¬ 
tious elements of foods are gathered by a sys¬ 
tem of minute vessels called absorbents, and 
arc carried into the circulation. The vessels 
consist of two main classes, named, respectively, 
lacteals and lymphatics, but absorption is car¬ 
ried on to some extent by the skin and blood 
vessels. In plants, absorption is carried on 
chiefly by the roots. 


ABSTRACTION (ab-strak'shun), the men¬ 
tal act of withdrawing the consciousness from 
one or more subjects with a view to concentrat¬ 
ing it on some definite one, or the act of the 
mind by which a part of the objects presented 
for observation are disregarded in order to con¬ 
centrate the attention on the remainder. 

ABT (apt), Franz, poet and musician, born 
at Eilenburg, Germany, Dec. 22, 1819; died 
March 31, 1885. Fie studied at Leipzig, where 
he met Mendelssohn and was induced to give 
his attention to the study of music. In 1841 he 
became musician in the court theater at Bern- 
burg, and later accepted a similar position at 
Zurich, where he became popular as a composer 
and teacher. He was made musical director at 
the court theater at Brunswick in 1852, and in 
1872 toured Canada and the United States. In 
1881 he was given a pension and subsequently 
devoted much of his time to the work of writ¬ 
ing songs, of which he published about 600. His 
best-known song is “When the Swallows Home¬ 
ward Fly.” Many of his songs have been 
translated and are widely known. Those worthy 
of special mention are “Sleep Well, Sweet An¬ 
gel,” “Good night, My Child,” and “When I am 
Near Thee.” 

ABU-BEKR (a-bdo-bek”r), first successor 
of Mohammed, born in 570; died in 634. He 
was the father-in-law of Mohammed, and his 
name, meaning “Father of the Virgin,” was giv¬ 
en to him in allusion to his daughter Ayesha, 
the Prophet’s favorite wife. As a military lead¬ 
er he successfully opposed the Romans under 
Emperor Heraclius, and was energetic in propa¬ 
gating the new faith. He collected the writings 
and oral doctrines of Mohammed and published 
the Koran. Ali, the cousin of Mohammed, con¬ 
tested his right to the succession and caused the 
Mohammedans to become divided into the two 
sects known as Shiites and Sunnites, the latter 
being the adherents to the teaching of Abu- 
Bekr. 

ABU TEMAM (a'boo te-mam'), celebrated 
as the greatest of all Arabic poets, born about 
807; died in 846. His poems are said to have 
procured him many thousand pieces of gold, and 
the Arabs say of him that “no one could ever 
die whose name had been praised in the verses 
of Abu Tcmam.” He was the compiler of three 
collections of select pieces of Eastern poetry, 
the most esteemed of which, called the “Hama- 
sa,” is praised by Sir William Jones. 

ABUTILON (a-bu'ti-lon), a genus of plants 
of the mallow family, widely distributed in 
warm climates, and including about seventy 
species. Some species are cultivated for their 
bell-shaped flowers. The common abutilon is a 
weed in many parts of the United States, where 
it is known as velvet-leaf. 

ABYDOS (a-bi'dos), an ancient city of 
Asia Minor, located at the narrowest part of 
the Flellespont. It is noted as the scene of a 
number of historic events, among them those of 


ABYSSINIA 


10 


ABYSSINIA 


480 b. c., when Xerxes crossed the straits on a 
great bridge of boats at the time of his inva¬ 
sion of Greece. Alexander the Great crossed 
at the same place when he marched into Asia 
in the year 334 b. c. Ancient writers credit 
Leander with swimming nightly from Abydos to 
Sestos, a distance of about a mile, to see his 
beloved Hero—a feat in swimming accomplished 
by Lord Byron to verify the story of Leander. 
Abydos is also the name applied to an ancient 
city of Upper Egypt, situated a short distance 
west of the Nile, the site of which is now 
marked by ruins and tombs. It is famous for 
the palace of Memnon and the temple of Osiris. 
In 1818 and in 1864 various collections of the 
famous Abydos tablets were discovered in its 
vicinity. They contain a list of the successors 
of Rameses the Great, including the kings of 
the first three dynasties of Egypt, beginning 
with Menes. 

ABYSSINIA (ab-is-sin'i-a), an independent 
political division of Eastern Africa, located be¬ 
tween the Red Sea and the Blue Nile. Its 
boundary is formed by the Italian Colony of 
Eritrea on the northeast, a region known as 
Danakil on the east, British East Africa on the 
south, Egyptian Sudan on the west, and Nubia 
on the northwest. It is divided into the four 
provinces of Shoa, Tigre, Gojam, and Amhara, 
but the exact boundaries are not well defined. 
The four provinces, including the outlying de¬ 
pendencies of Enarea, Harrar, and Kaffa, have 
an area estimated at 350,000 square miles, and 
a population of 7,500,000. The seat of govern¬ 
ment is at Addis Abeba. 

Description. Abyssinia may be described as 
an elevated plateau, its altitude being about 
8,000 feet. Numerous mountain chains traverse 
the country, of which the Samen Mountains in 
the northern section are the most important. 
These mountains have an altitude of about 
10,000 feet, while Ras Dashan, elevation 15,000 
feet, may be regarded the culminating peak. 
The Talba Wakha Mountains are located south 
of the predominating group and are less elevat¬ 
ed, their highest peaks being about 9,000 feet 
above the sea. The southern portion is less 
mountainous, but rocky hillocks characterize 
the surface. Numerous extinct volcanoes are 
found in both groups of mountains, and partly 
obliterated craters and hot springs are abundant. 

Lake Tzana is the largest body of water and 
the source of the Atbara, or Black Nile. It is 
located at an altitude of nearly 6,000 feet, and 
occupies an area of 1,150 square miles. There 
is a general depression toward this lake. The 
chief rivers, besides the Atbara, are the Abai or 
Blue Nile, the Hawash, and the Takazze, a 
tributary of the Atbara. 

Though wholly within the tropics, Abyssinia, 
owing to its elevation, has a temperate climate, 
and yields the usual products of the temperate 
zone. It is usually divided into three climatic 
areas, the regions below 4,800 feet, the sections 


between 4,800 to 9,000 feet, and the portions 
having an altitude above 9,000 feet. There are 
two seasons, the rainy and the dry, and the pre¬ 
cipitation is greatest from December to May. 
From October to April, at Gondar, 7,420 feet 
above the level of the sea, the average tempera¬ 
ture is 68°, while the temperature in more ele¬ 
vated sections ranges from 45° to 50° Fahr. 
The soil is well adapted to the cultivation of the 
harder cereals, and the climate is generally 
healthful. 

Industries and Resources. Agriculture is 
the chief industry, though the methods of farm¬ 
ing are primitive. Occupation is an evidence of 
title to land, which is divided principally among 
families. Wheat, barley, and cattle are the chief 
products. Oranges, bananas, and lemons thrive, 
but are not carefully cultivated. There are few 
manufactured products aside from wearing ap¬ 
parels and primitive implements. The minerals 
consist chiefly of coal, iron ores, silver, gold, and 
salt, but mining has not been developed to any 
great extent. Wild animals infest the forests 
and mountains, including the zebra, hyena, lion, 
wolf, leopard, buffalo and elephant, and in the 
regions of streams and lakes abound the rhi¬ 
noceros and the hippopotamus. The chief ex¬ 
ports include coffee, wax, gum, gold, tobacco, 
and ivory, while the imports embrace textiles, 
clothing, glassware, and military stores. 

Education and Religion. Until recently the 
country had no system of public education, the 
masses having had little opportunity to attend 
schools, and instruction was confined to the 
richer classes in the cities. However, all male 
children over twelve years of age are now re¬ 
quired to attend school. Most of the educa¬ 
tional work is in the hands of the clergy and 
Coptic teachers brought from Egypt. Chris¬ 
tianity w r as introduced into the country in the 
fourth century, but in teaching and practice has 
been greatly perverted. The Gallas are Moham¬ 
medans and the Falashas profess Judaism. 
Polygamy is practiced extensively among the 
non-Christian classes. 

Government. The government is an abso¬ 
lute monarchy, feudal in character, and the 
reigning sovereigns for centuries trace their 
lineage back to the Queen of Sheba, who vis¬ 
ited Solomon, King of Israel, for the purpose of 
beholding his enterprise and power. Menelik 
II. is the present king or negus, and his official 
title is “King of the Kings of Ethiopia and Con¬ 
quering Lion of Judah.” He holds his office 
from personal qualities rather than by legal 
or traditional rights. The Maria Theresa dol¬ 
lar is the chief medium of exchange, but consid¬ 
erable of the business is carried on by barter, 
especially in cartridges and salt bars of uniform 
size. The chief cities are Addis Abeda, Gondar, 
Adua, Harrar, and Aukober. Harrar is the 
leading commercial center. 

History. The country is a part of ancient 
Ethiopia, and the people are still called Ethi- 


ACACIA 


11 


ACANTHUS 


opians, but are a mixture of Hamites, Semites, 
and Negroes. The name Abyssinia came from 
the Portuguese and signifies that the people are 
a mixture of many tribes. Some think that 
the Cush of the Scriptures corresponds to Abys¬ 
sinia. The country was invaded by the Greeks 
under Ptolemy Euergetes in 247 b. c., and some 
traces of Greek influence still remain. When 
Christianity was introduced in the fourth cen¬ 
tury, the Abyssinian Church had its seat at 
Axum, but the head of the church is now at 
Abuna. With the spread of Mohammedism 
near the close of the sixth century, Abyssinia 
was isolated from other countries and relapsed 
into a primitive half-barbarous civilization. It 
regained power in the fourteenth century, and 
in the sixteenth century strenuous efforts were 
made by Portuguese Jesuits to replace the na¬ 
tional religion with Catholicism. In 1633 the 
Jesuits were expelled and the country relapsed 
and remained isolated until the nineteenth cen¬ 
tury, when European explorers interested them¬ 
selves in that section. 

Sir Robert Napier invaded the country with a 
British army in 1868 as a result of Abyssinian 
depredations in sections over which the English 
had established a protectorate, and King Theo¬ 
dore committed suicide, after having met with 
a thorough defeat. He was succeeded by King 
John, who fell in battle with the Dervishes of 
the Sudan in 1889. His successor, Menelek II., 
(died in 1914) was a good ruler, but the country 
is surrounded by territories under the flags of 
European nations and has become an object of 
interest for trade and colonization. Italy 

claimed a protectorate over Abyssinia under 
the Treaty of Uchali in 1889, but this was set 
aside in the Treaty at Addis Abeba in 1896. By 
the latter treaty the independence of Abyssinia 
was recognized. The king modernized the gov¬ 
ernment in 1907 by establishing a cabinet of 
ministers, including those of finance, foreign af¬ 
fairs, war, justice, and commerce. Empress Zeo- 
ditu became the ruler of the country in 1916. 

ACACIA (a-ka'sha), a deciduous plant 

widely distrib¬ 
uted in vari- 

ous portions 
of the earth, 

but not found 

native in 
Europe. It is 
most abundant 
in India, trop- 
i c a 1 America, 
Africa, and 
Australia. 
About 300 vari¬ 
eties are native 
to Australia, in- 
eluding the 
acacia. wattletree, 

which is from fifteen to thirty feet in height, 
while in North America a form of the same 


plant is known under the name of locust or 
honey locust. The plant grows in height from 
a shrub to a tree ranging from twenty to 
thirty feet, and is cultivated for its foliage, 
flowers, and wood. Some species yield a bark 
containing a large per cent, of tannin, while 
others yield perfume and gum arabic. 

ACADEMY (a-kad'e-my), the name first 
applied to the school founded by Plato, and 
which originated from the place where that 
philosopher met and conversed with his pupils. 
The place was in a park or garden in the sub¬ 
urbs of Athens said to have belonged to Acade- 
mus, and was presented by him to the city for 
a gymnasium. In modern times the name came 
to be applied to schools that communicate more 
than the mere elements of instruction, or schools 
instructing pupils that have already acquired 
the rudiments of an education, as colleges and 
some classes of universities. The name academy 
is also used to designate societies of artists 
linked together for the promotion of interest 
in art, and to various associations of scholars, 
scientists, and literary men who promote ar¬ 
tistic and intellectual interests. Thus, Cardinal 
Richelieu in 1835 established the celebrated 
French Academy to fix and polish the French 
language. It included among its membership 
the best scholars of that country, but was dis¬ 
solved by the Revolution in 1793. The greatest 
work of this organization was the publication 
of a complete French dictionary. 

The Royal Academy, Burlington House,' Lon¬ 
don, is an association of English artists, and is 
similar in organization to the French Salon. 
The Royal Academy of Berlin, founded in 1700 
by Frederick II. of Prussia, has two sections— 
physics-mathematics and philosophy-history. 
Many such societies are maintained in the United 
States, the oldest of which is the American 
Philosophical Society, organized by Benjamin 
Franklin in 1743. 

ACADIA (a-ka'di-a), the name given by 
the French to Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, 
and part of Maine, the most important portion 
being Nova Scotia. French colonists made set¬ 
tlements in Acadia in 1604 under De Monts. 
Argali conquered it for England in 1613, and 
it remained in English hands till 1657, but did 
not become their permanent possession until so 
declared by the Peace of Utrecht in 1713. In 
1756 about 6,000 of the French inhabitants 
were forcibly removed from their homes by the 
British on account of opposition manifested by 
them to oppressive legislation, an incident on 
which Longfellow’s “Evangeline” is based. 

ACANTHUS (a-kan'thus), a genus of 
plants, chiefly tropical, found in the south of 
Europe, Asia Minor, and India, the most com¬ 
mon species of which is the acanthus mollis, a 
native of moist shady places in the south of 
Europe. It has pretty foliage and large white 
flowers tinged with pale yellow. Several 
species are cultivated as greenhouse plants for 



ACAPULCO 


12 


ACCOUNT 



ACANTHUS. 


their shining leaves and white flowers. The 
idea of the beautiful Corinthian capitals of 
the Greek columns is said to have been 

derived from a 
basket filled with 
the roots of this 
plant, set down 
carelessly by a 
girl, and covered 
with a tile; when 
the leaves, forcing 
their way through 
the crevices, and 
rising toward the 
light, until met 
by the underside 
of the cover, pre¬ 
sented the effect 
of the foliage and 
volutes, simulated 
by the Grecian 
chisel. 

ACAPULCO (a-ka-pool'ko), a seaport of 
Mexico, in the State of Guerrero, about 230 
miles southwest of the City of Mexico. Its 
harbor is one of the best on the Pacific Coast. 
It has considerable domestic and foreign trade, 
the latter with San Francisco, China, and the 
Philippines. The chief exports are indigo, 
fruit, wood, lumber, and cochineal. Acapulco 
reached its greatest importance at the time of 
the French occupation. Its trade suffered greatly 
by the construction of the railroad between San 
Bias and the City of Mexico. Population, 5,000. 

ACCELERATION (ak-sel-er-a'shun), a 
term employed in measuring the rate of in¬ 
crease or decrease of the velocity of a body 
whose motion is not uniform. A common in¬ 
stance of increasing acceleration is found in a 
body falling from a height, and of negative ac¬ 
celeration in a ball thrown from a cannon. The 
term is also employed to denote the velocity of 
heavenly bodies in their orbits, especially when 
passing from perigee to apogee and vice versa. 
The numerical value of acceleration is about 
32.2 feet per second; hence a body falling freely 
through the air has a velocity of 32 feet at the 
end of the first second, at the end of the next 
second the velocity is 64 feet, at the end of the 
third second it is 96 feet, and so on until it 
reaches the earth. 

ACCENT (ak'sent), in reading or speaking, 
the stress of voice placed upon the syllable of a 
word. English accent was placed originally 
upon the root, and not upon inflectionable syl¬ 
lables. A change in the position of accent dis¬ 
tinguishes a noun from a verb, as ac'cent, ac¬ 
cent'; con'test, contest'. In like manner a change 
of accent distinguishes an adjective from a verb. 
Accent has exercised a marked influence in 
changing the form of many words in the 
English language. 

Accent, in music, is a distinction of certain 
portions or places of measure, or a stress placed 


on certain tones. Long measures, as in words 
of several syllables, may have a primary accent 
and several secondary accents. A number of 
signs and marks have been invented to express 
the various shades of accentuation, as for in¬ 
stance, f (forte), ff (fortissimo) , p (piano), pp 
(pianissimo), mf (mezzo forte), si (sforzando), 
cres (crescendo), decres (decrescendo), and 
many others. 

ACCLIMATION (ak-kli-ma'shun), or Ac¬ 
climatization, the process or art by which plants 
or animals are accustomed to a climate or 
locality not natural to them. The process de¬ 
pends upon the difference between the new 
locality and the one formerly occupied, as well 
as upon the nature of the plants or animals 
acclimatized. In recent times acclimatization 
has been made a subject for systematic study, 
and some valuable discoveries have resulted. 
The ability of the different races of man to 
bear changes of climate usually is in direct 
ratio to the intellectuality of the race. Civilized 
people display greater mental and physical en¬ 
durance than savages in accommodating them¬ 
selves to changes of climate, this resulting, of 
course, from their superior care and power to 
accommodate themselves to different modes of 
life. Modern civilization and commercial en¬ 
terprise have been greatly benefited by the ac¬ 
climatization of cereals, herbs, and animals. 
For insance, the reindeer and dog have been ac¬ 
climated to the polar regions, silkworms have 
been brought from China to the Baltic regions 
of Europe, and, in like manner, animals and 
plants of various kinds have been made to 
serve man’s purpose in greatly diversified parts 
of the earth. However, this is spoken of more 
properly as naturalization than acclimatization. 

ACCORDION (ak-kor'di-un), a musical 
instrument in the form of a small box, arranged 
to be drawn by the hands in such a manner as 
to supply wind to act on metallic reeds fixed at 
one or both extremities, thus operating to set 
the reeds in vibration. An accordion has two 
sets of metallic reeds, so constructed that the 
same tones are produced as a result of pulling 
or pressing the bellows. The harmonium and 
concertina are similar instruments, and are in 
more or less general use among Europeans. 

ACCOUNT (ak-kount'), a list of items of 
debits or credits between two or more parties, 
or a statement of the particulars of such an 
account. When each of two parties has de¬ 
mands against the other, as in the case between 
two merchants, each of whom has sold goods 
to the other, the account is said to be mutual. 
The account is considered open or current until 
a statement is rendered. A stated account is 
one that has been accepted as correct by the 
one against whom it shows a balance. THe re¬ 
cipient of a statement, if the account is found 
incorrect, should give verbal or written notice 
of that fact within a reasonable time, else its 
acceptance will be implied. However, correc- 




ACCUM 


13 


ACETYLENE 


tions on account of fraud or mistakes can be 
made subsequently. 

ACCUM (ak'koom), Friedrich, chemist, 
born in Westphalia, Germany, in 17G9; died in 
1838. After attending several universities in 
his native country, he went to London, where 
he was made professor of chemistry and min¬ 
eralogy in the Surry Institute. In 1822 he 
was appointed professor in the School of Indus¬ 
try in Berlin. He is celebrated on account of 
his exertions in the introduction of gas lights. 
His principal work, “A Practical Treatise on 
Gas Lights,” was published in 1819, and exerted 
a great influence in introducing the use of gas 
lights into the principal cities of England. He 
wrote a work on “The Adulteration of Food,” 
which excited much attention. 

ACCUMULATOR (ak-ku'mu-la-ter), an 
apparatus by means of which electricity may 
be accumulated so as to produce directly an 
electric current. This apparatus is generally 
known as a storage battery, and its use depends 
upon the principle that a current acting upon 
grooved lead plates and lead electrodes causes 
certain chemical changes. In some cells two 
lead plates are immersed in dilute sulphuric 
acid in water, the mixture having a specific 
gravity of 1.17. When the circuit of a battery 
is closed, the chemicals recombine and give 
off a current almost equivalent to that which 
decomposes them. The two general classes 
into which accumulators are divided are those 
known as the Faure type and the Plante 
type. In the former some easily reducible 
salt of lead is applied mechanically, and in the 
latter peroxide of lead is formed by electro¬ 
chemical action on the surface of the coiled 
plates used in constructing the cells. In order 
to charge the battery it is connected with a 
dynamo and the electricity is retained until 
required for use, though there is a very rapid 
depreciation if the batteries are not operated 
with care. Storage batteries are commonly 
employed in automobiles and in many central 
stations to aid the dynamos when the maximum 
output is required. 

ACETANILID (as-et-an'T-lid), a crystalline 
powder obtained by the action of acetic acid 
on aniline. It has a slightly bitter taste, is 
odorless, and is frequently taken as a medicine 
for allaying pain. It is used for headache, 
generally given in tablet or capsule, and its 
effect is injurious if not administered with 
great care. 

ACETATE (as'e-tat). See Acetic Acid. 

ACETIC ACID (a-se'tic as'id), an acid com¬ 
posed of oxygen, hydrogen, and carbon, and 
forming the sour principle of vinegar. In a 
pure state it is poisonous, has a sour taste and 
pungent smell, refracts light powerfully, and 
does not mix with water except at high tem¬ 
perature. It is the product of the acetic fer¬ 
mentation of many vegetable and animal juices, 
and in some plants is found naturally formed. 


It is solid at temperatures below 62° Fahr. The 
action of the micro-organisms of the air on 
wine or weak spirits produces vinegar, which 
is a dilute acetic acid. Many dilute and con¬ 
centrated forms of acetic acid are employed 
in medicines and the arts. It aids digestion by 
its solvent action upon albuminous and protein 
compounds, hence the use of vinegar with foods 
that are not easily digested. When acetic acid 
is united with a base or radical, it forms a salt 
known as an acetate. The acetates of am¬ 
monium, iron, lead, potassium, sodium, and 
zinc are employed in medicine. Those of iron 
and aluminum are used in calico printing, while 
that of copper, known as verdigris, is useful 
as a color. 

ACETYLENE (a-set'i-len), a pure hydro¬ 
carbon gas produced by passing an electric 
current between carbon poles in an atmosphere 
of hydrogen, also by hydro-carbon in a state 
of incomplete combustion. Small quantities of 
it are present in ordinary illuminating gas. It 
is colorless and clear, and burns with a bright 
flame. The flame is brilliant and steady, pro¬ 
duces no smoke and little heat, and its intense 
brilliancy gives it preference for illumination. 
Until recently it was produced only in labora¬ 
tories, being too expensive for use, except in 
experiments. It is now obtained at a very nomi¬ 
nal cost by fusing coal dust and lime in an 
electric furnace, and then bringing the result¬ 
ant calcic carbide in contact with water. The 
proportion of lime is 1,130 pounds to 1,750 
pounds of coal dust, and the resultant is 2,000 
pounds of calcic carbide. When the carbon of 
the calcic carbide is united with the hydrogen 
of water, the acetylene gas is formed and is 
utilized as it rises to the top. 

The credit of discovering the method of 
producing acetylene gas on a commercial basis 
is due to T. L. Willson, who, as one of the pro¬ 
moters of the Willson Aluminum Company at 
Spray, North Carolina, was aided by J. T. 
Morehead, a student and geologist. In conduct¬ 
ing a line of experiments, they placed lime and 
coke in an electric furnace, which, after being 
fused together, was thrown into water with the 
result that gas was formed and when lighted it 
burned with a clear flame. This discovery 
caused calcium carbide to become an article of 
commerce. It is placed in portable generators 
and sold directly to consumers, who make their 
own illuminating gas by the use of small gen¬ 
erators. At Niagara Falls and a number of 
other places are large electric furnaces for the 
purpose of making the commercial product. 
About 2,000 pounds of carbide are produced by 
180 electric horse power in twelve hours, which 
quantity has an illuminating value equal to 
100,000 cubic feet of ordinary gas. Its inex¬ 
pensive manufacture revolutionized street and 
house lighting. Pure acetylene requires a 
special burner, by which it is sufficiently mixed 
with air before it begins to burn. 


ACHAEA 


14 


ACHILLES 


A new system of producing power was ob¬ 
tained by a mixture of acetylene gas and alcohol 
vapor in internal combustion engines. When 
a certain proportion of acetylene is added to 
alcohol vapor, a quicker burning, more explosive 
mixture results. This makes it possible to 
obtain from a given size of gasoline engine 
the same horse power when operated with alco¬ 
hol as when gasoline is used, without the 
greatly increased consumption that ordinarily 
occurs when this is attempted. Acetylene gas 
is thus used as an enricher of commercial 
alcohol, and is likewise employed to increase 
the illuminating power of coal gas and other 
combustible gases. 

ACHAEA (a-ke'a), one of the ancient divi¬ 
sions of the Peloponnesus, extending along 
the coast of the Gulf of Corinth. Its greatest 
length from east to west is about 65 English 
miles. It varies in breadth from 12 to 20 miles. 
Patras, formerly Patrae, is the only Achaean 
town that maintains any importance. After 
the Roman conquest of Greece and Macedonia, 
the province of Achaea included all of the 
Peloponnesus, with Northern Greece south of 
Thessaly. In the present kingdom of Greece it 
constitutes a division for the purposes of ad¬ 
ministration. 

The Achaeans comprised one of the four 
main divisions of the ancient Greeks. Their 
mythological ancestor was Achaeus, son of 
Xuthus, and grandson of Hellen. They mi¬ 
grated from Thessaly to the Peloponnesus, where 
they held the preponderance of power, and for 
a long time maintained a confederacy of twelve 
towns, known as the Achaean League. It was 
broken up after the death of Alexander the 
Great, reorganized in 280 b. c., and finally 
suppressed by the Romans in 146 b. c. The 
‘‘Iliad” designates the whole Hellenic host be¬ 
fore Troy as Achaens. 

ACHARD (a-shar'), Frans Karl, chemist 
and naturalist, born in Berlin, Germany, April 
28, 1753; died April 20, 1821. He studied in 
his native city, and distinguished himself by his 
discovery of an improved process for making 
sugar of beet roots. His discovery attracted 
the attention of the King of Prussia, who gave 
him a farm in Lower Lusatia, where he founded 
a successful factory of beet sugar. The factory 
became highly profitable in 1812, and the king 
established in connection with it a school for 
teaching the art of manufacturing sugar. Later 
Achard became director in the Berlin Academy 
of Sciences. To his discovery and successful 
application of newer methods is due the exten¬ 
sive beet sugar manufacture of modern times. 

ACHATES (a-ka'tez), companion of Aeneas 
in his flight from Troy, and in his subsequent 
wanderings, according to the account given by 
Virgil in his “Aeneid.” He is always termed 
fidus (faithful), whence the phrase has passed 
into a proverb applied to any faithful confident 
and companion. 


ACHEEN, or Achin (at-chen'), a city and 
state of northern Sumatra, the only state of 
that island long independent of Holland, but 
ceded to that power in 1879. It was a powerful 
state in the seventeenth century, and long re¬ 
sisted attempts at colonization made by the 
Portuguese, but gradually lost its power with 
the rise of Dutch supremacy in Sumatra. There 
are extensive productions of rice, pepper, gutta 
percha, bamboos, iron, sulphur, and camphor. 
The forests yield large quantities of merchant¬ 
able lumber, and there are also productions 
and exports of fruits and live stock. The state 
has an area of 20,500 square miles. 

ACHELOUS (ak-e-16'us), a river of Acar- 
nania, which, rising in Mount Pindus, and di¬ 
viding Aetolia from Acarnania, flows into the 
Ionian Sea. Homer calls it “king of rivers.” 
It is the largest stream in Greece, its length 
being 130 miles. It is now called Aspro Potamo. 

-ACHERON (ak'e-ron), in Greek mythol¬ 
ogy, a river of the lower world, and which is 
connected with many ancient legends. Around 
it were supposed to hover the shades of the 
departed, while Charon was reputed the ferry¬ 
man who piloted those permitted to enter the 
realm of the dead across its water. 

ACHILL (ak'il), or Eagle Island, ' the 
largest island off the west coast of Ireland, 
and included with the county of Mayo. Its 
shape is almost that of a right-angled triangle, 
while its length is about fifteen miles, and 
breadth twelve miles. The surface is mostly 
marshy and boggy, and the inhabitants engage 
chiefly in fishing. The area is 51,521 acres, and 
the population, 4,975. 

ACHILLES (a-kiriez), in Greek mythol- 
ogy, the son of King Peleus and the sea god¬ 
dess Thetis, thus belonging to a line of de¬ 
scendants from Jove. He was made the hero 
of Homer’s “Iliad,” and is counted the bravest 
of the Greeks in the Trojan War. At infancy 
his mother dipped him by the heel in the river 
Styx to make him invulnerable to the weapons 
of his enemies, but in so doing failed to sub¬ 
merge the heel, which remained the only vulner¬ 
able part of his body. It the Greek campaign 
against Troy, Achilles was equipped with fifty 
vessels manned by his followers, but remained 
inactive and sullen during a great part of the 
contest. His inactivity continued until Patro- 
clus was slain by Hector, when the hero buckled 
on the armor made for him by Vulcan to battle 
with the enemy. He slew a great many Trojan 
heroes, among them Hector, a skilled warrior 
of the Trojans, whose body was fastened to 
his chariot and dragged into the camps of the 
Greeks. He then buried Patroclus with great 
military honors, and at the request of King 
Priam, who came by night to the tent of 
Achilles, allowed the body of Hector to be 
taken back to the Trojans. The “Iliad” closes 
with an account of the burial of Hector. 
Achilles was killed by an arrow from the bow 


ACHILLES 


15 


ACOUSTICS 


of Paris, which pierced his heel, the only por¬ 
tion not submerged in the river Styx. 

ACHILLES, Tendon of, the tendon which 
connects the heel bone with the muscles of the 
ealf of the leg. It is so named from Achilles, 
a Greek leader in the Trojan War. This ten¬ 
don is capable of resisting a force equal to 
1,000 pounds weight, but is occasionally rup¬ 
tured. 

ACHMIM, or Akhmim, a town in Middle 
Egypt, on the right bank of the Nile. It is 
the Chemmis of Herodotus, and near it are 
ruins of two temples. The hills in its vicinity 
have many excavations, made originally to re¬ 
ceive mummies, but which afterward served as 
a refuge for Christians during the persecu¬ 
tions of Diocletian. 

ACHROMATISM (a-kro'ma-tizm). See 

Prism. 

ACID (as'id), in chemistry, a compound 
of hydrogen in which all or part of the hydro¬ 
gen can be replaced for a metal or a basic 
radical, thus forming a new compound. A ma¬ 
jority of acids, when placed to the tongue, pro¬ 
duce a taste called sour. They change the blue 
colors of vegetables to a red, while some colors, 
previously converted to green by alkalies, may 
be restored by acids. However, these proper¬ 
ties are variable. The acids generally contain 
oxygen united with another element that gives 
the name to the particular acid, as sulphuric 
acid, which contains sulphur, oxygen, and hydro¬ 
gen. Many organic gases occur in the juices 
of vegetables and some in animals, such as the 
acid of ants, commonly known as formic. 
Hydrochloric, nitric, sulphuric, and many other 
acids are important in the industries. Vinegar 
contains acetic acid ; lemons, citric acid; grapes, 
tartaric acid; and currants, gooseberries, and 
apples, malic acid. Prussic or hydrocyanic acid 
is found in leaves, almonds, and several varie¬ 
ties of fruits. Prussic acid is used for flavoring 
in small quantities, but is usually classed as a 
poison. 

ACIREALE (a-che-ra-a'la), a seaport of 
Sicily, at the mouth of the Aci River, nine 
miles northeast of Catania. It has a consider¬ 
able trade in wine and fruit, and manufactures 
silk and cotton goods. Near it are celebrated 
mineral springs and the famous grotto of Gala- 
tea and the cave of Polyphemus. Population, 
27,875. 

ACKERMANN Rudolph, publisher, born 
in Schneeberg, Germany, April 20, 1764; died 
March 30, 1834. He commenced life as a 
saddler, and after residing for some time in 
Paris and Brussels removed to London. On 
his first arrival in that city, he sold colored pat¬ 
terns for coachmakers. His success in this 
trade having inspired him with an idea of doing 
better, he took a place in the Strand, which 
afterward became the famous repository of 
arts, and his taste and enterprise soon made 
his warehouse a place of great attraction. He 


early established a lithographic workshop in 
London, an art to which he had devoted much 
personal attention. He issued numerous en¬ 
graved annuals, including “The Forget-me-not,” 
“Microcosm of London,” “Histories of West¬ 
minster Abbey,” and “Oxford and Cambridge.” 

ACLINIC (a-klin'ic) LINE, a line imagined 
drawn around the earth near the terrestrial 
equator, on which the magnetic needle has no 



inclinations. When the compass is placed on 
this line, the needle balances itself horizontally. 
It is known as the magnetic equator, being 
about 90° from the magnet poles, though this 
line is variable and irregular. 

ACONCAGUA (a-kon-ka'gwa), a moun¬ 
tain of Chile, situated near 31° south lat. and 
70° west long. Its height is 23,910 feet. It is 
counted the highest peak in America, being 
1,422 feet higher than Mount Sorata, Bolivia. 
On its southern slope rises the Aconcagua River, 
which, after a course of 200 miles, flows into 
the Pacific. 

ACONITE (ak'6-nlt), a genus of plants so 
named from Acone, in Bithvnia, which is fa¬ 
mous for its poisonous herbs. It belongs to the 
natural order ranunculaceae; many of its species 
have long been known for their poisonous 
properties. Several are cultivated in our gar¬ 
dens, and are known by the familiar names of 
wolfsbane or monkshood. The latter term desig¬ 
nates the distinguishing mark of the genus, 
which is the uppermost segment of the calyx 
overhanging the petals and other parts in the 
form of a helmet. The roots and leaves of the 
aconitum napellus are used for the preparation 
of some powerful medicines, which act as 
drastic purgatives, which are also externally 
applied as an anodyne remedy in acute pains 
affecting the nerves, and in rheumatic and syph¬ 
ilitic complaints. 

ACOUSTICS (a-kous'tiks), the science that 
treats of sound and of the laws of its pro¬ 
duction and propagation. Sound is produced 
by the vibration of particles in a sonorous body, 
and is induced by a blow or in some similar 
way. It requires an elastic body for its trans¬ 
mission to the tympanum of the ear, and is 
heard when brought in contact with air, but 
becomes inaudible in a vacuum. Tts rate of 
progress through dry air, at a temperature of 
32°, is about 1090 feet per second, but its mo¬ 
tion through metallic rods is much more rapid. 








ACRE 


1G 


ACTINISM 


Refraction of sound is a change of direction 
and velocity, which is caused by passing from 
one medium to another of a different kind. 
Reflection of sound is a change of direction 
caused by meeting a medium different from the 
one passed through, and, in addition to trans¬ 
mitting to it a refracted wave, induces it to pass 
in a different direction with an equal velocity. 
In this way sound may be repeated, as from 
an echo-producing cliff or hill. Pythagoras 
and Aristotle were aware that sound is prop¬ 
agated through air, and attempted to develop 
the science of acoustics, but its foundation was 
not laid until the time of Bacon and Galileo. 
Newton demonstrated by calculations how the 
propagation of sound is due to the elasticity 
of the conducting medium. The science of 
sound owes its progress particularly to the re¬ 
searches of Newton, Laplace, and the German 
physicist Hermann Helmholtz (1821-1894). 

The subject of acoustics merits earnest con¬ 
sideration, since many public buildings are illy 
planned, and many principles of acoustics dis¬ 
regarded. As a general rule, ceilings should be 
of a medium elevation, many ceilings being too 
high to facilitate both hearing and speaking. 
Stretching wires across halls and hanging 
draperies have a moderating effect. The whis¬ 
pering gallery of St. Paul’s, London, is a fine 
example of successfully taking advantage of 
the basic laws of acoustics in public buildings. 

ACRE (a'ker), a quantity of surface equal 
to 4,840 square yards. It came into use as a 
standard of measurement on account of the 
amount of land one man could plow in a day. 
The size of the acre differs in different coun¬ 
tries, because the capacity of plows formerly 
used differed widely. The chain with which 
land is measured is twenty-two yards long, and 
a square chain consists of 22x22, or 484 yards, 
hence an acre contains ten square chains. The 
acre is divided into four roods; a rood into 
forty perches, and a perch into thirty square 
yards. Below is a table showing the relative 
measurements of the most important nations 
as compared with the acre used in the United 
States and Great Britain. 


English, Acre.1.00 

Scotch “ 1.27 

Irish “ 1.62 

Austria, Joch.1.42 

Belgium, Hectare.2.47 

Denmark, Toende.5.50 

France, Hectare.2.47 

France, Arpent (common).0.99 

Germany, Hectare.2.47 

Holland, Morgen.2.10 

Naples, Moggia. 0.83 

Poland, Morgen. 1.38 

Portugal, Geira.1.43 

Russia, Deciatina.2.70 

Sardinia, Giornate.0.93 

Spain, Fanegada.1.06 

Sweden, Tunneland.1.13 

Switzerland, Faux.1.63 

Switzerland, Geneva, Arpent.1.27 

Tuscany, Saccata.1.22 

United States, Acre.1.00 

Roman, Jugerum (ancient).0.66 

Greek, Plethron (ancient).0.23 


ACRE (a'ker), or Akka, an important sea¬ 
port of Syria, on the Mediterranean Sea, and 
anciently called Ptolemais. It has experienced 
many notable changes through the calamities of 
war and revolution. In 1799 it was defended by 
the Turks against Napoleon, who laid seige 
upon it for sixty-one days, and by Mehemet Ali, 
Pasha of Egypt, in 1831-32, against a seige of 
six months by his son, Ibrahim Pasha. Acre 
remained in the hands of the Egyptians till 
Nov. 3, 1840, when it was taken by the British. 
It again came into possession of the Turks in 
1841, to whom it now belongs. The city has 
a moderately good harbor, and is connected 
with Kersha and other interior cities by rail¬ 
ways. Population, 10,500. 

ACROPOLIS (a-krop'6-lis), the name ap¬ 
plied by the Greeks to a prominent place in a 
city, usually to an eminence from which the 
city can be viewed. In ancient times the Acrop¬ 
olis of Athens contained the Parthenon and 
other fine buildings. 

ACROSTIC (a-kros'tik), a stanza or stan¬ 
zas of poetry, the lines of which are so arranged 
that the initial letters taken in order constitute 
a name or a sentence. In Hebrew waitings this 
plan was used largely in poetry, and frequently 
the initial letters were made to cover the entire 
alphabet. In the original, the 119th Psalm and 
eleven others are written in this manner. Acros¬ 
tics are frequently used in writing compliment¬ 
ary verses, when the initial letters usually form 
the name of the person complimented. The 
following will serve as a sample: 

Electric essence permeates the air, 

Lighting the heavens with its brilliant glare,” 
Encircling planets in its huge embrace, 

Controlling all the elements of space; _ 

’Tis this that sways the immortal mind, 

Refines and elevates all human kind; 

In it the spirit finds its highest light, 

Celestial source of God, the Infinite. 

ACTAEON (ak-te'on), a famous Greek 
hunter, grandson of Cadmus. He was trained 
by Chiron and excelled in hunting. For the 
crime of watching Diana while bathing, he was 
transformed into a stag and devoured by his 
own dogs. 

ACTINISM (ak'tin-iz’m), the peculiar 
property or force of that portion of the sun’s 
rays which produce the chemical effects shown 
in photography, and the effect of causing the 
seeds of plants to germinate. That the actinic 
rays are different from those which produce 
heat and light was shown by J. W. Draper of 
New York, in 1842. The quantity of actinism 
in the sun’s rays varies with the time of the 
day, and with the seasons. Its deficiency in the 
tropics renders it difficult to obtain good pic¬ 
tures there, except with the more powerful in¬ 
struments. Its greater abundance in the spring 
of the year causes this to be the best period for 
taking pictures, as it is the season for the ger¬ 
mination of seeds and the opening of buds. 
This principle is obstructed by the passage of 
rays of light through yellow glass. Hence the 

























ACTIUM 


17 


ADAMS 


unsuitableness of this glass for greenhouses, 
while the use of blue or violet glass is recom¬ 
mended as a means to aid in the rapid growth 
of plants. Modern medical science has demon¬ 
strated the wisdom of employing blue and pur¬ 
ple rays in treating certain diseases. That the 
different rays of sunlight possess a varying de¬ 
gree of power in producing chemical changes 
may be shown by spectrum analysis. See 
Spectrum. 

ACTIUM (ak'shi-um), now called Akri, a 
town and promontory on the west coast of 
Greece, on the Gulf of Arta, and noted for the 
naval battle between Octavianus, who later 
became Emperor Augustus of Rome, and Mark 
Antony and Cleopatra, on Sept. 2, 31 b. c. Oc¬ 
tavianus commanded 80,000 infantry, 12,000 cav¬ 
alry, and 260 ships; while Antony had 100,000 
infantry, 12,000 cavalry, and 220 ships, and was 
supported by Cleopatra with sixty vessels. An¬ 
tony was defeated and fled with Cleopatra to 
Egypt. To commemorate the victory Octavianus 
enlarged the temple of Apollo, and instituted 
games to be celebrated every four years. 

ACTON (ak'ton), John Emerick Edward 
Dalberg, historian and statesman, born at Na¬ 
ples, Italy, Jan. 10, 1834; died in 1902. He 

was liberally edu¬ 
cated, and in 1859 
was electedto 
Parliament from 
Carlow, Ireland, 
where he became 
a leader of the 
Catholic party. 
In 1869 he was 
raised to the 
peerage, and in 
the same year 
was conspicuous 
as an opponent to 
the doctrine of 
papal infallibility, 
which he denounced at the Ecumenial Council 
in Rome. He was appointed regius professor 
of modern history at Cambridge in 1895. His 
chief interest in life was Liberalism, both in 
politics and religion, and a series of letters 
written by him to the daughter of Gladstone 
reveal a remarkable accumulation of knowledge 
on economics, politics, and literature. He 
founded the Home and, Foreign Review and pub¬ 
lished “Lecture on the Study of History.” 

ACTS OF THE APOSTLES, the fifth 
book of the New Testament, written in Greek 
about 63 or 64 a. d., and generally thought to 
be the work of Saint Luke, a physician and 
painter of Antioch, who had been converted by 
the teaching of Saint Paul. The Acts embrace 
the history of the church in Judea and Asia 
Minor during the period of about thirty years 
after the death of Christ, from the time of the 
Resurrection until the second year of Saint 
Paul’s imprisonment in Rome. While Philip and 

2 


Saint Peter are mentioned in the Acts, the 
principal personage is Saint Paul. 

ACUPUNCTURE (ak-Q-punk'tur), a sur-. 
gical operation employed among the Chinese and 
Japanese, in headaches, lethargies, convulsions, 
colics, etc. It is accomplished by piercing the 
part which is the seat of the malady with a 
silver needle. Modified forms have been adopted 
by American and European physicians for the 
treatment of neuralgia, rheumatism, and other 
diseases. 

ADAM AND EVE, the first parents and 
progenitors of the human race, whose creation 
is described in Genesis. They were the parents 
of three sons—Cain, Abel, and Seth. Since Abel 
was slain by Cain and the latter lost in history, 
Seth is regarded the direct ancestor of the 
Hebrew people. 

ADAMS, a town of Berkshire County, in 
the northwest part of Massachusetts, forty- 
seven miles northwest of Springfield. It is 
situated on the Hoosac River, near Mount 
Greylock, altitude 3,600 feet, the highest point 
in the state, and on the Boston and Albany 
Railroad. There are manufactures of machin¬ 
ery, clothing, textiles, utensils, flour, and tobacco 
products. Gas and electric lights, street rail¬ 
ways, waterworks, and sewerage are among the 
public improvements. The town has excellent 
public schools and numerous churches. It was 
platted in 1749, as East Hoosuck, and was in¬ 
corporated in 1778, when it was renamed in 
honor of Samuel Adams. Population, 1900, 
11,134; 1905, 12,486; in 1920, 12,967. 

ADAMS, Charles Francis, statesman and 
author, son of John Quincy Adams, born in Bos¬ 
ton, Mass., Aug. 18, 1807; died Nov. 21, 1886. 
His father was minister to Russia and England 
during the infancy of the son, and took him 
abroad when two years of age. In 1825 he com¬ 
pleted the course of study in Harvard College 
by graduation, and was a law student with 
Daniel Webster. He served in the Massachu¬ 
setts legislature as a Whig in 1831-36, but went 
over to the Free Soil party in 1848, and was its 
unsuccessful candidate for Vice-President in 
that year. In 1858 he was elected to Congress 
as a Republican, was re-elected in 1860, and after 
1861 served for three years as minister to Eng¬ 
land. He was an arbitrator of the Alabama 
Claims in 1871-72, and for several years served 
as overseer of Harvard College. Adams was 
skilled as a diplomat, a speaker of ability, and 
an efficient scholar. He edited the memoir of 
his parents and grandparents. 

ADAMS, Charles Francis, author and states¬ 
man, born in Boston, Mass., May 27, 1835. His 
father, Charles Francis Adams, provided for his 
education at Harvard University. He graduated 
in 1856, and after studying law was admitted to 
the bar in 1858. He enlisted in the Union army 
at the beginning of the Civil War, became a 
captain in 1862, and at the close of the war was 
brevetted brigadier general in the regular army. 



JOHN EMERICK EDWARD 
DALBERG ACTON. 






ADAMS 


18 


ADAMS 


He was president of the Union Pacific Railway 
Company in 1884-90, and served two years as 
chairman of the Massachusetts Park Commis¬ 
sion, in which position he did much to improve 
the park system of the state. Subsequently he 
devoted much time to the study of history, and 
in 1901 was chosen president of the American 
Historical Association. His chief writings em¬ 
brace “Chapters on Erie and Other Essays,” 
“Massachusetts, Its Historians and Its History,” 
and “Life of Charles Francis Adams.” He died 
in Washington, D. C., March 20, 1915. 

ADAMS, Charles Kendall, educator and 
historian, born at Derby, Vermont, Jan. 24, 
1835; died July 26, 1902. At the age of twenty 
years he removed to Iowa. He attended the 
University of Michigan at Ann Arbor, Michi¬ 
gan, from which institution he graduated in 
1861. From 1863 to 1867 he was assistant pro¬ 
fessor of Latin at Ann Arbor, and was teacher 
of history from the latter year until 1885. In 
the meantime he studied in Germany and 
France and succeeded Andrew D'. White as 
president of Cornell University in 1885, which 
position he resigned in 1892 to become presi¬ 
dent of the University of Wisconsin, and served 
in that capacity until 1902. His publications in¬ 
clude “Manual of Historical Literature,” “Dem¬ 
ocracy and Monarchy in France,” and “Chris¬ 
topher Columbus, His Life and York.” He was 
editor-in-chief of Johnson’s “Universal Cyclo¬ 
paedia.” 

ADAMS, Henry, political essayist, son of 
Charles Francis Adams, born in Boston, Mass., 
Feb. 16, 1838. He graduated at Harvard College 
in 1861, and soon after accompanied his father 
to England. On returning to the United States 
a few years later, he was elected instructor at 
Harvard, and in 1870-76 was editor of the North 
American Revieiv. His chief writings include 
“Life of Edward Gallatin,” and “History of the 
United States.” He died Aug. 11, 1921. 

ADAMS, Herbert Baxter, historian and 
educator, born at Amherst, Mass., April 16, 
1850; died July 30, 1901. He studied at Am¬ 
herst and Heidelberg, and in 1876 was ap¬ 
pointed fellow of history at Johns Hopkins. 
University. He was connected as professor with 
this institution until 1891, when he resigned 
owing to ill health. From 1884 until 1900 he 
was secretary of the American Historical Asso¬ 
ciation and in the latter became its first vice- 
president. He took much interest in university 
extension work and exercised a wide influence 
upon the study of history and the lives of 
numerous students. His publications include 
“Life and Writings of Jared Sparks,” “Thomas 
Jefferson,” “The University of Virginia,” “Study 
of American Colleges and Universities,” “The 
Germanic Origin of New England Towns,” and 
“Johns Hopkins Studies in History and Political 
Science.” 

ADAMS, John, second President of the 
United States, born in Braintree, near Boston, 


Mass., Oct. 19, 1735; died July 4, 1826. He was 
the fourth in descent from Henry Adams, who 
fled from persecution in Devonshire, England, 
and settled in Massachusetts about 1630. His 
father, John Adams, sent him to Harvard Col¬ 
lege in 1751, from which he graduated four years 
later. At Worchester he studied law; taught 
school, and was admitted to the bar in 1758. 



The Adams Houses, Braintree (now Quincy), Mass. 

John Adams was born in the building to the right; 

John Quincy Adams in the house to the left. 

and ten years later began the practice of law 
at Boston. He married Abigail Smith, daughter 
of the Rev. William Smith, in 1764. In 1770 he 
was elected to the legislature of Massachusetts, 
and in 1774 became a member of the Conti¬ 
nental Congress, where he was an advocate and 
supporter of the Declaration of Independence. 
He went as commissioner to France in 1787, 
and served in that capacity about two years. 
In 1788 he was chosen Vice-President, with 
Washington as President, and when the Senate 
met at New York in April, 1789, he took his 
seat as president of that body. In 1792 he was 
re-elected Vice-President, and on the retirement 
of Washington, in 1797, succeeded him as Presi¬ 
dent, in which office he served four years. He 
was defeated 
for re-election 
to the Presi- 
d e n c y by 
Thomas Jeffer¬ 
son, who had a 
majority of one 
vote in the elec¬ 
toral college 
and shortly 
after returned 
to his former 
home at Quincy, 

Mass. Politi¬ 
cally h e ad- john adams 

hered to the 

Federalist party, which favored a strong central 
government. In 1816 he headed the presiden¬ 
tial electors of his party in the State of Mas¬ 
sachusetts. It is a singular incident that his 
death occurred on the fiftieth anniversary of the 
Declaration of Independence, on which day 
Thomas Jefferson also died. 

John Adams was an important factor in a 
number of treaties. The first was concluded 



















































ADAMS 


19 


ADAMS 


in 1776, which formed a treaty with Lord Howe 
for the pacification of the colonies, and in 1779 
he was given an opportunity by Congress as 
minister plenipotentiary to negotiate a peace 
treaty with Great Britain. In 1781 he was a 
commissioner to conclude peace with European 
powers; in 1783 negotiated with others a com¬ 
mercial treaty with Great Britain, and in the 
same year was a signer of the final treaty of 
peace with that country. As a constitutional 
lawyer and statesman he took high rank among 
the men who rose to prominence at the time 
when the new national government was organ¬ 
ized. His ability as a reader, fluent speaker, 
and able writer was a powerful agency to give 
him rank and station among the foremost men 
of his time. Great mental vigor is shown in 
his personal writings and state papers. His 
works and those of John Quincy Adams were 
ably edited by his grandson, Charles Francis 
Adams, in 1850-77. 

ADAMS, John Quincy, sixth President of 
the United States, eldest son of President John 
Adams, born in Braintree, Mass., July 11, 1767; 

died Feb. 23, 1848. 
He enjoyed rare 
educational advan¬ 
tages. His first in- 
structions were 
given by his mother, 
a woman of supe¬ 
rior talents. When 
eleven years old he 
accompanied h i s 
father to France 
and attended school 
in Paris. In 1780 
he began the study 
of Latin and Greek 
JOHN quincy adams. at the University of 

Leyden, Holland. At the age of fourteen years 
he was appointed private secretary to Francis 
Dana, minister to Russia, which position he held 
until October, 1782, when he resumed his studies 
at The Hague. He completed his college work 
by graduating from Harvard College in 1788. 
In 1791 he was admitted to the bar, began the 
law practice in Boston, and published in the 
Boston Centinel a series of able essays in which 
he exposed the fallacies and vagaries of the 
French political reformers. These writings 
and others attracted the attention of Washing¬ 
ton and caused his appointment as minister 
to Holland in 1794, and as minister to Berlin 
in 1797, from which position he was recalled in 
1800. The Federalists of Massachusetts elected 
him a Senator of the United States for the 
term beginning in 1803, which office he accented 
with the understanding that he would hold a 
chair in Harvard College at the same time. In 
1807 he supported Jefferson’s Embargo Act, 
and thereby offended the Federalists, thus be¬ 
coming connected with the Democratic party. 
On account of Federalist opposition he resigned 


his seat in the Senate, and was appointed by 
President Madison minister to Russia. He 
served as commissioner with Bayard, Clay, Rus¬ 
sell, and Gallatin on a commission that con¬ 
cluded a treaty of peace with British diplo¬ 
matists at Ghent,. Dec. 24, 1814. The fol¬ 
lowing spring he was appointed minister to 
the court of Saint James, in which capacity he 
served about two years, when he became Secre¬ 
tary of State under Monroe. In 1824 Adams, 
Jackson, Crawford, and Clay were candidates 
for President, but, as no one received a ma¬ 
jority of the electoral votes, the election de¬ 
volved on the House of Representatives. Adams 
was elected by receiving the votes of thirteen 
states. Four years later he was defeated for 
re-election by Andrew Jackson. In 1830 he 
was elected to a seat in Congress from his 
Congressional district, which position he held 
for seventeen years, and was the only ex-Presi- 
dent who ever served in that body. Adams was 
constantly at his place in Congress, and, while 
in his seat at the capital, was stricken with 
paralysis and died. He was buried at Quincy, 
Mass. The country was generally prosperous 
and times were reasonably good during his 
presidency. 

ADAMS, Maude Kiskadden, actress, born 
in Salt Lake City, Utah, Nov. 11, 1872. Her 
mother was an actress, and trained the daughter 
for the stage when very young, at which time 
she became popular in children’s parts. Maude 
joined E. H. Sothern’s company in New York 
City at the age of sixteen and played in “The 
Midnight Bell.” Subsequently she joined 
Charles Frohman’s Stock Company, and in 1892 
played with John Drew in “The Masked Ball.” 
In 1901 she won favor in New York City by 
playing with Sarah Bernhardt, and afterward 
appeared in Barrier’s new comedy of “Quality 
Street,” and in Rostand’s “The Chantecler.” 

ADAMS, Samuel, statesman, second cousin 
of President John Adams, born in Boston, 
Mass., Sept. 27, 1722; died Oct. 3, 1803. He 
studied at Harvard College, graduating there in 
1740, and soon after became tax collector in 
Boston. In 1765-74 he was a member of the 
Massachusetts House of Representatives, and in 
that capacity took an active part against the ex¬ 
orbitant tax schemes of England, delivering im¬ 
pressive addresses on several occasions. He 
was a member of the Continental Congress in 
1771-83; supported and signed the Declaration 
of Independence, and voted to ratify the Con¬ 
stitution in 1788. On political questions he 
agreed with the Democratic party; was Lieuten¬ 
ant-Governor of Massachusetts in 1789-94, and 
governor in 1794-97. Few Americans showed 
greater devotion to the cause of American in¬ 
terests, and none were more influential in advo¬ 
cating them. 

ADAMS, William, clergyman, born in 
Colchester, Conn., Jan. 25, 1807; died Aug. 31, 
1880. He graduated from Yale in 1831, was 




ADAMS 


20 


ADDISON 


made pastor of the Central Presbyterian Church 
in New York City in 1834, and later held other 
important ministerial positions. Besides con¬ 
tributing to a number of magazines, he pub¬ 
lished several sermons and treatises on Bible 
subjects. He ranks among the noted pulpit 
orators of America. 

ADAMS, William Taylor, educator and 
author, born in Medway, Mass., July 30, 1822, 
died March 27, 1897. He was a teacher in the 
public schools of Boston for twenty years, 
served one year in the State Legislature, and 
subsequently devoted his time largely to the 
writing of juvenile stories. For several years 
he contributed serial stories to newspapers and 
other periodicals. He is popularly known as 
“Oliver Optic.” His chief writings embrace 
“Young America Abroad,” “Onward and Up¬ 
ward,” “The Starry Flag,” “The Yacht Club,” 
“The Way of the World,” and “Living Too 
Fast.” 

ADDA (iid'da), a river of Italy, a tributary 
of the Po. It rises in the Rhaetian Alps, flows 
through Valt^llina and Lombardy, and enters the 
Po about eight miles from Cremona. Its course 
is about 180 miles, of which 70 miles are navi¬ 
gable. Lodi, the scene of one of Napoleon’s tri¬ 
umphs, and Cassano, at which Moreau was de¬ 
feated in 1799, are on its banks. 

ADDAMS (ad'dams), Jane, philanthropist, 
born at Cedarville, Illinois, Sept. 6, 1860. After 
attending the public schools, she entered Rock¬ 
ford Female Semin¬ 
ary, where she grad¬ 
uated with honors in 
1881. In 1889 she 
joined Ellen G. 
Starr in establishing 
the Hull House at 
Chicago, an emi¬ 
nently sue cessful 
social settlement, in 
which she was the 
principal leader and 
^ worker. The Hull 
House is so named 
TllTr f r o m C h a r 1 e s J. 

Hull, an old resident 
of Chicago, and is located at 335 South Halsted 
Street. It was formerly used as a junk shop 
and tenement house, and under the director¬ 
ship of Miss Addams it was possible to improve 
it and add many new buildings, including a 
children’s building and a gymnasium. The 
benevolent work of Miss Addams has lifted the 
lives of many young people to a higher plane 
and fitted them for practical service in the 
homes and material industries. She contributed 
to current periodic literature many interesting 
articles on topics suggestive of her association 
with social settlements. Her books include 
“Democracy and Social Ethics.” 

ADDAX (ad'daks), or Addas, a species of 
antelope related to the oryx, native to the 



deserts of Northeastern Africa. The form is 
robust, the color nearly white, tinged somewhat 
with reddish, and the height at the shoulders is 
about three feet. It has a long tufted tail and 
long ears, and the horns are twisted spirally, 
turn outward, and measure about four feet in 
length. The Arabs hunt it for its flesh and 
skin. This animal is almost extinct. 

ADDER (ad'der), a general name applied to 
venomous snakes, but also the name of the only 
poisonous serpent in Britain. The latter is 
about two feet long, has a triangular head, and 
a short tail. A species known as asp or puff- 
adder is found in South Africa, where it is 
dreaded for its fatal bite. Adder’s-tongue is a 
plant, a species of common fern, whose spores 
resemble a serpent’s tongue. Adderwort is a 
name applied to snakeweed on account of its 
supposed virtue in curing the bite of a serpent. 

ADDICKS (ad'dicks), John Edward, public 
man, born in Philadelphia, Penn., Nov. 21, 1841. 
After acquiring a general education, he engaged 
as a dealer in flour and later promoted the 
manufacture of illuminating gas. He organized 
the Bay State Gas Company at Boston in 1884 
and subsequently became attached to similar 
companies in other cities. He became known 
as an opponent to H. A. Du Pont in State 
politics of Delaware and was several times a 
candidate for United States Senator, but was 
defeated, and the State was unrepresented for 
some years on account of political quarrels be¬ 
tween him and his opponents. 

ADDING MACHINE. See Calculating 
Machine. 

ADDIS ABEBA (ad'des a-ba'ba), the cap¬ 
ital of Abyssinia, located in the province of 
Shoa. It has a picturesque location at an alti¬ 
tude of 8,000 feet, but its streets are irregular 
and the buildings are poorly constructed. On 
an eminence is the royal palace, which consists 
of several buildings and is surrounded by walls. 
The city has a large floating population and is 
the mecca of many caravans. The commission 
that concluded peace between Italy and Abys¬ 
sinia met at Addis Abeba in 1896, when Abys¬ 
sinia became independent. Population, 50,000. 

ADDISON (ad'di-sun), Joseph, eminent 
author and essayist, born in Hilston, England, 
May 1, 1672; died June 17, 1719. He was a son 
of Lancelot Addison, a minister of the Church 
of England, studied at the Charter House 
school, and afterward graduated from Oxford. 
Few students left that institution with a better 
record for scholarship, particularly in Latin ver¬ 
sification, and he would probably have taken 
orders in the church but for the intense interest 
manifested by him in political questions. At the 
age of twenty-seven he received from Lord 
Somers, to whom he had dedicated a poem, a 
pension of $1,500, which enabled him to travel 
in Germany, France, and Italy for the purpose of 
study and investigation. At the death of King 
William III. his pension was discontinued, and 


ADDRESS 


21 


ADELPHICOLLEGE 


he became so poor that he was compelled to live 
in a garret in the home of an acquaintance. His 
marked success in writing a poem in commem¬ 
oration of the Battle of Blenheim attracted gen¬ 
eral attention, and he was appointed to the office 
of the commissioner of appeals, after which he 
entered permanently into politics. In 1708 he 
was elected to Parliament, in which body he 
held a seat until his death. He is celebrated 
chiefly for his essays contributed largely to the 
Tattler, Spectator, and Guardian, periodicals 
then generally read. These include the delight¬ 
ful series published in the Spectator, of which 
he made Sir Roger de Coverly the central figure. 
His production of greatest popularity is the 
“Tragedy of Cato,” which was translated into 
various European languages. His writings were 
fully up to the standard which he constantly 
held in view; “to enliven morality with wit, and 
to temper wit with morality.” The indescrib¬ 
able charms of his productions can never fail to 
interest the man of refined taste and cultured 
piety. Among his writings are “Dialogue on 
Medals,” “Travels,” “The Campaign,” “Drum¬ 
mer,” and “Rosamond.” 

ADDRESS, Forms of, the formal manner 
of beginning a communication, either written or 
spoken. In countries where rank and title pre¬ 
vail the forms of address are quite complex and 
adherence to them is considered necessary. Com¬ 
mon usage has established some form of ad¬ 
dress even in republics, though in such countries 
they are less varied and numerous. “His Ex¬ 
cellency, the President of the United States,” is 
the form of address sanctioned by law that is 
to be applied to the President of the United 
States, and the same form is used in addressing 
the governors of states and ministers to for¬ 
eign countries. Senators and representatives of 
the United States, or of the several states, 
judges, and consuls are addressed The Hon. 

-, while the form of addressing the Vice- 

President is The Hon. -, Vice-President of 

the United States. The following table gives a 
list of the more important addresses used in 
Great Britain, its dependencies, and most coun¬ 
tries in which the personages are recognized: 

Archbishop : His Grace the Lord Archbishop of - 

Baron: The Right Hon. Lord -. 

Bishop : The Right Rev. the Lord Bishop of -. 

Countess: The Right Hon. the Countess of - 

Duchess : Her Grace the Duchess of -. 

Duke : His Grace the Duke of -. 

Earl: The Right Hon. the Earl of -. 

King: His Most Gracious Majesty the King. 

Knight: Sir -. 

Lord Lieutenant (of Ireland) : His Excellency the Lord 
Lieutenant. 

Lord Mayor : The Right Hon. the Lord Mayor. 

Marchioness : The Most Hon. the Marchioness of -. 

Marquis : The MostHon. the Marquis of -. 

Members of Parliament: The letters M.P. are added to 
their usual address. 

Prince : His Royal Highness the Prince of . 

Princess: Her Roynl Highness the Princess of • 

Privy Councilor : The Right Hon. . 

Queen: Her Majesty the Queen. 

Viscount: The Right Hon. Viscount -. 

Viscountess: The Right Hon. Viscountess ——. 

Youngest son of Duke or Marquis : The Lord . 

Youngest son of Earl or Viscount: 7 he Hon. . 


ADE, George, author, born in Kentland, Ind., 
Feb. 0, 1866. He graduated at Purdue Univer¬ 
sity in 1887. In the same year he engaged in 
newspaper work in 
Lafayette, Ind., and 
in 1890 became con¬ 
nected editorially with 
the Chicago Record. 

His contributions to 
newspapers were 
largely sketches of 
street life. His “Fa¬ 
bles in Slang” is a 
work in two volumes, 
characterized by hu¬ 
mor and discernment 
of human feelings. 

Among his popular george ade. 

comedies are “The County Chairman,” “The 
College Widow,” and “Just Out of College.” 
Other writings from his prolific pen embrace 
“Peggy from Paris,” “The Sultan of Sulu,” 

“People You Know,” “The Girl Proposition,” 
“Breaking Into Society,” and “True Bills.” 

ADELAIDE (ad'e-lad), an important city 
of Australia, about six miles southeast of Saint 
Vincent’s Gulf, in the province of South Aus¬ 
tralia, of which it is the seat of government. 
The Torrens River divides it into South Ade¬ 
laide and North Adelaide, the two divisions 
being connected by extensive bridges, and the 
stream is beautified by dams and dikes. There 
are excellent botanical gardens, which cover an 
area of 120 acres and may be classed among the 
finest in the world. Besides substantial gov¬ 
ernment buildings, it contains telegraph, tele¬ 
phone, and railway offices, and is the seat of 
fine schools and churches. The city has a num¬ 
ber of institutions of higher learning, including 
commercial schools, colleges, and a university. 
Port Adelaide, its port, has a commodious 
harbor and is protected by two forts. The 
manufactures include clothing, leather, woolen 
goods, ironware, machinery, tobacco prod¬ 
ucts, furniture, and earthenware. It has an 
important commercial trade, both locally and 
with foreign countries. Among the municipal 
improvements are gas and electric light, street 
railways, pavements, waterworks, and other 
modern conveniences. The city was founded in 
1836, and named in honor of the queen of 
William IV. Population, 1901, 39,200, including 
suburbs, 162,200; in 1922, 261,660. 

ADELER, Max. See Clark, Charles Heber. 

ADELPHI COLLEGE (a-del'phi), an in¬ 
stitution of higher learning in Brooklyn, New 
York City. It was incorporated in 1896 by the 
regents of the University of the State of New 
York, and with it is affiliated Adelphi Academy, 
a school founded in 1869. In the first eleven 
years of its existence Adelphi College grew to 
have a student body of about 500 and a corps of 
instructors numbering 42. The courses are 
grouped under three divisions: History and 















ADEN 


22 


ADLER 


Philosophy, Language and Literature, and 
Mathematics and Science. The college grants 
only the degree of A. B. To graduate a student 
must have completed 124 points, of which 54 
points must be in one division, 24 points in a 
second, and 12 points in a third, and the others 
may be selected freely. The college possesses 
excellent physical, chemical, and biological lab¬ 
oratories, an adequate library, and a gymnasium. 
In connection with the college a flourishing 
normal school of kindergarteners is maintained. 
This offers a two years’ course, which leads to 
a special course in kindergarten work. There is 
also a school of fine arts, which is the oldest 
institution of its kind in Brooklyn. 

ADEN (a'den), a seaport city and terri¬ 
tory of Southwestern Arabia. The city forms 
an important commercial center owing to the 
increasing trade through the Suez Canal. Over 
2,000 vessels stop at the port of Aden annually. 
The import trade amounts to over $17,000,000 
annually and is slightly greater than the export 
trade. As a naval and coaling station it is quite 
important, and there are strong fortifications. 
The government is administered by an English 
local resident. Population, exclusive of troops, 
43,974. 

ADEN, Gulf of, an inlet from the Indian 
Ocean, located between Arabia on the north 
and the African peninsula of Somaliland on the 
south. Its length is 500 miles, extending from 
the Strait of Bab el Mandab to the Indian 
Ocean. It is also called the Arabian Gulf. 

ADHESION (ad-he'zhun), in physics, the 
force that holds together molecules of different 
kinds. It is distinguished from cohesion, 
which is a force that holds together molecules 
of the same kind, acting at insensible distances. 
Adhesion takes place between two solids, be¬ 
tween a solid and a liquid, or between a solid 
and a gas, but acts only at insensible distances. 
It differs from chemical affinity in that it acts 
between surfaces of any size without changing 
the character of adhering bodies, while chemi¬ 
cal affinity acts between particles of substances 
and generally changes the appearance. 

ADIGE (a'de-ja), (German, Etsch), a river 
of northern Italy, which rises in the Rhaetian 
Alps, flows in a southeasterly direction, and 
discharges into the Adriatic Sea. It forms 
the boundary between Lombardy proper and 
the old Venetian territories. It is 240 miles 
long. The valley of the Adige was the scene of 
much military action in 1917, between the Allies 
and the Austro-Germans. 

ADIRONDACK (ad-i-ron'dak), a group 
of mountains belonging to the Appalachian sys¬ 
tem, located between Lakes Ontario and Cham¬ 
plain, in northern New York. The region is 
a popular resort for tourists and sportsmen, 
who delight to spend the summer season among 
its mountain scenery, beautiful parks, and pic¬ 
turesque lakes in pursuit of game or in pur¬ 
suing the pleasures of vacation. There are 


very complete provisions for pleasure and pro 
fitable pastime. Owing to the altitude, the 
nights are cool and the days generally pleasant. 
Mount Marcy is the most remarkable and the 
highest peak; height, 5,337 feet. 

ADJECTIVE (ad'jek-tiv), the part of speech 
used to describe or define the meaning of a 
noun or a word or phrase equivalent to a noun. 
Adjectives may be divided into two general 
classes, descriptive and definitive. Descriptive 
adjectives describe the meaning of a noun by 
denoting some quality, as square, round, sour, 
while definite adjectives define the meaning 
or application without expressing quality, as 
that man, the Ohio, the third seal. The articles 
a, an, and the are sometimes included with the 
latter class. Adjectives that express quality 
admit of comparison, and are said to be either 
positive, comparative, or superlative in express¬ 
ing different degrees of quality. In the English 
langauge the adjective precedes its noun, ex¬ 
cept when used as a predicate adjective. 

ADJUTANT (ad'ju-tant), or Argala, a 
large wading bird of the stork family found 
in the tropical parts of India. It has a large 
beak, a pouch hang¬ 
ing from the under 
side of the neck, and 
when standing erect 
is about five or six 
feet in height. The 
general color is an 
ashen gray mixed 
with white. At the 
apprehen sion of 
danger it inflates the 
large pouch in front 
of the neck with air, 
which is capable of 
considerable disten¬ 
tion. In India it is 
protected by law, 
owing to its value in 
devouring carrion, 
reptiles, and offals. The adjutant bird is allied 
to the marabou of Western Africa, and, like it, 
furnishes from under its wings the light downy 
feathers known in the market by the name 
marabou. There are a number of different 
species, that of Senegal being an allied bird to 
those found in Southern Asia. 

ADLER, Felix, educator and reformer, born 
in Alzey, Germany, Aug. 13, 1851. His father 
was a Hebrew rabbi in New York City, to 
which place the family removed in 1857. He 
graduated at Columbia College in 1870, studied 
economics and philosophy at the universities of 
Berlin and Heidelberg, and in 1874 became pro¬ 
fessor of Hebrew and Oriental literature at 
Cornell University, holding that position till 
1876, when he organized the Society of Ethical 
Culture in New York City. He contributed to 
many periodicals and published “Creed and 
Deed,” “Moral Instruction of Children,” “Mar- 





ADMETUS 


23 


ADONIS 


riagc and Divorce,” “Life and Destiny,” and 
"The Essential Difference between the Ethical 
Societies and the Churches.” 

ADMETUS (ad-me'tus), in mythology, a 
king of Thessaly. Being dangerously ill, the 
oracle declared that he must die, unless some 
person would voluntarily take his place, which 
was done by his wife, Alcestis. After her death, 
Hercules visited Admetus, and promised to re¬ 
store his wife, which he did, forcing Pluto to 
give her up. The story is the subject of a cele¬ 
brated drama by Euripides. 

ADMIRALTY (ad'mi-ral-ty), the name 
usually applied to the department of govern¬ 
ment which is at the head of the naval service. 
Most maritime nations maintain departments of 
admiralty, and from them charts are issued for 
aid in navigation. The United States Coast 
Survey details information of value in the naval 
service by issuing annual reports. Admiralty 
courts are peculiar to many European coun¬ 
tries, and take cognizance of civil and criminal 
causes of a maritime nature. In Great Britain 
a board of admiralty comprises five lords com¬ 
missioners, who decide on all important ques¬ 
tions collectively, but each commissioner also 
has special duties assigned to him, such as naval 
discipline, sailing orders, purchase and disposal 
of stores, manning the navy, etc. In the United 
States the jurisdiction of the district courts em¬ 
braces all civil and criminal cases arising in the 
maritime service. However, the graver and 
higher crimes are referred to the circuit courts 
as courts of admiralty. In Canada the ex¬ 
chequer court is a court of admiralty and has 
rights and remedies in all matters arising out of 
or in connection with navigation and commerce. 

ADMIRALTY ISLAND, an island off 
the northwest coast of North America, belong¬ 
ing to the United States. It is about eighty 
miles long and twenty miles wide. There are 
forests of considerable value, but the climate is 
cold and the inhabitants consist chiefly of Sitka 
Indians. Killisnoo, located about forty-five 
miles northeast of Sitka, is the chief town. 

ADMIRALTY ISLANDS, a group of about 
forty islands lying northeast of New Guinea. 
The group constitutes a part of the Bismarck 
Archipelago. These islands were discovered by 
the Dutch in 1616, and now belong to Germany. 
They abound in cocoanut trees, and have con¬ 
siderable productions of fruit, fish, rice, and 
■domestic animals. The inhabitants consist 
chiefly of tawny-colored islanders. 

ADOBE (a-do'ba), a name of Spanish origin 
applied to brick made of a mixture of sand and 
clay and sun-dried. Buildings constructed of 
(his kind of material are quite common in arid 
and semi-arid districts of North America, espe¬ 
cially in New Mexico, Arizona, and Central 
America. In size these brick vary somewhat, 
the usual dimensions being 4 by 12 by 16 inches. 
The material is- thoroughly mixed and exposed 
for drying to the sun about two weeks, during 


which time they are turned daily, though the 
treatment varies somewhat with the condition 
of the atmosphere and the season of the year. 
Brick of this kind cannot be used where rain¬ 
fall is abundant as they will not bear a con¬ 
siderable amount of moisture. The Egyptians 
and Babylonians constructed buildings of this 
class of material, or used brick made of clay 
mixed with straw and baked in the sun. In 
some sections where building material is scarce, 
as in portions of the plains of America, sod is 
used to lay up the walls and an adobe soil is 
mixed with sand for plastering both the ex¬ 
terior and interior. Sod houses treated in this 
way are quite serviceable, especially if the floor 
and roof are constructed of lumber. 

ADONIS (a-do'ms), in Greek legend, a 
beautiful youth that attracted the love of Venus 
and Proserpine, who quarreled about the posses¬ 
sion of him, but the difficulty was finally ad¬ 
justed by Jupiter deciding that each should enjoy 
his presence for one-half the year. Being fond 
of hunting and engaging frequently in it as a 
pleasure and pastime, he was killed eventually by 
a wild animal in the forests of Ida. The great 



sorrow of Venus moved the gods to allow 
Adonis to visit the upper world six months of 
each year, which led to annual festivals in his 
honor in the countries bordering on the Mediter¬ 
ranean Sea. These festivals consisted of two 
parts, rejoicing for his return and mourning 
for his departure. It is believed that Adonis 
represented the sun, and his return and depar¬ 
ture the change of seasons. 

ADONIS, a genus of herbaceous plants na¬ 
tive to Europe and belonging to the same family 
as the buttercup. The corn-adonis grows as a 
weed in the wheat fields of Great Britain and 
has become naturalized in some parts of the 
United States. Several species of the adonis 






ADRIAN 


24 


ADVENTISTS 


are cultivated as garden plants, and in these 
the petals are a bright scarlet. 

ADRIAN (a'dri-an), a city in Michigan, 
county seat of Lenawee County, seventy miles 
southwest of Detroit, on the Wabash, the Lake 
Shore and Michigan Southern, and other rail¬ 
ways. It has a considerable jobbing trade and 
manufactures of street and railway cars, furni¬ 
ture, brick, wire, machinery, and earthenware. 
It is the seat of Adrian College, established in 
1859 by the Methodist Church for the coeduca¬ 
tion of the sexes. The city has fine public 
schools, an excellent county courthouse, an opera 
house, and a Masonic temple. Gas and electric 
lights, waterworks, pavements, and sewerage are 
among the improvements. It was incorporated 
as a city in 1853. Population, 1920, 11,878. 

ADRIAN, the name of six popes of Rome, 
who reigned between 772 and 1523. Adrian I., 
the friend of Charlemagne, ruled from 772 to 
795. Adrian II. was elected Pope at the age 
of seventy-five years, and served from 887 till 
872, dying in the latter year. Adrain III. was 
Pope for one and one-third years, being elected 
in 884. Adrian IV, was by birth an Englishman, 
the only personage of that nationality who ever 
sat in the papal chair; born in 1100; elected 
Pope in 1154, and died in 1159. Adrian V. died 
in 1276, a month after his election to the papal 
chair. Adrian VI., born at Utrecht in 1459, was 
elected Pope in 1522, and died in 1523. See 
Pope. 

ADRIANOPLE (ad-ri-an-6'p’l), the sec¬ 
ond city of the Turkish Empire, capital of the 
vilayet of the same name, 130 miles northwest 
of Constantinople. It was founded by Hadrian 
on the Hebrus River, now called Maritza River. 
The city was the capital of the Turkish Empire 
from 1361 to 1453, but in the latter year the 
capital was removed to Constantinople. In 
1829 it was occupied by the Russians, and also 
in the War of 1878. Its improvements include 
a splendid aqueduct, several elegant mosques, 
and other religious and educational institutions. 
There are manufactures of silk and woolen 
goods, cotton textiles, leather, tobacco products, 
and machinery. It has railroad connections 
with Constantinople and other important cities, 
and enjoys a large trade. The inhabitants are 
chiefly Bulgars, Jews, and Turks. It was cap¬ 
tured by the Balkan allies in 1913. Population, 
1920, 83,250. 

ADRIATIC SEA (ad-re-at'ik), an exten¬ 
sion of the Mediterranean Sea in a north¬ 
westerly direction from the Strait of Otranto, 
lying between Italy, Austria, Montenegro, and 
Turkey. Its greatest length is 480 miles; aver¬ 
age breadth, 100 miles, and area about 60,000 
square miles. Into it flows the Po River, which 
is producing notable geological changes by 
alluvial deposits. The sea was so named from 
Adria, which was once an important seaport, 
but is now seventeen miles inland, owing to 
the deposits of silt from the tributary rivers, 


the Po and Adige. The most important sea¬ 
ports include Trieste, Sinigaglia, Ancona, anc* 
Venice. 

ADULLAM (a-dul'lam), one of the cities of 
the plain, in the tribe of Judah, fortified by 
King Rehoboam. The Cave of Adullam, where 
David hid when pursued by the Philistines, was 
probably near the Dead Sea. (I Sam. xxii, 
1-2). 

ADULTERATION (a-diil-ter-a shun), a 
term used to designate the debasement of a 
pure or genuine article by taking away some of 
its constituent parts, or adding to it some in¬ 
ferior article. The object of adulterations is 
usually for pecuniary profit, and has prevailed 
in all countries from ages far remote. It has 
been the subject of legislation, governments 
seeking thereby to protect the consumers of 
such products from deception by manufacturers 
and salesmen in many articles of commerce, 
particularly articles of food. Various European 
nations legislated regarding it as early as the 
13th century, but none of the efforts have been 
more than partially successful. In the United 
States legislation has varied, but has been 
enacted more particularly by the states than the 
nation. Among the national laws is one regu¬ 
lating the sale of oleomargarine, an artificial 
form of butter. 

The most common form of adulteration is 
the addition of a substance of little value to 
one of greater value, the design being to in¬ 
crease bulk and weight of different commodities, 
as mixing chicory with coffee, fat with butter, 
and water with milk. Fictitious value is often 
given to substances by improving the appear¬ 
ance or heightening the color, as coloring butter 
or pickles, or mixing salts of copper with pre¬ 
serves. Impurities are also frequent when it is 
designed to increase the flavor, as adding sul¬ 
phuric acid to vinegar, while ingredients are 
often added to beverages to increase the thirst 
of the consumer, as the adulteration of beer by 
the addition of salt. While adulteration of food 
articles is quite common, it is not practiced so 
extensively as the public believe. As a rule 
the consumer of adulterated foods is more likely 
to sustain unnecessary expense than suffer a loss 
of health, yet many of these adulterations are 
extremely harmful, vicious in principle, and in 
direct violation of public policy. 

ADVENTISTS (ad'vent-ist), the name as¬ 
sumed by a Christian denomination, among 
whose tenets is the belief in the second advent 
of Christ. Several branches have sprung from 
the teaching of William Miller, who prophesied 
that the world would come to an end in 1831. 
They differ more or less in points of doctrine, 
but the government is uniformly congregational. 
The Seventh-Day Adventists constitute the 
most numerous branch. They support forty edu¬ 
cational institutions, issue numerous publica¬ 
tions, and have a membership of 78,950 com¬ 
municants, including 560 ministers. The denorn- 


ADVERB 


25 


AENEAS 


inational headquarters are at Battle Creek, 
Mich. The smaller denominations include the 
Evangelical Adventists, the Advent Christians, 
and the Church of God. 

ADVERB (ad'verb), in grammar, a word 
used to modify the meaning of a verb, adjective, 
participle, or an adverb. Adverbs are divided 
into five classes: adverbs of time, place, cause, 
manner, and degree. Most English adverbs are 
formed by adding the suffix ly to an adjective or 
its root, though many are not thus formed. A 
sentence or part of a sentence is frequently used 
to perform the function of an adverb. Many 
adverbs are compared by the use of more and 
most. 

ADVERTISING (ad-ver-tiz'ing), the 
method by which the sale or exchange of com¬ 
modities is made known to the public. Adver¬ 
tising is not confined to the producing class, 
though this was originally the case, and the 
means to make known through publication the 
value and price of articles offered are very vari¬ 
ous. Many standard products useful in domestic 
economy are advertised 
on billboards, both in city 
and country, and in all 
the larger cities compan¬ 
ies promote advertising 
in this way as a regular 
business. However, the * 
greatest amount of ad¬ 
vertising is done by cir¬ 
culars, catalogues, and 
through the columns of 
magazines and news¬ 
papers. The amount of 
money paid annually for 
advertising in the Do¬ 
minion of Canada is estimated at $60,000,000, 
while in the United States the annual expendi¬ 
ture for this purpose is placed at $520,000,000. 

The history of advertising may be traced to 
ancient times, especially to Greece and Rome, 
where signs were utilized to make announce¬ 
ments and criers gave information in regard to 
the value and price at which commodities were 
for sale at particular places. However, the in¬ 
vention of printing revolutionized advertising as 
a business, and at present there is scarcely a 
large periodical whose columns are not open to 
all classes of legitimate advertising. Indeed, the 
receipts from advertising in numerous classes of 
periodicals, especially magazines, are an im¬ 
portant factor and in many cases exceed the 
money received for subscriptions. The value of 
modern advertising has secured such a hold 
upon business men and the public that success 
in almost any line depends in a great measure 
upon the manner of advertising. The theory 
and practice of writing advertisements is a 
branch of study placed in the curriculum of 
many schools and business colleges. 

ADZ (adz). See Ax. 

AEGEAN SEA (e-je 7 an), a branch of the 


Mediterranean Sea extending west of Asia 
Minor, south of Turkey, and east of Greece. 
Its breadth is 200 miles, and the average length 
400 miles. Within the sea are a number of 
fertile islands, many of which are cultivated in 
the production of cereals and fruit. They in¬ 
clude Euboea, Lesbos, Lemnos, and Samos. 

AEGINA (e-ji'na), a small island belong¬ 
ing to Greece, situated in the Gulf of Aegina, 
and containing an area of about thirty-two 
square miles. The island is mountainous and 
sterile, except in the western portion, which is 
quite level and productive. The chief products 
include olives, almonds, grapes, and cereals. On 
the island are remains of the temple of Athena. 
In ancient times, about 256 b. c., the island be¬ 
longed to the Athenians. Population, 9,135. 

AEGIS (e'jis), the shield of Jupiter and 
Minerva, which was covered with the skin of 
the goat Amalthea, by which Jove was nour¬ 
ished in infancy. According to Homer, Jupiter 
had but to shake the shield to cause thunder and 
lightning to descend upon earth. 


AEGOSPOTAMI, or Patamos, a locality in 
the Thracian Chersonese, on the Hellespont, 
where the Spartans under Lysander defeated the 
Athenian fleet. This defeat, in 405 b. c., ended 
the predominence of Athens and brought the 
Peloponnesian War to a close. 

AENEAS (e-ne'as), in Greek legends, the 
son of Anchises, a prince of Troy, and of the 
goddess Venus. It is related that he married 
Creusa, the daughter of King Priam, that he 
was the bravest Trojan next to Hector, was 
beloved by men and gods, and, after the fall of 
Troy, carried his aged father from the city, 
while at the same time leading his son by the 
hand. He first sought refuge on Mount Ida, 
but soon built a fleet with which to sail to Car¬ 
thage. Queen Dido extended a warm welcome 
to his company, and he later contemplated mar¬ 
rying her, but was warned by the gods and ad¬ 
vised to seek a new home in Italy. His depart¬ 
ure from Carthage so grieved Queen Dido that 
she killed herself and was placed on the funeral 
pyre, but even this was turned to the advantage 
of Aeneas, since the ascending flames lighted 
his departure. With his fleet of twenty ships 
he visited many islands in the Mediterranean, 


































































AENEID 


2G 


AESCHINES 


but finally landed on the shores of Italy and 
sailed up the Tiber, proceeding up that river 
until he reached the country governed by King 
Latinus. He was not only kindly received, but 
married Lavinia, the daughter of the king, 
founded the city of Lavinium, and became the 
ancestral hero of the Roman people. He suc¬ 
ceeded Latinus as king of Latinum, and died in 
battle against the Etruscans. He was succeeded 
by his son Ascanius, who founded the city of 
Alba Longa. King Numitor was a descendant 
from Aeneas, as also was Romulus, the founder 
of Rome. yEneas was made the hero of the 
“Aeneid,” a poem written by Virgil. 

AENETD (e-ne'id), the great epic poem 
written by Virgil, which ranks with the “Iliad” 
and “Odyssey,” and is classed as one of the three 
greatest poems bequeathed to posterity by the 
ancients. It was commenced about the year 30 
b. c., and was left unfinished at the time of the 
author’s death. Virgil thought it of too little 
merit for publication and directed that his 
friends burn the manuscript, but Emperor Au¬ 
gustus saved it and gave it into the hands of 
two learned friends of the author for publica¬ 
tion. The fact that many lines were left unfin¬ 
ished is proof that the poem was not carefully 
revised by the author. 

The story of the Aeneid relates the adventures 
of Aeneas after the fall of Troy and his final 
settlement in Italy, where he and his followers 
became the founders of Rome. This writing 
consists of twelve books. The first accounts 
that Aeneas was driven by a storm on the coast 
of Africa, where he was hospitably entertained 
by Dido, queen of Carthage, to whom he related 
the story of the fall of Troy. His wanderings 
from Troy to Carthage are told in the second 
and third books. In the fourth book the poet 
relates the story of the passion conceived by 
Dido for her Trojan guest, the departure of 
Aeneas in obedience to the will of the gods, and 
the suicide of Dido. The visit to Sicily and 
the burning of the ships are described in the 
fifth book, while the sixth deals with the landing 
of Aeneas at Cumae in Italy and his descent to 
the infernal regions, where he saw his father, 
Anchises, and had a vision of the future glories 
of his race and the greatness of Rome. 

While the first six books are modeled upon the 
“Odyssey,” the six last books partake of the 
spirit of the “Iliad.” They contain an account 
of the struggles of Aeneas in Italy, his alliances 
with Latinus, king of Latium, and his projected 
marriage with Lavinia, daughter of Latinus. The 
last volume closes with the fall of Turnus, king 
of the Rutuli, by the hand of Aeneas, and the 
projected marriage is left uncompleted. Virgil 
asserts that the Julian family of Rome descended 
from Aeneas, and traces the connection between 
him and Augustus Caesar, in whose honor the 
poem was written. 

AEOLIAN HARP(e-o'li-an), a harp played 
by Aeolus—that is to say, by the wind. It con¬ 


sists of a wooden sound-box with strings of 
catgut stretched over it. When exposed to the 
action of the wind, it produces a succession of 
pleasing sounds, bold when the breeze is force¬ 
ful, but plaintive when slight. The invention 
was made by Athanasius Kircher (1601-1680), 
a German Jesuit of the 17th century. 

AEOLUS (e-6'lus), in Greek mythology, 
the god of the winds. He was the ruler of the 
Aeolian Islands, a group of islands lying be¬ 
tween Sicily and Italy, and now called Lipari 
Islands. Virgil in his “Aeneid” relates that 
Aeolus had the winds confined in caverns in the 
mountains, and that they were permitted to leave 
only, with his consent. 

AEROLITE (a'er-6-lit), one of a class of 
meteorites, shooting stars, or meteoric stones 
which fall from the sky and generally, but not 
always, reach the earth. They are usually sub- 
angular, with the angular points rounded off, and 
generally reach the ground in an incandescent 
state. They usually contain quantities of mallea¬ 
ble iron, nickel, magnesia, sulphur, alumina, 
lime, carbon, and other substances. The con¬ 
stituents are always the same as substances 
found in the earth, but the combination differs 
widely in different aerolites. Their origin is the 
same as that of meteors. See Meteor. 

AERONAUTICS (a-er-6-nat'iks), the sci¬ 
ence that treats of aerial navigation. It em¬ 
braces the two departments of pneumatics 
known as aerostatics and aerodynamics and in¬ 
volves the subject of fluid-friction and the re¬ 
sistance of the fluid to the motion of a solid 
body passing through its mass. Balloons, fly¬ 
ing machines, and all other forms of apparatus 
used in aerial navigation are studied under this 
branch of science, which is a subject of growing 
interest. See Balloon, Flying Machine. 

AEROSTATICS (a-er-6-stat'iks), the de¬ 
partment of science which treats of gases at 
rest, that is to say, with their particles at equi¬ 
librium. Aerodynamics treats of the phenome¬ 
na observed when the forces acting within or 
upon aeriform fluids produce motion, while aero¬ 
statics is confined to the relations of forces 
acting in or upon such fluids when no motion 
results. Both these are departments of pneu¬ 
matics. 

AEROSTATIC PRESS, a machine used 
for extracting by atmospheric pressure the color¬ 
ing matter of dyewood and other materials, 
such as leaves, insects, etc. The material from 
which the color is to be extracted is placed in a 
vessel between two horizontal partitions pierced 
with small holes. An air pump, by which the 
air can be withdrawn, is placed at the bottom 
and the liquid to form the extract is poured on 
the top. When the suction pump is operated, the 
liquid is forced by the pressure of the air from 
the top through the material, carrying with it 
in solution the liquid coloring matter. 

AESCHINES (es'lci-nez), an eminent Greek 
orator and rival of Demosthenes, born in Athens, 


AESCHYLUS 


27 


AESTHETICS 


389 b. c.; died in Samos, 314 b. c. His native gift 
of eloquence and knowledge of the law, com¬ 
bined with a distinguished appearance, caused 
him to become prominent in public life. In 342 
b. c. he was sent to Philip of Macedon as a 
member of an embassy which favored an alliance 
with Philip, while Demosthenes opposed him at 
every point in the movement. He withdrew 
from Athens in 330 b. c„, after failing in a 
prosecution against Ctesiphon for proposing to 
reward Demosthenes with a golden crown for 
his services to the state. Subsequently he opened 
a school of oratory at Rhodes, where he wrote 
orations and taught philosophy. His three ora¬ 
tions known as “The Three Graces” are his 
chief productions. They are entitled “Against 
Ctesiphon,” “Against Timarchus,” and “On the 
False Embassy.” 

AESCHYLUS (es'ki-lus), a celebrated 
poet, the originator of Greek tragedy, born in 
Eleusis in 525 b. c. ; died at Gela in 456 b. c. 
Little is known of his life, but it is thought that 
he was of noble birth and a descendant of Cod- 
rus, the last king of Athens. He was not only 
an able writer of dramatic poetry, but took a 
prominent part in the defense of Athens against 
the Persian invaders. He fought in the battles 
of Marathon, Salamis, and Plataea, and shared in 
the exulting sentiments which pervaded Greece 
after the fall of Darius and Xerxes. While 
he wrote about eighty tragedies, only seven have 
been preserved. These include “Prometheus 
Bound,” “The Seven Against Thebes,” “The 
Persian,” “Agamemnon,” “The Choephori,” 
“Eumenides,” and “The Suppliants.” He was 
the first to introduce action in tragedy in place 
of chorus, and dramatic dialogue to supersede 
long narrations ; masks, dresses, and scenic ef¬ 
fects were also first suggested by him. While a 
number of tragedies written by Aeschylus are 
historical in character, he drew inspiration large¬ 
ly from myths and legends. He gained thir¬ 
teen prizes for tragedies, but was at last de¬ 
feated in the competitive contest by Sophocles, 
and left Greece to make his home with Hiero, 
the tyrant of Syracuse. It is doubtful whether 
he ever revisited his native city. 

AESCULAPIUS (es-ku-la'pT-us), in Greek 
mythology, a skillful physician of. human origin, 
but in later Greek legends designated the god of 
medicine. He was ultimately adopted by the 
Romans, who regarded him in their legends as 
the son of Apollo. In some legends he is cred¬ 
ited with not only healing the sick, but it is 
asserted that he so successfully called the dead 
to life that Pluto, the king of Hades, found his 
kingdom rapidly depopulating. He accordingly 
appealed to Jupiter, who struck Aesculapius with 
a thunderbolt. He was worshiped with marked 
fervor at Epidaurus, the Grecian town of his 
birth, where a fine temple was built to his honor. 
In this temple was a peculiar breed of snakes, 
into whose body the gods were supposed to 
pass. When an epidemic afflicted a region or 


city, it was customary to send to Epidaurus for 
a snake. The priests of the temples of Aescu¬ 
lapius were the only physicians of ancient 
Greece and Rome. They were called Aesclepia- 
des, or sons of Aesculapius. 

AESOP (e'sop), an ancient Greek writer 
whose name is attached to a large collection of 
fables. He is regarded a myth by many au¬ 
thorities, and the origin of the fables that bear 
his name are accredited to various writers of 
different ages. Herodotus and Plutarch assign 
Aesop to the sixth century b. c., and regard 
him a contemporary of Croesus and Solon. He 
is said to have been a slave at Samos, and, • 
when freed by his master, was sent to Delphi 
by Croesus to distribute some money among the 
citizens of that city, which he not only refused 
to pay, but enraged the citizens with sarcasm 
and was thrown over a precipice by an infuriat¬ 
ed mob. Although claims are made to the con¬ 
trary, it is quite certain that none of his works 
are extant. Maximus Planudes, a monk of the 
14th century, collected popular stories which he 
designated “Aesop’s Fables,” and a complete 
collection of 231 Aesopean fables was published 
in Breslau, Germany, in 1810. From these two 
sources compilers of recent times have drawn 
much material. 

AESTHETICS (es-thet'iks), the science 
that treats of the beautiful and pleasing. The 
term owes its origin to various writers, but pri¬ 
marily to Alexander Gottlieb Baumgarten (1714- 
1762), who held that as truth is the end and per¬ 
fection of knowledge, and good that of the 
will, so beauty should be the end of all sensu¬ 
ous knowledge. According to Herbert Spencer, 
the aesthetic feelings have this characteristic, 
that they are not connected with the functions 
requisite to sustain life, and, for this reason, do 
not gain enough power to act until the func¬ 
tions necessary to sustain life have the proper 
scope. 

The ancient Greeks, a people productive of 
noble and artistic creations, supply us with the 
first speculations on the culture of the beau¬ 
tiful and the aim of fine arts. They are gath¬ 
ered from poetry and paintings, and particularly 
from Plato’s “Dialogues.” However, Socrates 
was the first Greek scholar whose views on this 
subject are definitely known. From Xenophon’s 
exposition of the views of Socrates we learn 
that the latter regarded the beautiful as coin¬ 
cident with the good, and both susceptible to 
conversion into the useful. It was thought that 
every beautiful object serves some rational end, 
whether the gratification or security of man. 
From the “Dialogues” it may be concluded that 
Plato held to the theory of an absolute beauty. 
He tells us in the “Symposium” how love pro¬ 
duces inspiration toward the pure idea of 
beauty. To his mind the only beauty that de¬ 
serves the name is absolute beauty; that abso¬ 
lute beauty is beautiful in every respect, and 
the foundation of all beauty. Many modern 


AETNA 


28 


AFGHANISTAN 


writers agree that a delight in sculpture, poetry, 
music, the drama, painting, and even fine math¬ 
ematical demonstrations is a source of the 
aesthetic growth. Kant held the view that the 
beautiful is the harmony between the imagina¬ 
tion and the understanding, and this view is 
supported by a number of modern philosophers. 
Richter, Schlegel, Ruskin, Lessing, Hegel, 
Helmholtz, and Schelling are among the best 
known writers to contribute scientific treatises 
on aesthetics. 

AETNA. See Etna. 

AETOLIA (e-to'li-a), a division of ancient 
Greece, bounded on the west by the Acheloiis 
River, on the north by Thessaly and Epirus, 
and on the south by the Gulf of Corinth. Along 
the northern part extends the range of Mount 
Pindus. In the time of Pericles the Aetolians 
were warlike and barbarous, but they became 
famous during the Macedonian wars and for 
their bravery in resisting the invasion of their 
country by the Gauls. Aetolia and Acarnania 
were united and now constitute a monarchy 
of Greece. The area is 3,013 square miles. 

AFFIDAVIT (af-fi-da'vit), a legal docu¬ 
ment affirmed or sworn to before some author¬ 
ized officer. A document of this kind is made 
without cross-examination and is much used 
in making various motions in court. It is cus¬ 
tomary to procure and place on record an affi¬ 
davit to prove or correct conveyances of per¬ 
sonal and real property. 

AFFINITY (af-fm'i-ty), in law, the mar¬ 
riage relationship contracted between the hus¬ 
band and his wife’s kindred, and between the 
wife and her husband’s kindred. Marriage is 
forbidden by law in some countries between 
persons who are related by affinity within the 
third degree, which is the case in Great Britain, 
and this is considered in accordance with the 
Scriptural injunction. 

AFFINITY, in chemistry, the force by which 
union takes place between two or more ele¬ 
ments to form a chemical compound, and which 
constitutes the force that produces all chemical 
phenomena. Unlike attraction of gravity, it 
does not act upon masses, but between atoms, 
and only when the atoms are at insensible dis¬ 
tances. It differs from cohesion in that it 
unites atoms of different substances, while cohe¬ 
sion unites the particles of similar substances. 
The compounds formed by affinity are new 
bodies, often bearing no likeness in appearance 
or other properties to the elements by which they 
were produced, as water results from the union 
of two gases, hydrogen and oxygen. The 
strength of chemical affinity differs between 
different substances. Gypsum is formed by a 
combination of sulphuric acid and lime, but, if 
potash be added, the sulphuric acid repels the 
lime and unites with the potash. Affinity is 
dependent upon circumstances, such as the 
presence of light and a change of temperature. 
An increase of temperature has the effect of 


diminishing affinity in some substances and 
promoting it in others, and, when highly heat¬ 
ed, the constituents of some compounds arc 
separated. Heat is evolved by a combination 
of two elements in forming a compound, the 
amount evolved being termed a measure of 
affinity. 

AFGHANISTAN (af-gan-is-tan ), a country 
in the southwestern part of Asia. Its bounda¬ 
ries are formed by India, Turkestan, Persia, 
and Baluchistan; the last named separates it 
from the Arabian Sea. The area is estimated 
at 280,000 square miles, and the population at 
5,125,000. Its four provinces are Kabul, Kan¬ 
dahar, Herat, and Turkistan, and it includes 
the Badakhshan district. Kabul, in the east- 
central part, is the capital. Other cities of note 
include Kandahar, Herat, and Ghuzni. 

Physical Features. The region is mostly a 
mountainous country, including lofty uninhab¬ 
ited tablelands, barren plains, and numerous 
productive valleys. In the northern part are 
lofty ranges of the Hindu Kush Mountains, of 
which Mount Hindu Koh is the culminating 
peak, its snow-covered summit towering about 
22,300 feet above sea level. The northern part 
is drained by tributaries of the Amu or Oxus 
River, while the southern and central sections 
drain westward by the Helmund into Hamoon, 
a salt-water lake. Though the climate is of a 
continental nature, the differences in elevation 
and unequal distribution of rainfall render it 
various. In the desert oases thrives the date 
palm; cotton is cultivated in the sheltered val¬ 
leys, while the elevated regions are exposed to 
severe cold and heavy fall of snow. 

Productions. The chief industries are agri¬ 
culture and stock-raising. The soil fit for culti¬ 
vation is generally fertile and yields wheat, 
corn, rice, millet, barley, vegetables, and fruit. 
Much of the farming depends upon irrigation, 
and the supply of water is drawn by means of 
short canals from rivers and mountain streams. 
It has manufactures of carpets, silk and woolen 
goods, and utensils used locally. A mint and 
ammunition factory are operated at Kabul. The 
country has many minerals, but there is little 
mining, and the methods of farming have been 
little improved in the past decade. Cattle, 
sheep, horses, goats, and the dromedary are the 
principal domestic animals. 

Government. The government of Afghan¬ 
istan is a monarchy, semi-feudal in form, and 
the chief ruler is known as the ameer, who is 
a hereditary prince and whose power is abso¬ 
lute. Habib Ullah, the present ruler, has given 
encouragement to the construction of canals 
for irrigation, and has fostered the building of 
highways, bridges, and fortifications. Railroad 
and telegraph construction were long excluded 
on the ground that it is opposed to public pol¬ 
icy, and trade is still carried on largely by 
camels and ponies, though wheeled vehicles are 
employed where highways have been built. In- 


AFGHANISTAN 


29 


AFRICA 


dia and Russia have had most of the trade, and 
both countries operate railway lines to the 
boundary, Russia from Merv on the north and 
the English through British Baluchistan on the 
south. Foreign enterprise has resulted in the 
construction of railways to some of the chief 
commercial cities, and there has been a percep¬ 
tible extension of export and import trade. 
Most of the industries, particularly manufactur¬ 
ing, are in the hands of Europeans. 

Inhabitants. The word Afghan is of Per¬ 
sian origin, and the people themselves apply file 
term Vilayet, which signifies the original land 
of ancestors. The inhabitants are divided into 
numerous clans, of which the Ghilzais are the 
most numerous and the bravest. In their hands 
is the political ascendency, and they occupy the 
country between Herat and Kandahar. It is 
thought that the Tafiks are the aborigines. They 
speak a Persian dialect, are scattered over the 
whole country, and are a frugal, industrious 
class. The Hazaras are of Mongol type and 
occupy chiefly the mountains of the northwest. 
Afghans proper, who are allied in blood to the 
Persians, constitute the larger part of the in¬ 
habitants. In language they have retained the 
essential characteristics of the Iranic group of 
the Indo-Persian, but the spoken tongue is 
mixed with various Oriental dialects, and is 
written in Persian characters. The literature 
does not date back farther than the 15th century, 
and as a whole partakes largely of Persian 
features. Mohammedanism of the Sunnite sect 
is the chief religion, and much of the literature 
is based on the Koran. 

History. The history of Afghanistan is an 
account of a mass of mixed elements held loose¬ 
ly together in one government. Most Afghans 
claim direct descent from King Saul and pro¬ 
fess to be Bani-lsrael, and their features show 
Jewish connection. The name was first found 
in the history of Sultan Mahmud, of the 11th 
century, and it is known that Alexander the 
Great reached India by the Kabul River. They 
were in the present country in the 13th century, 
and for a century and a half under Mongol rule, 
but later were under the dominion of the Per¬ 
sians. While the Persian people were in a state 
of discord, they attained independent power, 
and after the death of Nadir Shah finally be¬ 
came liberated from the Persian dominion by 
the Abdalli leader, Amed Khan, in the 18th 
century. 

Dost Mohammed became ameer in 1826, hav¬ 
ing defeated Shah Suiah, who escaped to In¬ 
dia and carried on futile intrigues to regain his 
sovereignty. In 1838 Afghanistan was invaded 
by a British army. Dost Mohammed lost his 
throne as a result of the invasion, but regained 
it two or three years later and reigned until 
1863, when he was succeeded by Shere Ali 
Khan. A second British invasion occurred in 
1878, when the ameer fled to Turkestan and 
was succeeded by his son, Yakub Khan, who 


concluded a treaty with the British and later 
with the Russians. Abdurrahman (q. v.) was 
accepted as ameer by the Afghan chiefs in 1880 
and ruled successfully until his death in 1901. 
He was succeeded by his eldest son, Habib 
Ullah, who inaugurated reform by increasing 
the efficiency of the army and improving the 
system of taxation. The country occupies a 
position of importance between the territory of 
Great Britain and Russia, hence its political 
fortunes are uncertain. 

AFRAGOLA (a-fra-go'la), a city in Italy, 
five miles southeast of Naples, with which it is 
connected by a railroad. It is noted for its 
manufactures of straw goods. Population, 1921, 
22,419. 

AFRICA (af'ri-ka), a grand division in 
the Eastern Hemisphere, the second in size of 
the grand divisions, being exceeded only by 
Asia. Its length from north to south is about 
5,000 miles, and the greatest breadth across the 
Sudan is about 4,500 miles. The area com¬ 
prises 11,514,985 square miles, about three times 
the size of Europe, and there is a coast line 
of fully 15,000 miles. The shape is that of an 
irregular triangle, with the vertex to the south. 
It is separated from Europe by the Mediterra¬ 
nean Sea, and from Asia by the Red Sea and 
the Gulf of Aden, and the only connection with 
other grand divisions is with Asia by the Isth¬ 
mus of Suez, through which the Suez Canal 
has been cut. The eastern shore is washed by 
the Indian Ocean, and the western by the At¬ 
lantic. 

Outline and Islands. Among the larger 
gulfs and bays are the gulfs of Sidra and Cabes 
on the north; Suez, Aden, and Delagoa on the 
east; Algoa Bay on the south, and the Gulf of 
Guinea on the west. The more prominent capes 
include Bon and Blanco in the Mediterranean, 
Guardafui on the Atlantic, Cape of Good Hope 
and Agulhas on the southern extremity, and 
Capes Verde and Blanco on the western shore. 
The four capes of Guardafui, Agulhas, Verde, 
and Blanco (in the Mediterranean) are the ex¬ 
treme points of the grand division. Few im¬ 
portant islands and groups of islands belong to 
Africa, the most important being Madagascar, 
which is separated from the continent by Mo¬ 
zambique Channel. Among the chief islands 
are the Cape Verde Islands, St. Helena, St. 
Thomas, the Canaries, Fernando Po, Madeira, 
Ascension, Mauritius, and Prince’s Island. 

Physical Features. The surface of Africa 
is mostly elevated, but not lofty, only three 
mountain regions having their summits above 
the snow-line. The southeastern one-third of 
the grand division is an elevated plateau, slop¬ 
ing largely toward the northwest, with a cen¬ 
tral elevation extending from the equatorial 
lakes to the Strait of Gibraltar. It may be said 
that a generally elevated region extends from 
the vicinity of Mount Kilimanjaro to the Med¬ 
iterranean shore in Algeria. On the seacoast, 



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RELIEF MAP OF AFRICA 









AFRICA 


31 


AFRICA 


along both sides of the continent, are plains 
more or less clearly defined. The surface in the 
northwest of the northern elevation descends 
toward the Atlantic nearly to the sea level, 
while to the east of it are portions below the 
surface of the Mediterranean. From the Med¬ 
iterranean Sea to the southern extremity of the 
continent, along the eastern coast, extends the 
predominating mountain system. It is most 
highly elevated near the center, on the plateaus 
of Kaffa and Abyssinia, and in the region ex¬ 
tending between Lake Victoria Nyanza and the 
Indian Ocean. The highest points are the vol¬ 
canic peaks of Kenia and Kilimanjaro, both sit¬ 
uated east of Lake Victoria Nyanza, whose 
estimated heights are about 20,000 feet. The 
highlands extending southward from Kiliman¬ 
jaro are known as the Drakensberg Mountains, 
which culminate in peaks 10,000 feet high, and 
extend southward to the Cape of Good Hope. 
The Abyssinian plateau has a general elevation 
of from 6,000 to 8,000 feet, the highest peaks 
being about 15,000 feet. In the south are the 
Snow Mountains, with peaks of over 10,000 
feet; on the west the Mocambe and Crystal 
Mountains, extending from the south to the 
Gulf of Guinea, and north of these are the 
volcanic peaks of the Cameroons, with altitudes 
approximating 13,000 feet. Along the northern 
shore of the Gulf of Guinea extend the Kong 
Mountains, and in the extreme north of Africa 
are the Atlas Mountains. 

Rivers and Lakes. Africa possesses some of 
the greatest rivers of the world, among them 
the Nile, 3,900 miles long, the Congo, 2,800 
miles, and the Zambezi, Niger, Orange, Lim¬ 
popo, Tana, Juba, and Senegal. - The rivers 
have their sources largely in the equatorial 
regions, where moisture is abundant. There 
also are located the principal lakes, including 
Lakes Tchad, Victoria Nyanza, Nyassa, Albert 
Nyanza, Albert Edward, Bangwedo, Tanganyika, 
Tzana, and Leopold. The fertility of the lake 
region is equaled only by the equatorial regions 
of South America. In these regions of the two 
continents thrives the most luxuriant vegeta¬ 
tion of the world. Both toward the north and 
south of the equatorial region of Africa the 
rainfall diminishes and vegetation gradually de¬ 
creases, and dense forests give way to shrubs 
and grasses. To the north this region is known 
as the Sudan, while in the south is includes 
the grass country of the Zambezi River. Be¬ 
yond these north and south lie deserts; the 
great Sahara on the north, and the Kalahari on 
the south. The extensive Sahara Desert (q. v.) 
is not a total sandy waste, but has a great va¬ 
riety of surface, rocky and mountainous in 
some regions, and level and fairly fertile in 
others. 

Productions. In the western part of Africa 
vegetation is extensive and quite varied, par¬ 
ticularly along the northern shores of the Gulf 
of Guinea and in the region of the Gambia and 


Senegal rivers. The desert regions contain 
numerous fertile oases, where grows the date 
palm, a tree of vast value on account of its food 
product for the natives and their animals. I;i 
the equatorial region the banana is the chief 
product. A large variety of European agricul¬ 
tural products are cultivated on the shores of 
the Mediterranean, while ebony and fine cabinet 
woods abound in the forests. In the valley of 
the Nile agriculture is the chief occupation, 
but the methods are very primitive as compared 
with those prevailing in Europe and America. 
The soil is not plowed as in the highly civilized 
countries, but the work is done with rude ma¬ 
chinery or the seeds are scattered and then 
trampled into the soil by oxen, though in some 
regions newer methods and machinery have 
gone into use. Extensive dikes and ditches 
have been built in many parts of the Nile valley, 
and other improvements have been made by 
which the water of the river may be utilized in 
irrigating the land. Southern Egypt contains 
some of the largest irrigation reservoirs main¬ 
tained in the world, thus making it possible to 
utilize for agriculture and stock-raising areas 
formerly arid and sterile. The productions of 
this region include rice, cotton, corn, wheat, 
sugar-cane, live stock, and semi-tropical fruits. 
In the southern part of Africa agriculture, min¬ 
ing, and manufacturing have been developed 
largely by European people, who are rapidly in¬ 
troducing the modern appliances in all avenues 
of industry and civilized art. 

Minerals and Trade. Africa is rich in all 
kinds of minerals, though its geology is not 
known sufficiently to form a reliable outline of 
the extent of its mineral wealth. Diamonds 
in the rough valued at about $460,000,000 have 
been taken out of the fields in the vicinity of 
Kimberley since they were opened in 1868. Coal 
deposits abound in the region of the Zambezi 
River and other sections. Johannesburg is the 
center of the gold fields, where mines were 
opened in 1883. and the annual product is valued 
at nearly $60,000,000. Iron, copper, lead, granite, 
and many excellent building stones are widely 
distributed. The ivory and rubber trade con¬ 
tinues to be important, especially in the west- 
central region lying along the Gulf of Guinea 
and inland from that section. Chief among the 
exports are ostrich feathers, gold, diamonds, 
wool, ivory, hides, and fruits. Machinery, tex¬ 
tiles, farming utensils, and drugs are imported. 
The exports for 1908 are placed at $378,650,000, 
and imports at $410,584,000. Great Britain and 
Germany had the largest share of trade, but 
important trade relations are maintained with 
the United States, France, Holland, Portugal, 
and Italy. 

Transportation. Railroad building is an im¬ 
portant factor in the development of African 
trade, there being 15,450 miles in operation, and 
several thousand miles are projected and have 
been surveyed. The greatest single railway line 


AFRICA 


32 


AFRICA 


projected is to extend from Cape Town to 
Cairo, a distance of 6,600 miles. One-half of 
this line is completed, and the entire enterprise 
is expected to be finished by the year 1912. From 
Cape Town to the region beyond the Zambezi, 
which is about 1,950 miles, has been completed, 
and there are numerous branches into fertile 
regions. The line from Cairo to Khartum, 
1,300 miles, is in successful operation, and tele¬ 
graph connection extends much farther to the 
interior. The. government of Egypt has given 
material encouragement to railroad and tele¬ 
graph building, which is also true of Great 
Britain, France, Germany, and other European 
countries having African colonies. The esti¬ 
mated cost of the Cape-to-Cairo railway is 
placed at $120,000,000. It is to extend north 
from Bulawayo along the east shore of Lake 
Tanganyika, passing through German East Afri¬ 
ca, thence it will extend through British East 
Africa and follow the course of the Blue Nile 
to Khartum. The navigation of the Nile, Niger, 
Congo, and other streams, and on the equatorial 
lakes, is an important factor in developing trade. 
Transportation has also been improved by the 
building of wharfs and the deepening of har¬ 
bors. 

Animal Life. Among the animals peculiar to 
Africa are the cape buffalo, two-horned rhino¬ 
ceros, zebra, gorilla, quagga, gnu, giraffe, hyena, 
deer, aard-wolf, and many species of monkeys. 
The camel thrives throughout the desert region; 
the elephant is found in the central portion; 
crocodiles and hippopotami are met with in near¬ 
ly all the great rivers, and the lion is common to 
all parts not inhabited by Europeans. An abun¬ 
dance of fish is common to the rivers and lakes, 
while ostriches roam in flocks upon the plains. 
In the warmer parts of Africa, as in all tropical 
regions, many varieties of insect pests prevail. 
The locust has been a scourge in some parts 
from remote antiquity, while vegetable and 
animal life is preyed on more or less by the 
scorpion, zebub fly, many species of ants, and 
other insects. All the domestic animals com¬ 
mon to Europe and America have been success¬ 
fully introduced in the regions partly or wholly 
occupied by Europeans, and there are consider¬ 
able interests in raising buffaloes, elephants, and 
ostriches. 

Inhabitants. In population Africa occupies 
third place among the grand divisions, being ex¬ 
ceeded only by Asia and Europe. The most 
accurate estimates made in 1922 place the total 
population at 148,388,682. Most of the vast 
populations are still savages, and are not well 
known to the civilized world. The people in 
the northern region may be classed as Hamitic 
and Semitic, while in the central and southern 
sections the natives belong to the Hottentot and 
Negro races. The Bushmen, Kaffirs, Flottentots, 
and Hereros are the more important peoples 
of the southwestern sections. In the interior 
the different tribes are frequently at war with 


each other, though their primitive method of 
warfare is not particularly destructive. The 
weapons of the natives consist largely of such 
implements as clubs and spears, with which 


AFRICAN NATIVES 

they have shown great valor in the hopeless 
battles against conquest by the Europeans. As 
to religion, the people of Africa are classed 
largely as pagans and Mohammedans, though 
the Christian religion is professed by descend¬ 
ants of Europeans and by the people of some 
portions of Abyssinia and Eg}q>t, and an effec¬ 
tive missionary work is in successful progress. 

Social Conditions. The social conditions of 
Africa are transitory, with a tendency some¬ 
what favorable to betterment, though polygamy 
and slavery are still widespread. Human life 
is not safe in large tracts of territory on ac¬ 
count of the government being tribal, life is 
more or less savage, there is an absence of cen¬ 
tral authority, and many of the people are fet¬ 
tered with terrors and superstition. While 
European occupation is gradually tending to bet¬ 
ter social conditions by employment and educa¬ 
tion, many remote sections are densely populated 
by savages who wage persistent war against 
European progress. Flowever, the savage and 
semi-civilized conditions are crumbling rapidly 
before the advance of European enterprise, and 
every department of life and industry is under¬ 
going changes for the higher and better. 

Partition. The partition of Africa has been 
going on for several decades and spheres of 
influence have been fixed to include various 
sections, but boundary lines between the several 
districts have been definitely fixed by only a 
number, and the remaining boundaries are yet 
to be established by surveys. At this time the 
following may be regarded approximately cor¬ 
rect African possessions under the control of 
European powers: 


COUNTRY 

POPULA¬ 

TION 

SQUARE 

miles 

France . 

32,800,000 

41,650,000 

15,350,000 

9,050,000 

1,250,000 

450,000 

135,500 

3,950,000 

2,690,000 

1,000,000 

798,000 

400,100 

198,800 

81,000 

Great Britain. 

Germany (Before the War). 
Portugal . 

Turkey. 

Italy. 

Spain. 























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(. Political ) 

Scale. 

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Capitals of Countries ☆ Other Cities • 

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AFRICA 


33 


AGAMEMNON 


The only independent states are Liberia and 
Abyssinia, Morocco having become a possession 
of France by treaty with Germany in 1911. 

Egypt, since 1914, has been a protectorate 
under British control, and Great Britain and 
Egypt exercise concurrent jurisdiction over 
Eastern Sudan. The British colonies include 
Cape Colony, Transvaal, Rhodesia, British East 
Africa, British Central Africa, Natal, Gambia, 
Lagos, Orange River Colony, Gold Coast, Masho- 
naland, Matabeleland, Sierra Leone, Nigeria, 
British Somaliland, Uganda, Walfisch Bay, Zu- 
luland, and Zanzibar. 

France possesses the largest scope of territory 
in Africa and also has Madagascar. Its posses¬ 
sions are Algeria, Morocco, Tunis, Dahomey, 
French Guinea, French Congo, French Sudan, 
Algerian Sahara, Ivory Coast, Senegal, Sahara, 
French Somaliland, Wadai, and Obock. In 1918 
the British acquired a mandatory over German 
East and Southwest Africa, Kamerun, and To- 
goland. The colonies of Portugal are Angolia, 
Portuguese Guinea, and Portuguese East Africa. 
Italy has Eritrea and Italian Somaliland. Span¬ 
ish Congo and Rio d’ Oro are Spanish colonies. 
The colonies of Turkey are Barca and Tripoli. 

History. The history of Africa'dates back 
to remote antiquity, in fact Egypt and Abyssinia 
ranked as ancient in the period when Greece 
attained to its height of power. It is uncertain 
when its historical era begins, possibly as far 
back as 5,000 b. c. The Romans came in con¬ 
tact with people who occupied the section of 
Northern Africa extending from the Red Sea 
to the Atlantic. Carthage reached its zenith 
before the rise of the Roman Empire. Cam- 
byses conquered Egypt in 525 b. c. and Alex¬ 
ander the Great made a successful conquest of 
that country in 321 b. c., but even subsequent to 
the latter conquest the Egyptians were patrons 
of the arts and sciences. In the time of Solo¬ 
mon, about 1000 b. c., the Queen of Sheba visited 
Palestine, and at that time Ethiopia, now Abys¬ 
sinia, ranked as a country of antiquity. Central 
and Southern Africa were less known for the 
reason that the powerful nations bordering on 
the Mediterranean prevented the exploration 
of the interior. Christianity was introduced 
into Africa in the second century, when synods 
were founded at Carthage and Alexandria. The 
Vandals invaded the northern section in the sec¬ 
ond century, at which time Ptolemy flourished in 
Alexandria. The maps of Ptolemy indicate that 
the Nile basin was quite well known in his time, 
and he gave a fairly accurate account of the 
mountains and some rivers in the west central 
part of the continent. At the time of the Cru¬ 
sades Northern Africa was occupied by the 
Mohammedans and became a battle ground 
between the Cross and the Crescent, though 
the interior was not entered by Europeans at 
that time. In the 15th century the Normans 
visited the Gold Coast and in 1413 built a fort 
at Elmina. 


Modern exploration of Africa may be said 
to have commenced in the year 1415, when 
Prince Henry of Portugal invaded Northern 
Africa and defeated the Moors at Ceuta. This 
stimulated interest in the unknown continent 
and caused explorations to be made both along 
its coast and toward the interior. Bartholomew 
Diaz discovered and sailed around the Cape of 
Good Hope in 1485, and in 1497 Vasco Da Gama 
doubled the Cape and sailed to India. 

The more recent exploration of Africa may 
be said to date from 1768, when James Bruce, 
a Scotchman and consul for Great Britain at Al¬ 
giers, began an exploration of the valley of the 
Nile. Mungo Park, also a Scotchman, in 1795 
explored the Niger country. David Livingstone 
began his famous tour northward from Cape 
Town in 1840 and devoted more than 30 years 
to the exploration of the continent as far north 
as Lake Tanganyika. The peaks of Kenia and 
Kilimanjaro were discovered by the German 
missionaries Krapf and Rebmann in 1847, and 
Heinrich Barth, a German explorer, in 1850-52, 
explored the country from Tripoli to Timbuktu, 
whence he proceeded to Lake Tchad, and re¬ 
turned by way of Tripoli to Europe. Henry M. 
Stanley circumnavigated lakes Tangan)dka and 
Victoria Nyanza in 1873, and about the same 
time two German expeditions under Gerhard 
Rohlf and Dr. Nachtigal explored the region 
from Morocco to the Gulf of Guinea and the 
principal mountains in the Sahara and Sudan. 
The Portuguese made extensive explorations 
of South Central Africa, from Saint Paul de 
Loanda to Mozambique. The map of Africa as 
it appears at the present time is a fair indica¬ 
tion of the explorations by European countries, - 
since the partition of the continent is based 
quite largely on the tours made by explorers, 
though there have been some changes or modi¬ 
fications of boundaries. The present line of 
activity is concerned with the development of 
territory held by European countries, but the is¬ 
sues of the Great European War, which began 
in 1914, had a wide influence upon these devel¬ 
opments, especially upon commerce. 

AFRICAN METHODIST CHURCH, the 
Negro branch of the Methodist Episcopal 
Church, which was organized in 1816. At 
present this branch includes 5,000 ministers and 
a membership of 750,000. The African Metho¬ 
dist Episcopal Zion Church is a branch of the 
African Methodist Church. 

AFRIKANDER (af-ri-kan'der), a term of 
Dutch origin, meaning a white man of Dutch 
descent born in Africa. The term is used to 
distinguish from the word Uitlander, which sig¬ 
nifies a foreigner. 

AGAMEMNON . (ag-a-mem'non), the king 
of Mycenae and Argos, son of Atreus, brother 
of Menelaus, and commander of the allied 
Grecian army at the siege of Troy. In Homer’s 
“Iliad” he is described as a very stately and 
dignified character. He and his brother Mene- 


3 


AGANA 


34 


AGATE 


laus married sisters, the two daughters of the 
king of Sparta, whose names are given as Cly- 
temnestra and Helen. The Trojan Paris carried 
off Helen, thus causing the Trojan War. Aga¬ 
memnon was assassinated after his return to 
Greece from the war with Troy by his wife, 
Cljdemnestra, and her lover, Aegisthus. His 
children, Iphigenia, Electra and Orestes, were 
the favorite subjects of the Greek drama. 

AGANA (a-gan'ya), a city of the Ladrones, 
capital of Guam, located on the Agana Bay. 
Through the city flows a shallow stream, which 
is crossed by several stone bridges. The streets 
are wide and clean. It is the seat of an arse¬ 
nal, a college, and several fine schools and 
churches. Though the bay is obstructed by 
reefs, the city has considerable shipping trade. 
Since its acquisition by the United States, in 
1898, it has been improved by modern facilities, 
such as telephones and electric lights. Popula¬ 
tion, 7,595. 

AGANIPPE (ag-a-mp'pe), a fountain of 
Greece, near Mount Helicon, discharging into 
the river Permessus. From it the Muses derive 
their name Aganippides, and it is said that its 
waters give a poetic inspiration.. 

AGARIC (ag'a-rik), a fungus growth be¬ 
longing to the genus agaricus, of which there are 
numerous species. True agarics have radiant 
gills, tinged with brown, pink, white, purple, or 
black. The common mushroom belongs to this 
class of plants and is cultivated extensively as 
a delicate article of food. Some species are 
popularly called toadstools and a few are dan¬ 
gerous poisons. 

AGASIAS (a-ga'si-as), a Greek sculptor 
of the 4th century b. c., celebrated for the statue 
made by him representing a soldier contending 
with a horseman. It was found in the ruins of 
Antium, and is now in the Louvre collection, 
Paris. This statue is generally known as the 
“Borghese Gladiator.” 

AGASSIZ (ag'a-se), Alexander, geolo¬ 
gist and zoologist, born in Neuchatel, Switzer¬ 
land, Dec. 17, 1835. Pie was the only son of 
Louis Agassiz, under whose guidance he be¬ 
came interested in the natural sciences. In 
1855 he graduated at Harvard University, and 
two years later received a degree from the Law¬ 
rence Scientific School. From 18C0 to 1865 he 
was assistant in the Museum of Comparative 
Zoology at Harvard University, subsequently he 
visited different museums in Europe, and in 1874 
was made curator of the Museum of Compara¬ 
tive Zoology, an institution founded by his 
father. He made a number of trips to collect 
material for museums, especially to Lake Titi¬ 
caca and the coast of Chile, and in 1875 founded 
a private laboratory and salt water aquarium at 
Newport, R. I. In 1866 he became interested 
in copper mining in Upper Michigan, where he 
aided in developing the deposits of the Calumet 
and Hecla mines, which became the most valu¬ 
able copper mining property in the world. He 


gave more than a million dollars to aid the 
study of zoology at Harvard University and 
at other institutions, and was made a member 
of several noted scientific associations. His 
important publications include “North Ameri¬ 
can Starfishes,” “The Cruises of the Blake,” 
“North American Acalephs,” and “Islands 
and Coral Reefs of Fiji.” He died March 27, 1910. 

AGASSIZ, Louis John Rudolph, emi¬ 
nent naturalist, born in Montiers, Switzerland, 
May 28, 1807; died in Cambridge, Mass., Dec. 
14, 1873. His first 
training was at 
home, and then at 
the gymnasium in 
Bienne, but later he 
studied at the uni¬ 
versities of Zurich, 

Heidelb erg, and 
Munich. He was 
fond of natural his¬ 
tory, especially bot¬ 
any. His world-wide 
reputation was made 
by his lectures and 
the excellent work louis John Rudolph 

entitled “Studies of agassiz. 

GF"’ 2 rs.” In 1846 he came to America with 
the rwo-fold design of investigating the geolog¬ 
ical and natural history of the United States 
and delivered a course of lectures on zoology 
at the Lowell Institute. The scientific and pe¬ 
cuniary advantages presented to him in this 
country induced him to settle here and to re¬ 
main till the end of his life. At Harvard he 
became professor of zoology and geology, where 
he created intense interest in the stud}' of 
natural sciences, and attained to wide popularity 
by lecturing in all parts of the country and by 
writing for publication in various periodicals. 
His explorations of Brazil and the Atlantic and 
Pacific shores of North America added many 
natural specimens, and resulted in numerous 
new discoveries in the field of knowledge. While 
in Brazil, he was shown marked courtesy by 
Emperor Pedro II., and in the United States by 
John Anderson, a citizen of New York, who 
gave the island of Penikese and $50,000 to him 
for the purpose of endowing a national school 
of practical sciences. Besides lecturing in Har¬ 
vard College, he was professor in Cornell, and 
added greatly to the Cambridge Museum. His 
influence upon scientific knowledge in the United 
States was far-reaching and profound. He pub¬ 
lished “Fresh-water Fishes,” “Principles of 
Zoology,” and the result of his exploration of 
the lakes, entitled “Lake Superior.” 

AGASSIZ, Mount, a volcanic peak in Ari¬ 
zona, located 70 miles northeast of Prescott. Tt 
is one of several extinct volcanoes of the San 
Francisco Mountains and towers 10,000 feet 
above the level of the sea. A peak of the same 
name in Utah has an elevation of 13,000 feet. 

AGATE (ag'at), the name applied to a 



AGATHOCLES 


35 


AGENT 


stone of the quartz variety, in which the colors 
are in bands, in clouds, or in distinct groupings. 
The principal varieties are known as plasma, 
onyx, mocha, bloodstone, carnelian, and chalced¬ 
ony. The chief constituents are forms of 
silica, and the colorings are due mostly to iron. 
When polished, agates assume a beautiful ap¬ 
pearance, and are used in the manufacture of 
bracelets, seals, and brooches, and in mosaic 
work. They are found in various parts of the 
United States, and in Brazil, India, Arabia, 
Scotland, and particularly at Oberstein, a small 
town near Mentz, Germany. 

AGATHOCLES (a-gath'6-klez), tyrant of 
Syracuse, born in Sicily in 361 b. c. ; died in 
289 b. c. He became a potter under the direc¬ 
tion of his father, but later raised himself to 
a high military rank and became distinguished 
as an orator. In 317 b. c. he obtained more 
power, after the massacre of a large number 
of prominent and wealthy citizens. Subse¬ 
quently he invaded Africa, where he defeated 
the Carthaginians in several engagements, but 
was ultimately defeated and compelled to re¬ 
treat. He died from the effect of a poisoned 
toothpick which had been given to him under 
the direction of Archogathus, his grandson, who 
had made himself powerful by means of an 
insurrection. 

AGAVE (a-ga'va), a genus of plants pop¬ 
ularly known as American aloes, native to 
Mexico and Central America, and now exten¬ 
sively naturalized in Eurasia 
and Northern Africa. There 
are various species, the best 
known being the so-called 
maguey of Mexico. Its 
chief uses are for feed, and 
ropes are made from the 
fiber of the leaves. The 
Mexicans extract its sap, 
which, when fermented, 
yields a beverage resembling 
cider, and is known as 
pulque. 

AGE, a period of time, 
used in a variety of senses, 
but usually to denote the 
whole or part of the dura¬ 
tion of any particular being 
or thing. The term age 
is used in law to designate 
the period at which individuals become eligi¬ 
ble to do what they are otherwise legally 

disqualified from doing for want of years 

or maturity of mind. In England and the 
United States both males and females attain 
legal age at twenty-one, though the latter be¬ 
come of age in most states of the latter coun¬ 
try at eighteen years for some purposes,. as 
contracting marriage, while males are eligible 
to election as representatives of the United 
States at twenty-five years and as senators at 
thirty years. The military age is from eighteen 


to forty-five. The stages of civilization are 
spoken of in history and mythology as five dis¬ 
tinct ages; namely, the Golden Age, the Silver 
Age, the Bronze Age, the Heroic Age, and the 
Iron Age. The term age is also used in various 
expressions, as the Dark Ages, the Middle Ages. 
Geological ages include the Archaean Age, or 
the time which witnessed the dawn of life; the 
Palaeozoic Age, including the time during which 
animals and plants bore little resemblance to 
those now living; the Mesozoic Age, including 
the time during which the animals and plants 
began to resemble those now living; and the 
Cenozoic Age, including the time during which 
the animals and plants bore decided resemblance 
to those now living. These four ages are di¬ 
vided into still other periods or ages, as the 
Archaean into Azoic and Aeozoic Ages, the 
Palaeozoic into the Silurian, Devonian, and 
Carboniferous Ages, and the Cenozoic into the 
Tertiary and Quaternary Ages; the Mesozoic 
comprises the age of reptiles. Shakespeare 
divided the life of man into seven ages, and 
men of science usually divide it into four or 
eight ages. 

AGEN (a-zhan'), a city in France, capital of 
the department of Lot-et-Garonne, 75 miles 
southeast of Bordeaux. It is noted as a market 
for prunes and has cotton, linen, and woolen 
manufactories. It has railroad connection with 
the principal cities of France. The surrounding 
country is fertile. A college, a public library 
of 20,000 volumes, and several fine bridges 
across the Garonne River are among the chief 
improvements. The city was known by the 
Romans as Aginnum. It has a cathedral which 
dates from the time of Clovis, and is the birth¬ 
place of Bory de St. Vincent. Population, 1901, 
22,482; in 1921, 24,548. 

AGENT (a'jent), in law, a person em¬ 
ployed to act for another, called the principal, 
in dealing with third persons. The term is not 
used by Blackstone and occurs rarely in the 
decisions and law dictionaries before the 19th 
century. The term agent differs in meaning 
from the word servant in that the latter is 
applied to one who renders personal services 
to his employer, while an agent is authorized 
to act for and represent another' in business 
transactions. An agent may be special or gen¬ 
eral, the former limiting to special business, 
while a general agent has power to transact 
all of the business in which the principal is en¬ 
gaged as enumerated in the contract, either 
verbal or written, existing between the two 
parties. The form of contract under which 
an agent may be employed varies greatly, but 
in special cases where the agent is authorized 
to sign the name of the principal the contract 
must be in writing and acknowledged under seal 
of a notary public or a similar officer, and in 
such cases the authority conferred is called 
power of attorney. 

The principal is bound by the act of an agent 




AGESILAUS 


36 


AGRA 


when under contract, or in case he has ratified 
the act in the absence of a contract, and is liable 
to the third party in the same way as if he had 
done the act himself. If an agent makes known 
the name of his principal no personal liability 
is incurred by the agent, but if an agent does 
not disclose the principal for whom he is act¬ 
ing, and it is not known by the third party 
that he is acting for someone else, the agent 
himself becomes liable. Both the principal and 
agent are liable to third persons in case the 
agent commits a civil offense, though ultimately 
the liability rests upon the agent, but his princi¬ 
pal cannot be held for a violation of the crimi¬ 
nal code by the agent. If no contract as to 
remuneration exists between the two parties it 
is understood that the agent is to be compen¬ 
sated for his services, including all proper ex¬ 
penditures arising from the conduct of the 
business, but the relations and limitations are 
usually defined in the contract. In most coun¬ 
tries an agent has a lien upon the property in 
his hands held for sale or in his possession for 
delivery to third parties, and it serves as 
security to the agent that the principal will 
carry out his part of the contract, and an agent 
is entitled to damages if the principal does not 
comply with the contract as specified. In like 
manner the agent becomes liable to the princi¬ 
pal for failure to use reasonable diligence in 
carrying out the terms of the agreement. 

AGESILAUS (a-jes-T-la'us), King of Spar¬ 
ta, son of Archedamus II., and successor of 
Agis II. He reigned from the demise of the 
latter in 398 b. c. until his death in 360 b. c. 
At the head of a powerful army he invaded 
Asia Minor and defeated the Persians in 397 
b. c. Three years later he was recalled to 
Greece and commanded the Spartan army 
against the confederate forces of Thebes, 
Athens, and other states of Greece that had 
formed a coalition. The Spartans were de¬ 
feated by the Epaminondas in the Battle of 
Leuctra in 371 b. c., at which Agesilaus was not 
present, but subsequently he successfully de¬ 
fended the city of Sparta against a siege by 
the Epaminondas. Biographies of Agesilaus 
were written by Plutarch and Xenophon, by 
whom he is described as having been of small 
stature, lame, and simple in dress and manner 
of living. 

AGINCOURT (a-zhan-koor'), a village in 
the department of Pas de Calais, France, 
famous for the victory of PTenry V. of Eng¬ 
land over the French on Oct. 25, 1415, after a 
struggle of three hours’ duration. The Eng¬ 
lish army numbered about 15,000 and the 
French 50,000; the latter were commanded by 
Constable D’Albert. The former lost 1,600 
slain and wounded, and the latter 10,000, includ¬ 
ing manv officers. 

AGNEW (ag'nu), Daniel Hayes, surgeon, 
born in Lancaster County, Pa., Nov. 24,1818; died 
March 22, 1892. He studied at Jefferson and 


Newark colleges, graduated at the University 
of Pennsylvania in 1838, and established the 
School of Operative Surgery in Philadelphia. 
For a number of years he was professor in the 
medical department of the University of Penn¬ 
sylvania. His prominence may be attributed to 
his successful surgical practice in connection 
with prominent patients, among them President 
Garfield. Plis writings embrace “Practical 
Anatomy,” “Principles and Practice of Surgery,” 
and Anatomy and Its Relation to Medicine and 
Surgerv.” 

AGNOSTICISM (ag-nos'ti-siz’m), a word 
coined by Professor Huxley, which implies the 
mental attitude in regard to the Deity of those 
who professedly “do not know.” This school 
teaches that, beyond what a man can know of 
God by his senses or feel by higher affections, 
nothing can be known. One who holds to this 
view r is called an agnostic. 

AGNUS DEI (ag'nus de'i), a title ap¬ 
plied to Christ in John i, 29, and used as the 
fifth and last section of the Roman Catholic 
mass. The mass begins with the words “Agnus 
Dei, qui tollis peccata mundi,” meaning “Lamb 
of God, who taketh away the sins of the world.” 
Agnus Dei is the name of a cloth bearing an 
image of a lamb and used in the Greek church 
to cover the cup in the communion service. 
Luther retained the singing of Agnus Dei in 
his reformation of the church service. In 
a modified form it is still used in the Lutheran 
church. 

AGOUTI (a-goo'ti), a small rodent mam¬ 
mal related to the porcupine and common to the 
West Indies and South America. The common 
agouti, about the size of a rabbit, is native to 
Brazil. This animal ravishes on sugar cane and 



vegetables, especially potatoes and yams, hence 
it has been killed in large numbers and the 
species is almost exterminated. The black 
agouti is common to the West Indies. There 
are. nine species, some of which are hunted for 
their flesh, which is white and quite nutritious. 

AGRA (a'gra), a city of India, situated 
783 miles northwest of Calcutta, and 115 miles 
southeast of Delhi. In ancient times the city 
was surrounded by walls that embraced an 
area of about eleven square miles, but of this 
space only about one-half is occupied at present. 










AGRAM 


37 


AGRICULTURAL EDUCATION 


The city is the seat of several noted mosques 
and the Taj Mahal, a mausoleum dating from 
the 17th century, built by Emperor Jehan for 
himself and his favorite wife. Agra is now 
a commercial market for cotton, salt, sugar, 
cereals, and various manufactured articles. 
There are excellent railroad conveniences, gas 
and electric lighting, rapid transit, several schools 
and hospitals, and a number of government 
buildings. It rose to importance in the 16th 
century, and from 1526 to 1658 was the capi¬ 
tal of the Mogul sovereigns. Population, 1,901, 
188,310; in 1922, 188,944 

AGRAM (a'gram), a city in Jugo-Slavia, 
capital of Croatia and Slavonia, 165 miles 
southwest of Vienna. It is located near the 
Save River, at the foot of the Agram Moun¬ 
tains, and is important as a railroad and com¬ 
mercial center. The manufactures embrace 
linen and silk goods, leather, porcelain, and 
clothing, and it has a large trade in wine and 
grain. It is the seat of an archbishop, has a 
Gothic cathedral dating from the 15th century, 
and is the seat of the Franz Josef University. 
The city was founded by the Romans and was 
partially destroyed by the Tartars in 1242. Pop¬ 
ulation, 1921, 57,930. 

AGRARIAN (a-gra'ri-an), the name of a 
political party in Germany, whose avowed prin¬ 
ciples relate to the ownership or tenure of land. 
The subject of legislation in regard to land 
tenure dates from ancient history. Agrarian 
laws in the ancient Roman Republic were advo¬ 
cated and adopted under C. Licinius Stolo in 
367 b. c.j who was then tribune of the people. 
These laws made a division of the lands and 
enabled the plebeians to come into possession 
of titles as well as the patricians. The land to 
which these laws related was public property 
belonging to the state, and not private property, 
as is popularly supposed. However, they pre¬ 
scribed, under a penalty of heavy fines, that 
no one should possess more than 300 acres of 
the public domain. 

AGRICOLA (a-grik'o-la), Cneius Julius, 

eminent Roman general, born at Forum Julii, 
July 13, 37 a. d. ; died Aug. 23, 93. He received 
his military training in Massilia, now Marseilles, 
France, and was given important opportunities 
under Vespasian. His successes in political life 
were won Iargel}'- on account of the conquest of 
Britain to the dominion of Rome, particularly 
because he subdued the southern portion and 
reconciled the Britons to Roman supremacy. He 
not only constructed fortifications, but made 
valuable discoveries by exploring the coasts and 
rivers. The news of his successes inflamed the 
jealousy of Domitian and occasioned his recall 
in 87. After this he lived in retirement and 
refused the office of pro-consulships in Asia and 
Africa, which lay within his choice. His life, 
written by Tacitus, his son-in-law, is regarded 
one of the finest specimens of biography in 
literature. 


AGRICOLA, Rudolphus, eminent educator, 
born at Baflo, Holland, in 1443; died at Heidel¬ 
berg, Germany, Oct. 28, 1485. He studied in 
the chief universities of Europe, attained a 
high scholastic distinction as a teacher in Italy, 
and in 1843 became Professor of Philology and 
Philosophy at Heidelberg. He diffused know¬ 
ledge of Greek in Germany, made popular the 
study of classical Latin, and became well 
known as a student of music and theology. His 
writings are devoted chiefly to the improvement 
of the spoken language and the spread of know¬ 
ledge in literature and classical languages. 

AGRICULTURAL EDUCATION, the plan 
or system of instruction designed to dissemi¬ 
nate knowledge of agriculture and render this 
department highly efficient and profitable. While 
instruction in the art of farming and animal 
husbandry dates from antiquity, the agricultu- 
ral. college is a product of the 19th century. 
Originally the plan was to provide institutions 
in which exclusive attention could be given to 
agricultural subjects, in which agriculture was 
designed to be the leading, if not the only 
branch of study, but more recently schools and 
colleges devoted to this subject of learning 
adopted a diversity of courses. Though a col¬ 
lege may be said to belong to the class known 
as agricultural schools, it is now the general 
rule for the faculty to take up a vast diversity 
of subjects, though each student is required to 
pursue study in one or more subjects relating 
especially to agriculture, such as agricultural 
chemistry, live stock husbandry, forestry, bee¬ 
keeping, farm management, rural engineering, 
agricultural technology, etc. Instruction in agri¬ 
culture has been encouraged by all civilized 
countries, even where such training has not been 
provided for in colleges that may be termed 
distinctly agricultural. 

Great Britain. The first college de¬ 
voted to agriculture was established in Eng¬ 
land, near Cirencester, where a company headed 
by Prince Albert in 1845 founded the Royal 
Agricultural College. This institution still holds 
rank as one of the most important institutions 
of the kind in the world, and in attendance 
holds rank with the national school of agricul¬ 
ture at Berlin, Germany. The University of 
Cambridge founded a professorship of agricul¬ 
ture in 1899, and the government renders aid 
to education in agriculture by grants of money 
paid through the Department of Agriculture. 
Canada has a fine institution at Guelph, Ontario. 
A dairy school is maintained in New Brunswick, 
and there are secondary schools of agriculture 
in Quebec and Nova Scotia. Agriculture is 
taught as a branch in the normal and public 
schools in many sections of the Dominion. Aus¬ 
tralian institutions devoted to this branch of 
knowledge are numerous, including those at 
Richmond, New South Wales; at Gatton, 
Queensland; and at Dookie, Victoria. 

United States. The government of the 


AGRICULTURAL EXPER’M’T STAT’N 


38 


AGRICULTURE 


United States has expended large sums of 
money for the establishment of schools of 
agriculture and mechanic arts, in which farming 
is taught as a science. An agricultural col¬ 
lege is now maintained in every State, and these 
are largely in connection with State univer¬ 
sities. The general assemblies of many states 
have also made appropriations to encourage the 
organization of agricultural societies for the 
purpose of aiding in placing the industry upon 
a practical and scientific basis. A large number 
of periodicals devoted to the discussion of dairy¬ 
ing, stock raising, horticulture, farm architec¬ 
ture, care and tillage of the soil, and other 
branches of the industry have come into general 
circulation and have had a molding influence. 
In 1862 Congress passed an act for the purpose 
of aiding in the establishment of colleges of 
agriculture. The act originally provided for the 
payment of $15,000 to each State and Territory, 
which sum has been increased until it now 
amounts to $30,000 per year ior maintenance and 
$15,000 for original research work. About 50,000 
students attend these colleges. 

AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STA¬ 
TION, an institution devoted to the scientific 
and practical investigation for the benefit of 
agriculture and the dissemination of informa¬ 
tion relating to plants and animals. The pur¬ 
pose of governments promoting stations of this 
kind is to diffuse knowledge in regard to 
plants that are useful or injurious to certain 
localities, the plants and animals that thrive 
best under definitely known climatic conditions, 
and the art of cultivating plants and rearing 
animals. The principal stations in Canada are 
at the Agricultural College of Guelph, Ontario, 
and the Central Experimental Farm at Ottawa. 
The latter has branches in Manitoba, British 
Columbia, Nova Scotia, and in several places 
of the Northwest. The station at Rothamsted, 
England, is noted for having made valuable dis¬ 
coveries in the art of fertilizing and the nutri¬ 
tion of plants and animals. Germany and Rus¬ 
sia each have more than one hundred stations, 
chiefly connected with universities. Austria has 
47; Norway and Sweden, 45; Italy, 22; Belgium, 
15; and Japan, 16. 

The first station of this class in the United 
States was established in 1875 by Connecticut, 
at Wesleyan University, Middletown, under the 
direction of W. O. Atwater. About the same 
time E. W. Hilgard was placed in charge of a 
station at the University of California, Berke¬ 
ley, Cal. At present there are fifty-seven 
stations in the United States, supported by the 
national government under the Hatch Act; the 
annual aid extended by the government 
amounts to $720,000, and State governments de¬ 
vote $500,000 to their support. About 700 per¬ 
sons are employed in the administration of the 
stations, and 500 bulletins are distributed for 
gerreral information. The stations and a large 
number of institutions at which agriculture is 


studied, such as agricultural and mechanical 
colleges, are bringing about a deeper interest 
and a more practical application of methods 
tending to render the business of farming more 
lucrative and rural life more genial. Educa¬ 
tion along agricultural lines is also promoted by 
farmers’ institutes, by university extension work, 
by study of courses in common and secondary 
schools, by departments in general college 
courses, and by instruction in universities. 

AGRICULTURE (ag-ri-kul'tur), the sci¬ 
ence that treats of the cultivation of the soil, 
with the view of disseminating knowledge in 
the production of grasses, vegetables, and 
cereal crops. The process of human and 
economical and social development has been 
from a savage state to hunting and fishing; 
from these to a nomadic pastoral state; then 
to a rude form of agriculture, and finally to 
manufacturing and commerce. However, all the 
stages, except the first, are still represented in 
the more advanced countries. Agriculture as 
an industry has existed from a remote period 
of antiquity, and, by practical experience from 
time to time, has been materially bettered by 
improvements in the implements employed and 
a diversification of the crops. It is but recent 
that material success in the occupation of the 
farmer has been thought to result from educa¬ 
tion in the arts and sciences of farming. For 



EGYPTIAN SCULPTURE—PLOWING AND SOWING. 


this reason it may be truly said that agricul¬ 
ture is the oldest of the arts and the most re¬ 
cent of the sciences. 

From sacred history we learn to know Egypt 
as a land so rich in corn that it produced an 
abundance for the sustenance of its own dense 
population, and that it yielded large quantities 
for exportation to distant countries. These 
statements of the Bible are verified by profane 
history. We learn from.Diodorus Siculus that 
Egyptian farmers were acquainted with the 
benefits of a rotation of crops, and that they 
knew how to adapt plants and their cultiva¬ 
tion to both soil and seasons. They transported 
annually to Rome about 20,000,000 bushels of 
corn. The same author informs us that the 
Egyptians garnered hay for their cattle during 
the annual inundations, and at times confined 
the domestic animals to meadows and green 
clover. They were large producers of poultry, 
and, to facilitate the industry, practiced arti¬ 
ficial hatching, not unlike incubating of mod¬ 
ern times. Their flocks were shorn twice an¬ 
nually and their ewes yeaned twice a year. 
From Egyptian decorations we obtain a fair 
insight into the state of agriculture among these 
remarkable people. They employed a superin- 



AGRICULTURE 


39 


AGRICULTURE 


tendent to direct laborers, kept account of pro¬ 
ductions and expenditures, and showed much 
system in husbandry. Corn was ground by 
hand-mills or in structures propelled by oxen, 
seed was sown by hand from a basket, and the 
ground was cultivated both before and after 
scattering the seeds. 

Babylonia, Egypt, Rome, and the Israelites 
were the great agricultural nations of antiquity. 
In Egypt the Israelites were trained for an 
agricultural life, which fitted them to take pos¬ 
session of Canaan, where virtually the whole 
population engaged in tilling the soil. They 
found Canaan occupied by a dense population 
fortified in cities. The Canaanites possessed 
great wealth and subsisted on the products of 
their highly cultivated soil, which gave forth 
cereals, supported large herds of cattle, and 
abounded with vineyards and oliveyards. The 
Israelites found sufficient corn in the land to 
sustain them from the time they crossed the 
Jordan. As the laws of Moses contained an 
agrarian clause which provided for an equal 
division of the soil among adult males, pro¬ 
visions were made to allot from sixteen to 
twenty-five acres of the land to each of the 
601,730 able-bodied men among the Israelites. 

The people of Greece were given to poetry, 
philosophy, history, and the fine arts, and their 
unrivaled literature affords us little information 
regarding the practical details of agriculture. 
This circumstance is accounted for at least 

partly by the 
fact that Greece 
possesses a sur¬ 
face quite unfa¬ 
vorable to agri¬ 
culture. How¬ 
ever, we find 
that in Boeotia 
the lakes and 
morasses were 
drained, that 
mountain sur¬ 
faces were cov¬ 
ered with trans- 
primitive method of cutting ported soil, and 
grain. that the people 

possessed fine breeds of domestic animals. In 
ancient Rome agriculture was highly esteemed, 
and it was only at a later period that commerce, 
trades, and the arts were introduced. In recent 
centuries, beginning with the 18th, agriculture 
has been augmented scientifically, and farmers 
have become more skillful and enterprising. 
Perhaps this may be accounted for because of 
a gradual advance in the price of produce, 
which has been occasioned by the increase of 
population and wealth derived from manufactures 
and commerce. Besides, the labor of agriculture 
has been greatly lightened and its cost lessened 
by means of machines and improved imple¬ 
ments. Railroads have brought the farm nearer 
to the factory; that is to say, transportation 


from one to the other has been cheapened and 
quickened. There has been a decided advantage 
in diversifying the products of the farm and in 
naturalizing plants and domestic animals to 
countries favorable to their production. The 
area of tillable surfaces has been greatly aug¬ 
mented by redeeming swamp lands by tile¬ 
draining and other improved methods of drain¬ 
ing, as well as by rendering fit for cultivation 
large tracts in arid regions by means of irriga¬ 
tion. Thus, the field of agriculture has been 
enlarged on the one hand and the consumption 
of farm produce greatly extended on the other. 

Agriculture in the United States and Canada 
has grown to be one of the great industries, 



NEW STYLE OF HARVESTING. 


and as a fundamental enterprise is no doubt 
more important than any other. The 13th census 
of the United States, published June 30, 1910, 
gives the value of all farming property at $40,- 
991,449,090. The following statistics published 
in this report give a clear idea of the growth 
and permanent development of agriculture in 
tfie United States: 


YEAR. 

NUMBER 

OE 

farms. 

NUMBER 
OF ACRES 

in farms. 

AVERAGE 
NO. OF 
ACRES 
PER FARM. 

value of 

Farm 

property. 

1850 .. . 

1 , 449,073 

293 , 560,614 

202.6 

$ 3 , 967 , 343,580 

1860 ... 

2 , 044,077 

407 , 212,538 

199.2 

7 , 980 , 493,063 

1870 ... 

2 , 659,985 

407 , 735,041 

153.3 

11 , 124 , 958,747 

1880 ... 

4 ; 008,907 

536 , 081,835 

133.7 

12 , 180 , 501,538 

1890 ... 

4 , 564,641 

623 , 218,619 

136.5 

16 , 082 , 267,689 

1900 ... 

5 , 737,372 

838 , 591,774 

146.2 

20 . 439 . 901.164 

1921 ... 

6 , 361,502 

878 , 798,325 

138.1 

46 , 991 , 449,090 


It will be observed that there has been a 
marked increase in the number of farms the 
past fifty years, which is more than equaled by 
the increase in value of all farm property, but 
there is a tendency to decrease the number of 
acres per farm as the country becomes developed 
and farming of a higher order is established. 
It is found that in general farming large scopes 
of land are worked by improved farm machin¬ 
ery, the owner or lessee taking advantage of 
cultivating large tracts of land by modern 
methods, but as communities develop.and settle¬ 
ments become more dense there is a tendency 
toward a more careful husbandry, under which 
lands are tiled and fertilized and the production 
per acre is enhanced materially. The possi¬ 
bility of increasing the fertility of the soil is 
fully borne out by experience in every section 
where rotation of crops and improvement in 
fertilization are practiced. Colored farmers 






































AGRICULTURE 


40 


AGRIPPA 


cultivate tracts of land about one-third as large 
as those operated by white farmers, though 13.4 
per cent, belong to the former class and 86.6 per 
cent, to the latter class. The value of farm im¬ 
plements and machinery, in 1920, was $1,265,- 
149,783, of live stock' $4,925,173,610, and of 
buildings $6,325,451,528. 

AGRICULTURE, United States Depart¬ 
ment of, a branch of the government, organized 
by an act of Congress in 1862, and whose chief 
officer, the Secretary of Agriculture, is a member 
of the presidential Cabinet. David P. Holloway 
published the first report as commissioner of 
agriculture, and his recommendation for such a 
department caused it to be established, but the 
chief officer was not a member of the Cabinet 
until 1889. The free distribution of seeds was 
begun by the commissioner of patents in 1836, 
and the practice has been maintained since with 
the view of introducing plants useful to dif¬ 
ferent sections, the kinds depending upon 
climate and locality. The department issues 
bulletins and reports from time to time, which, 
together with the “Year Book,” are published to 
be distributed gratis. 

The Department of Agriculture as at present 
organized is effective in gathering and distrib¬ 
uting knowledge useful in the cultivation of 
soils, the rearing of live stock and the propaga¬ 
tion of plants. Its divisions are numerous, 
making it a serviceable working force. The 
library contains about 75,000 volumes relating 
to agriculture and agricultural science. In con¬ 
nection with it is the division of publication re¬ 
lating to printing, illustrating, and distributing of 
publications. The division of biological survey 
deals with the geographical distribution of ani¬ 
mals ; the division of entomology relates to the 
distribution and repression of injurious insects. 
Experiments and information regarding road¬ 
making are directed from the office of public 
road inquiry, while the division of forestry has 
charge of research relating to forest trees. 
Students of agricultural physics and the investi¬ 
gation of soils are under the direction of the 
bureau of soils; research and agricultural chem¬ 
istry, especially fertilizers and food-producing 
plants, are directed by the bureau of chemistry; 
and the bureau of animal industry investigates 
dairying and imports and exports of animals, 
and conducts research on diseases of animals. 
Forecasting weather and research in climatology 
and meteorology are under the direction of the 
weather bureau. The bureau of plant industry 
has charge of the publication and distribution of 
seeds, largely through members of Congress, the 
investigation of fruits adapted to various soils 
and climate, plant-breeding, the distributing and 
utilizing of forage plants, and the testing and 
propagation of useful plants. See United 
States, Departments of. 

AGRIGENTUM (ag-ri -gen'tum), a city on 
the southern coast of Sicily, founded by a Greek 
colony in 582 b. c., now called Girgenti. In an¬ 


cient times it was a rival of Syracuse in com¬ 
mercial importance and military power. The 
Carthaginians destroyed it in 405 b. C., and at 
the time of the Punic Wars it was occupied by 
the Romans. The Saracens had possession of it 
from 825 to 1086 a. d. It has ruins of ancient 
walls and several buildings of the Greek period, 
including the temple of Zeus. Though once a 
city of 200,000 people, its present population is 
only 22,500. 

AGRIMONY (ag'ri-mo-ny), the common 
name of a genus of plants belonging to the rose 
family, native to Great Britain and found in the 
southern section of the United States. The 
flowers arc small and yellow and grow in a 
large cluster at the ends of the stems, and the 
whole plant has a bitter taste and slightly aro¬ 
matic smell. The leaves are pinnate and are 
dried for a kind of herb tea, while the roots 
are used as a vermifuge. 

AGRIPPA (a -grip'pa), sometimes called 
Herod Agrippa I., king of Judaea and Chalcis, 
grandson of Herod the Great, born in 10 b. c. ; 
died in 44 a. d. He received a liberal education 
at Rome, lived in elegant style, and gave ex¬ 
travagant entertainments. His money and gifts 
were bestowed so freely on the freedmen of the 
emperor that his debts finally rendered his pres¬ 
ence in the city unsafe, and accordingly he took 
refuge in Idumea. Through the friendship of 
Caligula and Claudius he became ruler over 
large possessions, including Judaea and Chacis. 
While friendly to the Jews, he persecuted the 
Christians. By his orders James, brother of 
John, was beheaded, and Peter was thrown into 
prison. While giving a feast in honor of 
Claudius at Caesarea, the inhabitants of Tyre 
and Sidon petitioned him for peace, and he 
willingly received their flattery and glorification 
as a god. 

AGRIPPA, Heinrich Cornelius, philoso¬ 
pher, born in Cologne, Germany, Sept. 14, 1486; 
died Feb. 18, 1535. He enjoyed the advantages 
of a course of instruction in chemistry, medi¬ 
cine, and philosophy, and about 1510 became 
secretary to Emperor Maximilian I. Subse¬ 
quently he took part in military operations in 
Italy, was knighted for bravery in serving 
against the Venetians, and later became pro¬ 
fessor of physics in Pavia. Agrippa is the 
author of several valuable works on philosophy. 
He visited France at the invitation of Francis I. 

AGRIPPA, Marcus Vipsanius, Roman gen¬ 
eral and statesman, born in 63 b. c., died in 12 
B. c. He descended from an obscure family, but 
obtained a liberal education, being a classmate 
of Octavianus, afterward Augustus. After the 
death of Julius Caesar, he accompanied Octa¬ 
vianus to Rome, where he received an important 
military command, serving at different times in 
Italy and Gaul. In 31 b. c. he took a prominent 
part in the Battle of Actium, and afterwards ac¬ 
companied Octavianus to Spain and Gaul. He 
was tribune from 18 b. c. until his death. To 


AGUE 


41 


AIMARD 


him Rome owes the erection of many public 
buildings, among them many government struc¬ 
tures, and the restoration of aqueducts and of 
the Pantheon. 

AGUE (a'gu), an intermittent fever accom¬ 
panied by paroxysms, which occur at regular 
intervals. It is caused by effluvia from the 
surface of the earth, and is confined to warm, 
damp climates. Ague does not prevail within 
the polar circles, nor in arid and elevated 
regions. The malady is rather more trouble¬ 
some than dangerous. Quinine, calomel, and 
cinchona bark are preventives. Ague contracted 
in London caused the death of James I. and 
Oliver Cromwell. 

AGUINALDO (a-gwm-al'do), Emilio, Fili¬ 
pino leader and statesman, born in the Philip- 
nine Islands about 1868. He attained to consid¬ 
erable skill in educa¬ 
tional and military 
arts, and by reason 
of personal worth 
and ability soon ac¬ 
quired considerable 
influence in the rev- 
olutionary war 
against Spain. 
Though at Hong 
Kong for some time, 
he returned to Ma¬ 
nila in 1898 with the 
avowed purpose of 
emilio aguinaldo. aiding the United 
States against the common enemy in the 
Spanish-American War. After rendering ser¬ 
vices in and about Manila, he became estranged 
from the officers of the United States, and was 
made the leader of a formidable movement look¬ 
ing to the absolute independence of the Philip¬ 
pines. In June, 1898, he was proclaimed presi¬ 
dent, and a provisional government was organ¬ 
ized. Hostilities between the Filipino forces 
and those of the United States continued with 
more or less effect until March 23, 1901, when 
Aguinaldo was taken prisoner in the Province 
of Isabella, in the island of Luzon, by a United 
States force under Gen. Frederick Funston. 
Subsequently he took the oath of allegiance to 
the United States, and has shown much interest 
in the development of industrial arts. Aguinaldo 
is not only an able speaker, but contributed 
several thoughtful documents on government, 
which were published in the Independencia and 
other journals. 

AGULHAS (a-gool'yas) Cape, the most 
southern point of Africa, situated about ninety- 
eight miles east of the Cape of Good Hope. Its 
highest elevation is 455 feet above sea level. 
In 1849 a lighthouse fifty-two feet above high 
water was built on its shore. 

AHAB (a'hab), king of Israel from 918 to 
879 b. c., son and successor of Omri. His wife 
Jezebel persuaded him to introduce the Phoeni¬ 
cian worship of Baal. Later he became a fervid 


supporter of idolatry, and cruelly persecuted 
the priests and prophets of Jehovah. There¬ 
upon Elijah openly attacked the priests of Baal, 
reproved the king, and prophesied severe pun¬ 
ishment. Ahab was killed by an arrow in a 
campaign against the King of Syria, and King 
Jehu afterward extinguished his entire family. 

AHASUERUS (a-haz-u-e'rus), the name of 
two kings of Media and Persia written of in the 
Bible. One of these, mentioned in the Book of 
Esther, is probably identical with the Artax- 
erxes Longimanus of the Greek historians, who 
began to reign in 456 b. c. The other, men¬ 
tioned in Ezra iv, 6, is thought to be another 
name for Cambyses, the successor of Cyrus to 
the throne of Persia, in 529 b. c. 

AHAZ (a'haz), King of Judah, who reigned 
sixteen years, from 741 to 725 b. c. At the time 
of his reign Pekah, King of Israel, and Rezin, 
King of Syria, formed an alliance to conquer 
Judah. To repel the invaders he secured the 
assistance of Tiglath-Pileser, King of Assyria, 
who destroyed the power of Syria, but exacted 
heavy tribute for the service rendered. Ahaz 
was a weak-minded king, and his rule was 
rather unsuccessful. The prophet Isaiah severe¬ 
ly denounced him for his weakness and for 
burdening the country with excessive taxes. 

AHAZIAH (a-ha-zi'a), the fifth king of 
Judah, grandson of Ahab and Jezebel. During 
his short reign of one year he was under the 
control of his mother, Athaliah, and was slain 
by Jehu. The eighth king of Israel bore the 
same name. This monarch succeeded his father, 
Ahab, and was controlled by his mother, the 
ambitious Jezebel. His death was caused by a 
fall from the roof of his palace. 

AHN (an), Johann Franz, eminent educator, 
born in Aix-la-Chapelle, Germany, Dec. 15, 
1796; died Aug. 21, 1865. He ranked as an 
eminent teacher in several Realschulen, and held 
school offices in his native city and at Neuss. He 
is best known as author of texts for teaching 
languages. His French grammar for Germans 
has gone through over 200 editions. Ahn’s 
method to teach a foreign language follows the 
natural course by which a child learns to 
speak, and in it example is made to precede the 
rule. Besides publishing numerous text-books 
in grammar, he wrote several handbooks in 
conversation and published “Poetry of Ger¬ 
many.” 

AID-DE-CAMP (ad'de-kan), a superior con¬ 
fidential attendant upon a general in active serv¬ 
ice, whose duty is to receive orders and com¬ 
municate them to others. He exercises this func¬ 
tion while battles are in progress, and at other 
times acts as secretary and confidential agent. 

AIMARD ( a-mar'), .Gustave, novelist, born 
in Paris, France, Sept. 13, 1818; died June 20, 
1883. He removed to the United States when a 
boy, and during a residence of ten years in 
Arkansas and Mexico gathered much material 
regarding life among the Indians. Subsequently 





AINMILLER 


42 


AIR BRAKE 


he traveled in Spain and Turkey, and served as 
an officer in the French Army during the 
Franco-German War. His writings include “The 
Adventurers,” “Lynch Law,” and “The Arkansas 
Trappers.” 

AINMILLER (in'mil-ler), Max Emanuel, 

painter, born in Munich, Germany, Feb. 14, 
1807; died Dec. 9, 1870. He attended the 
Munich Academy, where he made a special 
study of painting stained glass, and in 1844 was 
made director of the government manufactory 
of stained glass. His chief work was in the 
cathedrals of Ratisbon, Cologne, and the Uni¬ 
versity Church at Cambridge, England. He 
painted forty windows in the cathedral at Glas¬ 
gow, Scotland, in which one hundred scriptural 
and historical pictures are displayed. There are 
splendid specimens of his work in the National 
Gallery at Berlin and in churches in Munich 
and Nuremberg. Ainmiller is reputed the re¬ 
storer of glass painting. 

AINO ( i'no), or Ainu, the name of an 
aboriginal people of Japan, found chiefly in 
Yezo, Saghalien, and the Kurile Islands. 
Though classed as uncivilized or barbarian, they 
are of a mild and amiable disposition. In 
stature they are short, averaging about five feet 
in height, but are active and strong. Hunting 
and fishing are their chief occupations. The 
complexion is dark brown or black. They are 
in general v-ery hairy, the men wearing long 
beards. It is thought they were driven north 
by the advance of the Japanese, but more re¬ 
cently they have learned from their superiors, 
and many have been converted to the Protestant 
religion. It is estimated that the total number 
of Ainos does not exceed 15,000. 

AINSWORTH (anz'wurth), William Har¬ 
rison, novelist, born at Manchester, England, 
Feb. 4, 1805; died Jan. 3, 1882. At an early 
age he became interested in writing ballads and 
tales, and studied law with the view of engag¬ 
ing in that profession, but later decided to be¬ 
come a publisher. His first writings were con¬ 
tributed to the London Magazine and other 
periodicals, and in 1826 he began a publishing 
business in London, in which year he completed 
his first novel, “Sir John Chiverton.” His second 
novel, “Rookwood,” gave him his reputation as 
a writer. He was particularly strong in weav¬ 
ing the fashionable and vividness into his works. 
Among his publications are “Star Chamber,” 
“Cardinal Pole,” “Merrie England,” “John Law, 
the Projector,” and “Beau Nash.” In 1842 he 
began publishing Ainsworth’s Magazine. 

AINTAB (in-tab'), a city of Asiatic Turkey, 
in northern Syria, 60 miles north of Aleppo. It 
is important as a military post and is the seat 
of a Protestant missionary station for work 
among the Armenians. Being located on the 
route from Aleppo to Armenia, it has an im¬ 
portant trade, especially in cotton and leather. 
The inhabitants are chiefly Armenians and 
Greek Christians. Population, 44,500. 


AIR, the gaseous substance, composed of 
oxygen and nitrogen, which surrounds the earth. 
It is elastic, and is destitute of taste, color, and 
smell. Pure air is a mechanical mixture, con¬ 
taining by weight 23.10 parts of oxygen and 
76.90 nitrogen, and by volume 20.90 of oxygen 
and 79.10 of nitrogen. To these must be added 
a nearly constant quantity of carbonic acid, 
usually about five or six parts to every 10,000 
parts of air, and a very variable portion of 
watery vapor. Owing to a property of the 
gases called diffusion, these gaseous ingredients, 
though of different densities, are found in the 
same relative proportions at all heights. The 
oxygen and carbonic acid are the most important 
of the gases. Oxygen is necessary to the exist¬ 
ence of animal life, since it supports combustion 
and respiration; carbonic acid is necessary to 
the existence of plant life, as it is composed of 
carbon and oxygen, and is the source from 
which vegetation derives its woody fiber. In in¬ 
spiration animals take in oxygen and give out 
carbonic acid; in sunlight plants take in car¬ 
bonic acid and give out oxygen. This serves to 
maintain the relative proportion of substances 
necessary to the existence of animal and plant 
life. 

Air is elastic; that is, it may be compressed 
so a given quantity may occupy a smaller 
volume than it does in nature, and, when the 
pressure is removed, it again assumes its orig¬ 
inal volume. It expands when heated and con¬ 
tracts when cooled. The oxygen of air is more 
soluble in water than nitrogen, and the air dis¬ 
solved in water contains about one-tenth more 
oxygen than atmospheric air. The animals 
whose life is sustained by breathing in water, 
such as fish and polyps, and plants that thrive 
in water, take in oxygen less diluted with 
nitrogen, but more with water. The air in 
cities is less pure than in the country districts, 
since it is polluted by the breathing of large 
populations, and there are fewer plants to sup¬ 
ply oxygen. In illy-drained districts, where 
miasma arises to pollute the air and gases from 
sewers and other impurities tend to poison it, 
the public health is endangered. A large number 
of persons breathing without sufficient ventila¬ 
tion soon poison the air by consuming the supply 
of oxygen and replacing it with carbonic acid 
gas. Thus, the ventilation of public buildings 
becomes a subject for considerate study, since 
health and public comfort depend largely upon 
the existence of pure air in sufficient quantities. 
See Atmosphere. 

AIR BRAKE, a brake operated by condensed 
air, and used extensively on railway and street 
railway cars. The first patent on the air brake 
was issued in 1869 to George Westinghouse, an 
American engineer, but since that' time it has 
been greatly improved. The first invention was 
what is known as the straight air brake, and in 
1873 the automatic air brake was invented, 
which has an auxiliary reservoir and a triple 


AIR CELLS 


43 


AIR PLANT 


valve as well as a train pipe and brake cylinder, 
thereby causing resistance to the several cars 
of a train instead of only to the forward cars, 
as was the case in the straight air brake. In 
1897 a high-speed brake was placed on the 
market, which is used on passenger trains of 
very high speed. It uses very high air pres¬ 
sure when the train is at full speed, and by an 
automatic reducing valve the pressure is grad¬ 
ually reduced as the speed of the train dimin¬ 
ishes. There are several forms of the air 
brake, being designed for light and heavy cars, 
and for cars used on steam railway, cable, and 
electric railway lines. Labor organizations have 
been potent factors in securing the adoption of 
the air brake, and at this time it is very exten¬ 
sively used in Canada and the United States and 
to a less extent in other countries. 

AIR CELLS, in physiology, the cells existing 
in the lungs, where they surround the lobular 
passages. They are very small, rarely exceed¬ 
ing one-hundredth of an inch in diameter. In 
birds they penetrate the quills and bones, thus 
facilitating flight through the air.—Air engine, 
a machine in which heated air is the propelling 
force, that is, air takes the place of steam in a 
steam engine. Air engines have an advantage 
over steam engines in that air can be raised 
with safety to a higher temperature than steam, 
and they have been found of much utility in 
mining and tunneling.—Air shaft, an opening 
from the surface of the earth to some portion 
of the galleries of a mine, constructed for the 
purpose of ventilation. Air shafts should be in 
two parts or at least have two longitudinal 
passages, the one for the ascending vitiated air, 
and the other for the descending pure air. Cir¬ 
culation can be induced by a fan, or by heat 
from a furnace.—Air stove, or furnace, a de¬ 
vice used to generate hot air, which is then 
transmitted by means of an opening to the dif¬ 
ferent apartments of a building.—Air thermome¬ 
ter, an instrument used in measuring the degree 
of heat by means of the expansion of air. Such 
an instrument can be utilized only to measure 
the lower temperatures, and agrees with the 
mercurial thermometer up to 260°, but above 
that point mercury expands more than air. It 
was invented by Santorio, a physician of Padua, 
Italy, in 1590. 

AIR COMPRESSOR, a machine or air 
pump for compressing air by forcing it into a 
closed vessel. In the common bicycle pump, 
which is a simple form of an air compressor, 
there is a valve at the bottom of the cylinder 
opening outward, and in the piston is a valve 
opening downward. The cylinder is filled with 
air when the piston is raised, and the piston 
valve is closed with a downward stroke of the 
piston, hence the cylinder valve is forced open 
and the air escapes into the vessel. The. air 
brake pump, with which nearly all locomotives 
are equipped, is a simple form of power air 
compressors. A 9 p 2 -inch air brake pump con¬ 


sumes one pound of steam at 140 pounds pres¬ 
sure and yields 1.85 cubic feet of air at 90 
pounds pressure, while a 2-stage Corliss air 
compressor with the same steam consumption 
yields 13.7 cubic feet of air at 90 pounds pres¬ 
sure. It will be seen that in the air brake 
pump economy of steam consumption is not 
considered important, since the main considera¬ 
tion is to secure a machine light in weight, small 
in dimensions, and absolutely reliable in action. 
The principle on which air compressors act is 
the same in all machines, but the propelling 
force may be steam, electricity, or water power. 

Otto von Guericke of Magdeburg, Germany, 
invented the air pump in 1650. William Cubitt, 
in 1851, invented the first modern air compressor 
and used it successfully in tunnel construction 
and for bridge work. In his machine and most 
others compressed air is drawn as needed from 
a reservoir, the machine storing it for use as 
required. In mining and tunneling very power¬ 
ful compressors are employed, some exerting a 
pressure of 3,000 pounds to the square inch, and 
the highest known pressure obtained in labora¬ 
tory experiments is 60,000 pounds to the square 
inch. Among other uses, air compressors are 
employed as rock drills, hoisting engines, pol¬ 
ishing machines, sand blast apparatus, pumps, 
molding machines, air brakes on railroad and 
street cars, stone cutting apparatus, coal cut¬ 
ters, machinery in mines and tunnels, etc. 

AIR ENGINE. See Air; Air Cells. 

AIR GUN, an instrument for the projection 
of balls by the elastic force of compressed air, 
usually in the form of an ordinary gun. It con¬ 
tains a metallic globe furnished with a small 
hole and a valve opening into it, which contains 
a condensing syringe. By means of this ap¬ 
paratus the condensation is brought to a point 
of intensity. The globe is then detached from 
the syringe and fastened at the breech of the 
gun, which is of such construction that the valve 
may be opened by means of a trigger. A ball is 
then inserted, and, by pulling the trigger, is 
thrown with considerable force by the elasticity 
of the condensed air. 

AIR PLANT, or Epiphyte, a plant attached 
to another plant and which derives its nourish¬ 
ment chiefly from the air. Plants belonging to 
this class receive no parasitic nutrition from the 
plants to which they are attached and the at¬ 
tachment is wholly mechanical. Orchids and 
ferns have many epiphytic forms, and in the 
tropics many tree trunks and evergreen forests 
abound with lichens and other forms of air 
plants. They are not numerous in the temper¬ 
ate and cold regions for the reason that they 
cannot endure drought or a low temperature, 
and in these sections are restricted to lower 
forms of plant life, such as mosses, liverworts, 
lichens, and algae. Nearly 300 species of air 
plants are common to Java, and numerous 
species abound in the tropical forests of Amer¬ 
ica, Asia, and Africa. 


AIR PUMP 


44 


AIX-LA-CHAPELLE 


AIR PUMP, an instrument invented by Otto 
von Guericke (1602-1686), a German physician, 
in 1650. It is used to remove air or other gases 
from an inclosed space, or for compressing 
air within an inclosed space. Many improve¬ 
ments have been made on the air pump, but, 
since an actual vacuum can never result from 
the action of a pump, the machines now in use 
can do no more than reduce air to a high state 
of rarefication. An air pump with a single 
cylinder is used* to fill the pneumatic tire of a 
bicycle, while the machines used for general 
purposes contain two cylinders. The ordinary 



air pump contains a receiver of glass (R), 
which rests on a horizontal plate of strong 
glass (p), ground perfectly smooth. Under 
the receiver is an opening that has connection 
with the upright cylinder (C), and in the 
cylinder is a piston fitted sufficiently close to 
be air-tight. The piston is worked by a pinion, 
while in the cylinder is a valve (v) so con¬ 
structed that when the piston is raised it com¬ 
municates with the receiver, and the communi¬ 
cation is shut off as the piston falls. As the 
machine is put in operation the air from the 
receiver fills the cylinder, and the longer the 
operations continue the more rarefied the air 
in the receiver becomes. By applying consider¬ 
able force the air in the receiver can be almost 
wholly withdrawn. The air pump is used in 
preparing globes for electric lighting, in low 
pressure engines, for condensing milk and re¬ 
fining sugar, and in connection with many other 
processes in manufacturing. 

AIR SHIP. See Flying Machine. 

AISNE ( an), a river of France, in the west¬ 
ern part, flows into the Oise after a course of 
170 miles. Canals connect it with the Marne and 
the Meuse. A great battle was fought in the 
valley of the Aisne in 1914, after the Germans 
had retreated from the Marne. 

AIX-LA-CHAPELLE (aks-la-sha-peF), or 
Aachen, an important city of Germany in 
Rhenish Prussia, about forty miles west of 
Cologne. The city is the capital of an ad¬ 
ministrative district of the same name, and 
is the focus of an important network of 
railways connecting Germany, Holland and 
Belgium. It contains the magnificent coro¬ 


nation hall of the German emperors, whose 
length is 162 feet and width sixty feet, and 
there is a splendid fountain with the statue of 
Charlemagne, erected in 1620. The city enjoys 
a good trade with continental countries, and 
exports large quantities of manufactures to 
America. The chief articles of manufacture 
include shawls, silks, woolen goods, glass, pins, 
needles, machinery, tobacco, leather, and chemi¬ 
cals. Charlemange made it the second city 
of his empire, and the seat of government of 
his dominions north of the Alps. It is gener¬ 
ally assumed that this military leader was 
born here, while it is certain that he died in 
the city, and his tomb is in the beautiful cathe¬ 
dral. Aix-la-Chapelle was the place of corona¬ 
tion of the emperors of Germany from 813 to 
1531, during which time it became one of the 
most important free cities, although it was 
twice ravished by the Normans, in 851 and in 
882. The removal of the coronations to Frank¬ 
fort caused it to lose its leading position, and 
its prosperity was greatly injured by a destruc¬ 
tive fire in 1666. At the time of the Revolu¬ 
tion it was made a part of France, but in 1815 
was ceded to Prussia. Population, 1905, 
144,095; in 1920, 156,044. 

AIX-LA-CHAPELLE, Congress of, the 
congress held in 1818 at Aix-la-Chapelle to 
regulate the affairs of Europe after the War 
of 1815. In this meeting were represented 
Austria, Prussia, England, Russia, and France, 
known as the five great powers of Europe, and 
the protocol agreed upon announced a policy 
known as the Holy Alliance. France was evac¬ 
uated by the foreign forces as a result of this 
congress. Those in attendance included the 
King of Prussia, the Emperor of Austria, the 
Czar of Russia, Wellington, Metternich, Riche¬ 
lieu, and Castlereagh. 

AIX-LA-CHAPELLE, Treaty of, the name 
given to two treaties concluded at Aix-la- 
Chapelle. The first, between England, Swe¬ 
den, and Holland, known as the Triple Alli¬ 
ance, and Louis XIV., concluded May 2, 1668, 
settled the question of the posssession of the 
Spanish Netherlands. After the death of 
Philip IV., Louis XIV. seized several forts and 
claim to that portion of the Netherlands which 
had been under the dominion of Philip. Hol¬ 
land, as a means of protection, concluded the 
Triple Alliance and France was forced to sur¬ 
render possession except to the fortresses of 
Lille and Charlerois, while Spain retained 
Franche Comte. The second, regarding the 
War of the Austrian Succession, was con¬ 
cluded in 1748. The treaty gave Maria There¬ 
sa possession of the throne of Austria. All 
the great powers of Europe had been involved 
in the war, but the treaty permitted the several 
states to retain possession of their territory 
nearly the same as before, though Silesia and 
Glatz were given to Prussia and Spain received 
Parma, Guastalla, and Piacenza. 

































AJACCIO 


45 


ALABAMA 


AJACCIO (a-yat'cho), the capital of Cor¬ 
sica. It is important as a seaport and has a 
safe and commodious harbor. The surround¬ 
ing country is fertile. Anchovy and pearl fish¬ 
eries furnish the chief employment. The city 
has a good trade in wine and olive oil. It is 
the birthplace of Napoleon, and has a cathe¬ 
dral dating from 1585. Population, 20,197. 

AJAX (a'jaks), the name of two Grecian 
chiefs of the Trojan War, one the son of 
Oileus, and the other of Telamon. The latter 
is represented by Homer, next to Achilles, the 
boldest of the Greeks. It is said that Her¬ 
cules ywas present at his birth and made him 
invulnerable, except in the armpits, by wrap¬ 
ping the child in his lion’s skin. He sailed 
from Salamis with twelve ships to the seat of 
war, where in a fit of bravery he defied the 
lightnings. Ajax claimed the armor at the 
death of Achilles, but it was given to Ulysses, 
which so grieved him that he committed sui¬ 
cide. His sad death is made the basis of the 
tragedy of Sophocles, entitled “Ajax.” 

AKABAH (a'ka-ba), Gulf of, an inlet at 
the north end of the Rea Sea, extending into 
Arabia Petraea. It is from 12 to 17 miles wide 
and extends about 100 miles to the northeast. 
Golden Port, 29 miles east of Mount Sinai, is 
the only good harbor. 

AKBAR (ak'ber), the most eminent of the 
Mogul emperors of Hindustan, born in October, 
1542; died in September, 1605. It is generally 
assumed that he was born in Amerkote, in 
Sind. He succeeded his father, Humayun, in 
1556, under the regency of a Turkish noble¬ 
man named Bahram Khan, but by proclama¬ 
tion in 1560 took the reins of government in 
his own hands. He was a friend to education, 
established schools, encouraged commerce, and 
surveyed the lands in order to institute a just 
system of taxation. Though many different 
races were represented in his dominion, he 
treated all with equal tolerance. He was so 
successful in the administration of law that he 
became known as the “Guardian of Mankind,” 
and was emulated by the Indian princes of sub¬ 
sequent periods. - His death occurred at Arga, 
and his body was deposited in a magnificent 
mausoleum. 

AKENSIDE (aken-sid), Mark, poet and 
physician, born in Newcastle-upon-Tyne, Eng¬ 
land, Nov. 9, 1721; died June 23, 1770. His 
father was a butcher in the place of his birth 
and wished him to engage in the ministry of 
the Presbyterian Church, and with that object 
in view he studied at Newcastle and at the 
University of Edinburgh. While at the latter 
institution he decided to become a physician, 
and after taking two years of work in medi¬ 
cine he studied at Leyden, where he graduated 
in 1744, and practiced his profession in North¬ 
ampton. He was not very successful as a 
physician and turned his attention to literature 
and published “Pleasures of Imagination,” a 


volume of poetry that made his reputation. He 
also published professional essays and pam¬ 
phlets and a number of minor poems in blank 
verse. He has a place among the pioneers in 
writing romantic poetry. 

AKHMIM (ak-menT). See Achmim. 

AKRON (ak'ron), a city of Ohio, county 
seat of Summit County, thirty-six miles south 
of Cleveland. It is situated on the highest ele¬ 
vation between the Ohio River and Lake Erie, 
about 500 feet above the latter, and has com¬ 
munication by the Pennsylvania, the Erie, the 
Baltimore and Ohio, and other railways. Among 
the public utilities are electric lights and street 
railways, waterworks, pavements, several li¬ 
braries, and a fine system of public schools. The 
city is noted as a manufacturing center, employ¬ 
ing about 8,500 persons, and the annual pro¬ 
duct aggregating about $15,500,000. Among 
the chief manufactures are machinery, iron¬ 
ware, pottery, boilers, sewer pipes, books and 
stationery, rubber goods, cigars, and farming 
implements. It is the seat of Buchtel College, 
a Universalist institution of higher learning. In 
its vicinity are numerous lakes and hotels, 
hence it is popular as a summer resort. Popu¬ 
lation, 1900,42,728; in 1920, 208,435. 

ALABAMA (al-a-ba'ma), a southern State 
of the United States, bounded on the north by 
Tennessee, east by Georgia, south by Florida 
and the Gulf of Mexico, 
and west by Mississippi. 

Its greatest length from 
north to south is 334 
miles, width, 154 miles, 
and area, 52,250 square 
miles, which is the ex¬ 
act area of North Caro¬ 
lina. It is popularly 
called the Cotton State. 

Description. Ranges 
of the Allegheny Moun¬ 
tains stretch into the 
northern portion from 
Georgia and Tennessee, 
but do not attain to 
great elevations. These 
highlands include the 
Raccoon Moun tains, 
sometimes called the 
Sand Mountains, which extend well across 
the northern part of the State, and the 
Lookout Mountains, which terminate about 
sixty miles south of the border. The 
mountains are generally flat-topped and have 
an altitude of not more than 1,600 feet, while 
the coastal plain has a general elevation of 
600 feet. The Cumberland Plateau is a low 
range of hills in the southwestern part. Much 
of the drainage is toward the south into the 
Gulf of Mexico, but the northern slope belongs 
to the Ohio River basin. 

The Tallapoosa and Coosa rivers unite about 
ten miles above the city of Montgomery to 



1, Montgomery; 2, Bir¬ 
mingham; 3, Anniston; 4, 
Mobile. Chief railways 
are shown by dotted lines. 






ALABAMA 


46 


ALABAMA 


form the Alabama, the chief river of the State, 
which is joined by the Tombigbee about forty- 
five miles above Mobile. From the junction 
to Mobile Bay the combined rivers are known 
as the Mobile River. The Chattahoochee forms 
part of the eastern boundary, and the Tennessee 
flows through the northern part of the State. 
Other rivers include the Choctawhatchee and 
Black Warrior. The latter is a tributary of the 
Tombigbee, and is navigable to Tuscaloosa, 
while the Tombigbee is navigable to Colum¬ 
bus, and the Mobile to Wetumpka. 

The climate is pleasant and varies with the 
altitude and latitude. Breezes from the Gulf 
tend to render the southern portion both health¬ 
ful and enjoyable, but some of the river val¬ 
leys and lower portions of the state are un¬ 
healthful, and show a tendency to malaria 
and fevers. The State is well watered with 
good springs and water veins, and in many por¬ 
tions are artesian wells. In the winter the 
thermometer seldom falls below 32°, while the 
summers are generally pleasant. The prevail¬ 
ing winds are from the south and southwest. 
Snow falls rarely in the south, but in the north¬ 
ern part it falls quite frequently in January and 
February. 

Natural Resources. The northern and 
northeastern section are rich in mineral de¬ 
posits, including coal, clay, iron, aluminum, 
and quarry products, particularly sandstone and 
limestone. Salt is obtained in the southwestern 
part, and the State has more or less profitable 
deposits of asbestos, asphalt, marble, and cop¬ 
per. The mining of coal and iron has been 
developed extensively, and Alabama in the pro¬ 
duction of iron ore ranks next to Minnesota 
and Michigan. The greatest development in 
iron ore mining has been made in the Birming¬ 
ham region. In the output of bituminous coal 
the State takes fifth rank. Extensive forests 
abound, yielding excellent material for build¬ 
ing and manufacturing. The forest trees em¬ 
brace oak, hickory, pine, cedar, elm, and chest¬ 
nut, and in the southern part are fine forests 
of cypress, magnolia, and yellow pine. 

Agriculture. Farming is the chief industry. 
The soil, except in the region of mountains, is 
fertile and well adapted to fruit raising and the 
culture of many varieties of cereal plants. The 
annual production of cotton is about 1,300,000 
bales, cotton being the most important crop. 
Tobacco is grown profitably. Other products 
embrace corn, rice, sugar cane, cowpeas, pota¬ 
toes, oats, wheat, and hay. Stock raising as 
an industry has not grown extensively the past 
ten years, owing to the fact that cotton is the 
predominant crop, though there has been a 
marked growth in rearing horses and swine. 
Interest in the rearing of sheep, cattle, and 
mules has not been extended materially, though 
the state has large interests in these classes of 
animals. More than one-third of the cattle 
are milch cows. The title in land is chiefly in’ 


large landowners, and most of the farming is 
done in small tracts by Negroes. 

Manufactures. Manufacturing is an im¬ 
portant enterprise, owing largely to the fact 
that the State has much available timber and 
productive iron and coal mines. The construc¬ 
tion of cars and machinery takes rank as a 
leading manufacturing enterprise, though it is 
exceeded in the value of the output by the 
manufacture of timber products, cotton goods, 
and iron and steel. Phosphates obtained from 
Florida are used in making fertilizers from 
cotton-seed meal. Other manufactures em¬ 
brace boots and shoes, turpentine, flour, wagons 
and carriages, and farming implements. The 
output of coke has increased rapidly the past 
five years, owing to the large production of 
coking coal. Few states have enjoyed an equal 
growth in the total manufactures produced 
annually. 

Transportation and Commerce. Although 
the State has only one good harbor on the Gulf, 
at Mobile, it has extensive transportation fa¬ 
cilities by the Alabama, Tombigbee, Mobile, and 
Tennessee rivers. Iron products are trans¬ 
ported in large quantities to Mobile as a result 
of improving the water course of the Black 
Warrior River. In 1918 the State had 5,500 
miles of railroads in operation, which provide 
transportation facilities in nearly all parts of 
the state, though some counties are still with¬ 
out steam railways. A considerable mileage 
of electric lines is operated, chiefly in the cities 
and more densely populated regions. Mobile 
has the larger part of foreign trade, but large 
quantities of products are transported through 
the ports of New Orleans, La., and Pensacola, 
Fla. Cotton, lumber, coal, pig iron, machinery, 
live stock, and fertilizers are the principal ex¬ 
ports. 

Government. The present condition was 
adopted in 1901. It vests the executive author¬ 
ity in the governor, lieutenant governor, attor¬ 
ney general, secretary of State, auditor, treas¬ 
urer, commissioner of agriculture and indus¬ 
tries, and superintendent of education, each 
elected for terms of four years. Legislative au¬ 
thority is vested in the General Assembly, which 
consists of a Senate and a House of Represent¬ 
atives, the former being limited to a maximum of 
not more than thirty-five and the latter to not 
more than 105 members. While members of the 
General Assembly may be reelected from time 
to time, none of the executive State officers 
is eligible for reelection. Judicial authority is 
vested in a system of courts, consisting of the 
supreme court, circuit courts, chancery and pro¬ 
bate courts, and justices of the peace. Local 
government is administered by the counties, 
municipalities, and townships. In order to be 
eligible to vote, the citizen must have resided 
within the State two years, in the county one 
year, and in the precinct three months, and must 
be able to read and write in the English language. 


ALABAMA 


47 


ALABAMA CLAIMS 


Education. Educationally, Alabama is mak¬ 
ing rapid strides of advancement, both in its 
system of common schools and its numerous 
institutions of higher learning. It has six normal 
schools for whites, located at Daphne, Florence, 
Jacksonville, Livingston and Troy, and a normal 
school for negroes at Montgomery. Tuscaloosa 
is the seat of the University of Alabama; 
Mobile, of the State Medical College; Au¬ 
burn, of the Agricultural and Mechanical 
College; and Greensboro, of the South¬ 
ern University. Tuskegee is the seat of the 
Industrial Institute (colored), formerly un¬ 
der the administration of Booker T. Washing¬ 
ton. There is an insane asylum at Tuscaloosa, 
a blind asylum at Mobile, and an institution for 
the deaf, dumb, and blind at Talladega. The 
State has made ample provision for other classes 
demanding State care. It has many excellent 
public and private libraries, and numerous pri¬ 
vate commercial and denominational institu¬ 
tions of learning. All the leading religious 
denominations are well represented by growing 
societies, though the Baptist denomination is 
the most numerously represented. The educa¬ 
tional forces as a whole are represented in 
about fifty high schools, seventy private second¬ 
ary schools, nine colleges and universities, and 
many scientific and educational associations. 

Inhabitants. A large proportion of the popu¬ 
lation is rural, and only about ten per cent, of 
the people reside in'cities of 4,000 population 
and over. Montgomery, on the Alabama River, 
is the capital, and ranks as one of the largest 
cities in the State. Mobile is the only seaport 
and is important for its large export trade in 
lumber, coal, and cotton. Birmingham is noted 
for the extensive manufacture of iron and steel 
products. Other cities include Anniston, Bes¬ 
semer, Florence, Huntsville, Opelika, Selma, 
Talladega, and Tuscaloosa. In 1900 the State 
had a population of 1,828,697. This included a 
Negro population of 827,307. Population, 1910, 
2,138,093; 1920, 2,347,295. 

History. The history of Alabama begins 
with 1541, when De Soto made his famous 
exploring expedition to the Mississippi. In 
1702 the first permanent settlement was estab¬ 
lished by the French on the Mobile River, and 
in 1712 the city of Mobile was founded. The 
region occupied by the State was originally a 
part of the Territory of Georgia, though the 
southern portion was the subject of dispute 
with Spain. Georgia ceded all its western lands 
to the Federal government in 1802, and what 
is now Alabama became a part of the Terri¬ 
tory of Mississippi. Alabama was organized as 
a Territory in 1817, and so named from an 
Indian word meaning “Here we rest.” It was 
admitted as a State in December, 1819, and 
since then has enjoyed rapid growth and devel¬ 
opment. In 1861 it seceded from the Union, 
but the act of secession was revoked in 1865, 
and a new constitution was adopted in 1868. 


The constitution adopted in 1901 requires a 
higher standard for voting, hence the right of 
suffrage is restricted largely to the white citi¬ 
zens. 

ALABAMA, an important river of the State 
of Alabama, formed by the junction of the 
Tallapoosa and Coosa rivers, about ten miles 
above the city of Montgomery. It then flows 
about 300 miles toward the southeast until 
uniting with the Tombigbee forty-five miles 
above Mobile, where it assumes the name of 
Mobile. These rivers drain the northern part 
of the states of Mississippi, Georgia, and Ala¬ 
bama, and flow into Mobile Bay,, an inlet from 
the Gulf of Mexico. 

ALABAMA, The, a British vessel built at 
Barkenhead, England, by Laird & Sons, and 
used as a privateer to promote the interest 
of the Confederate States. She was provided 
with stores, coal, and guns at Terceira, one of 
the Azores, and on Aug. 24, 1862, was placed 
under command of Raphael Semmes, a native 
' of Maryland, and manned chiefly by British 
subjects. Though she had no acknowledged 
flag or recognized nationality, she roamed the 
seas plundering and destroying vessels belong¬ 
ing to the Federal States and Union merchant¬ 
men. For more than two years she sailed upon 
the seas, captured 65 vessels, and destroyed 
property valued at $4,000,000. Her policy was 
to avoid contact with American armed vessels, 
but in the summer of 1864 she finally encountered 
the Kearsarge off Cherbourg, France. On June 
19 an encounter took place outside the harbor 
of Cherbourg, about seven miles from the Cher¬ 
bourg breakwater, and after a fight of an hour 
the Alabama was sunk. Three men on board 
the Kearsarge were wounded, while the Ala¬ 
bama had nine men killed and twenty-one 
wounded. Captain Semmes was taken on board 
by an English yacht, the Deerhound, and 
escaped. 

ALABAMA, University of, an institution of 
higher learning organized at Tuscaloosa, Ala., 
in 1831. At the time of the Civil War it was 
in a prosperous condition, but was burned by 
a force of Federals. It was rebuilt in 1868. It 
is coeducational, has 140 professors and instruc¬ 
tors, and is attended by about 1,600 students. 
The endowment fund is $800,000, which is about 
equal to the value of the buildings, and the 
annual income is $60,000. The medical depart¬ 
ment is located at Mobile. A library of 35,000 
volumes and a good working laboratory are 
maintained. 

ALABAMA CLAIMS, the name applied 
to the claims of the United States government 
against Great Britain, which were settled after 
extended negotiations at Geneva, Switzerland, 
and are sometimes termed the Geneva Award. 
These claims were made on account of damage 
done by certain vessels, particularly the Ala¬ 
bama, which were equipped and manned from 
British ports at the time of the Civil War. A 


ALABASTER 


48 


ALARIC I. 


decision was reached by the commissioners on 
Sept. 14, 1871, to the effect that Great Britain 
was liable for equipping the Alabama and the 
Florida, two vessels that wrought serious devas¬ 
tation to the property of the United States and 
to property of certain citizens. The purport of 
the decision was that the general principles 
governing such cases are as follows: “Due 
diligence should be exercised by neutral govern¬ 
ments in exact proportion to the risks to which 
either one of the belligerents may be exposed 
by failure to fulfill the obligations of neutrality 
on their part. The government of Great Britain 
cannot justify itself for its failure in due dili¬ 
gence on the plea of the insufficiency of legal 
means of action which it possessed.” In mak¬ 
ing the decision the commission did not allow 
any claims by the United States for national 
losses, and the award was entirely restricted 
to compensate the American citizens for damages 
sustained by them. The award amounted to 
the sum of $15,500,000 in gold. Sir Alexander 
Cockburn, one of the British representatives on 
the commission, was the only commissioner to 
cast a dissenting vote. 

ALABASTER (al-a-bas'ter), the name ap¬ 
plied to a very fine variety of gypsum, or hy¬ 
drated sulphate of lime. The harder variety 
is used in the manufacture of statuettes, clock 
frames, and other ornamental commodities, 
while the softer serves in the manufacture of 
an inferior cement, known in the markets as 
plaster of Paris. Deposits of white granular 
gypsum are found in various portions of the 
United States, which occurs in pure and sound 
blocks, and from which the merchantable arti¬ 
cle is manufactured. However, the largest 
quarries are in Tuscany, Italy, where a fine 
grade is obtained. There are also deposits in 
Egypt and various regions of Asia. 

ALADDIN (a-lad'in), the hero of a tale of 
the “Arabian Nights’ Entertainments.” He is 
represented as the possessor of a remarkable 
ring and lamp, which, on being rubbed, would 
cause two genii to appear, whose office it was 
to do the bidding of the possessor of the ring 
and lamp. 

ALAMEDA (a-la-ma'da), a city of Cali¬ 
fornia, in Alameda county, about eight miles 
east of San Francisco, on the Southern Pacific 
railroad. It has extensive electric railway and 
steamboat facilities, and enjoys a considerable 
commercial trade. The chief industries em¬ 
brace shipbuilding, refining of petroleum, and 
manufactures of machinery, earthenware, cloth¬ 
ing, and utensils. Gas and electric lights, pave¬ 
ments, and sanitary sewerage are among the 
improvements. The city has excellent public 
schools and a number of substantial church 
buildings. It was incorporated in 1854. Popu¬ 
lation, 1900, 16,464; in 1920, 28,806. 

ALAMO (a'la-mo), a fort near San Antonio, 
Texas, and frequently mentioned as the “Ther¬ 
mopylae of America.” It is noted on account 


of the heroic bravery with which about 150 
Texans resisted an attack of 2,500 Mexicans 
under Gen. Santa Anna from Feb. 11 to March 
5, 1836. In the engagement 1,600 Mexicans 
and all but six of the Texans were killed. How- 



THE ALAMO. 

ever, the latter were cruelly butchered after 
they had surrendered to the Mexicans. “Re¬ 
member the Alamo” became a popular war cry 
in the struggle for the independence of Texas 
from Mexico. 

ALAND (o'lan), an archipelago of about 
300 islands at the entrance of the Gulf of 
Bothnia and forming a possession of Russia. 
About eighty of these islands are inhabited, the 
balance being rocky and uninhabitable. Formerly 
they belonged to Sweden, and near them a de¬ 
cisive victory was won by Peter the Great over 
the Swedes in 1717. They were ceded to Rus¬ 
sia in 1809. The population, consisting mostly 
of fishermen of Swedish descent, aggregates 
about 19,150. The islands have a total area of 
468 square miles. 

ALARCON Y MENDOZA (a-kir-kon'e 
men-do'tha), Don Juan Ruiz de, dramatic poet, 
born at Tosco, Mexico, about the close of the 
sixteenth century; died in 1639. He descended 
from a noble family, was carefully trained for a 
literary career, and in 1622 took up his residence 
at Madrid, where he was afterward appointed 
reporter of the royal council of the Indies. In 
1628 he published a volume of eight comedies, 
and 12 others were published in 1635. He is 
regarded one of the most distinguished Spanish 
dramatists. His comedy entitled “Truth Sus¬ 
pected" is the basis of Corneille’s “Liar.” 

ALARIC I. (al'a-rik), the name of a chief 
of the Visigoths, and subsequently their king. 
He first appeared in history in 394 a. d., and 
seems to have been of noble birth. His birth 
is generally assigned to the year 376, and his 
death is thought to have occurred in 410. Pre¬ 
vious to his reign the Goths north of the Dan¬ 
ube claimed the protection of the Roman em¬ 
perors against the Huns, and at that time he 
was leader of the Gothic auxiliaries under Theo- 
































































































ALARIC II. 


ALASKA 


49 


dosius in the war against Eugenius. After 
the death of the latter, he invaded Thessaly, 
Illyria, Thrace, and Macedon, devastating the 
country and even threatening Constantinople. 
Greece was sacrificed to rescue the capital from 
his ravages, and Athens purchased its safety 
by paying heavy tributes. A Roman army under 
Stilicho was sent against him and drove him 
to take shelter in Elis, in the Peloponnesus, 
where he was besieged, but after some time 
effected the escape of his army. In the year 
400 he invaded Italy, but was defeated by 
Stilicho at Pollentia. Later he invaded Italy 
a second time, and on three different occasions 
laid siege to Rome. The first time Rome paid 
ransom for its deliverance; the second time 
the city surrendered and the Roman Attalus 
was substituted as emperor for Honorius, but, 
owing to the incapacity of the former, he was 
deposed and Honorius re¬ 
stored. The third siege of 
Rome by Alaric, on Aug. 24, 

410, resulted in sacking the 
city for six days. While at¬ 
tempting to invade Sicily and 
Africa, he was taken sick and 
died in Cosenza. His death 
was celebrated in Rome and 
Italy with public festivals, and 
the countries against which he 
had warred enjoyed a momen¬ 
tary repose. Though cruel, he 
was less barbarous than his 
followers. He admired the 
monuments and public build¬ 
ings of Rome and sought to 
preserve them from destruc¬ 
tion. 

ALARIC II., eighth king 
of the Goths in Spain, succeed¬ 
ed his father Euric in 484; 
died in 507. His dominion in¬ 
cluded the greater part of 
Spain, and Gaul as far as the 
Rhone and Loire rivers. Though peaceful and 
tolerant, he became involved in war with Clovis, 
the Frankish monarch. Alaric was defeated 
near Poitiers, and while fleeing was overtaken 
and slain. 

ALASKA (a-las'ka),a Territory of the United 
States, forming the northwest portion of North 
America, and comprising an area of 590,884 
square miles. It is about twelve times as large 
as New York, and comprises a scope of country 
greater than the combined areas of France, 
Germany, Bulgaria, and the British Isles. The 
northern boundary is formed by the Arctic 
Ocean, eastern by the Dominion of Canada, 
southern by the Pacific Ocean, and western by 
the Bering Sea and Strait. About one-third 
lies within the Arctic Circle. From north to 
south it has a width of 800 miles, and from 
southeast to northwest the distance across the 
mainland is 1,150 miles. 


Physical Features. The territory is very 
mountainous, though it includes much level 
and gently undulating surface. Chains of the 
Rocky Mountains and the Alaskan Mountains, 
a coast range, embrace the chief elevated sec¬ 
tions. Mount McKinley, 20,404 feet in altitude, 
100 miles north of Cook s Inlet, is the highest 
peak in North America. Its climate is ex¬ 
tremely cold, almost unfit for habitation, and 
large portions are covered by snow, while the 
earth in the northern part is frozen the entire 
year. The Yukon River, which has been ex¬ 
plored by steamer for 1,400 miles, is the most 
important water course, and has an estimated 
length of 2,000 miles. Besides the Yukon, the 
principal rivers include the Copper, Kuskokwim, 
Colville, and Tanana, the last mentioned being 
an important tributary of the Yukon. The 
coast line of Alaska is placed at 7,875 miles, 


and is more or less indented by extensive inlets, 
particularly on the southern and western shores. 
Among the chief inlets are Kotzebue, Norton, 
Bristol, Cook, and Yakutat sounds or bays. 
Numerous glaciers discharge into the Pacific 
and Bering Sea, among them Muir Glacier, 
which is estimated the largest in the world. 
The discharges into the sea average a thickness 
of about 500 feet, and the river of ice has a 
length of 150 miles and a breadth varying from 
one to ten miles. 

Mineral Resources. Lignite coal deposits 
occur on the Yukon, near Cape Lisbourne, at 
the head of Prince William Sound, and on the 
Aleutian Islands. The quality is not of a high 
grade, but it is used to a considerable extent 
for domestic purposes and for steam-making. 
Copper in paying quantities is found on Prince 
of. Wales Island and in the Copper River 
country, and there are deposits of petroleum, 



1, Sitka; 2, Juneau; 3, Skagway; 4, Dawson; 5, Circle City; 6, Nome; 7, 
Sunrise City ; 8, Cliilka ; 9, Igagik. 


4 







ALASKA 


50 


ALASKA 


silver ore, sulphur, and building stones. Gold 
is the chief source of wealth in Alaska, and 
secured chiefly in the Yukon district, where 
valuable deposits were discovered in 1897. The 
following year large companies of people from 
the United States and other countries visited 
Alaska in the interest of the mining industry. 
The richest gold-producing region is situated 
at Dawson in the Klondike region, just east of 
the eastern line of Alaska, in British America, 
but rich discoveries have since been made far¬ 
ther west and at Cape Nome. While Cape Nome 
may be reached by water navigation, it has been 
quite difficult to make trips to the Klondike 
region. Expeditions to. the latter region are 
usually made by way of Sitka and Skagway, and 
thence through the mountain region toward the 
north, but it is possible to pass up the Yukon. 
The yield of gold in Alaska is placed at from 
$7,000,000 to $18,000,000 annually, the output 
varying greatly with climatic conditions. 

Transportation. The transportation facili¬ 
ties of Alaska depend largely upon navigation, 
and numerous excellent harbors are accessible 
the entire year as far north as Juneau and 
Sitka. River traffic on the Yukon is closed 
a greater part of the year, which is the case 
with many of the coast inlets, as they become 
filled with pack-ice in the winter, such as Cook’s 
Inlet. Public stages and dog sledges are used 
in carrying passengers and the mails in some 
sections. A railway line extends from Skag¬ 
way to Whitehorse Rapids, and several other 
railway routes have been projected, and work 
is being done to push them inland. The Alaskan 
Central railway, when completed, will furnish 
transportation from Skagway to Nome, the 
line running through the Copper River valley 
to Tanana, thence to its terminus on the sea. 
An improved highway passes from Port Val¬ 
dez to the Copper River. A telegraph cable 
extends from Saint Michaels to Nome, and tele¬ 
graph lines are in operation between Saint 
Michaels, Nulato, and Eagle City. 

Fisheries. Edible fish abound in the rivers 
and coast waters. However, salmon fishing is 
the most important, and in value the output 
closely approaches the production of gold. The 
chief salmon fisheries are off the shore of 
Kodiak Island, Kuskokwim Bay, and near the 
mouth of the Yukon River. An abundance of 
herring, cod, smelt, whitefish, and halibut are 
known to exist, though the fisheries have not 
been developed to their full productive ability. 
Formerly the fur-seal was abundant on most 
islands in Bering Sea and on both coasts of 
Bering Strait, but these fisheries are now re¬ 
stricted to the Pribilof or Seal Islands. Whal¬ 
ing continues to attract attention, especially the 
white whale and the great Arctic whale, and 
considerable fossil elephant ivory is collected 
by the Eskimos. 

Agriculture. In the coast district the soil 
is especially fertile, but the possibility of de¬ 


velopment in agriculture is limited by climatic 
conditions. Rye and barley can be grown quite 
successfully south of a line drawn from Eagle 
City to Saint Michaels, and there has been con¬ 
siderable development some distance south in 
the cultivation of oats and wheat. Vegetables, 
such as potatoes, turnips, rutabagas, beets, and 
carrots, thrive in the Yukon Valley and as far 
north as Dawson. Grasses of a highly nutri¬ 
tious quality grow luxuriantly, and stock is 
reared with considerable success, especially cat¬ 
tle, which are grown both for milk and meat. 
Foxes are bred for their furs, dogs and rein¬ 
deer are reared and used for transportation, 
and in some sections ponies and horses are 
grown. The fur trade is important, and those 
engaged in it during the winter give attention 
in the short summer to the production of vege¬ 
tables and other crops necessary as provision. 

Education and Government. Alaska was 
made a civil district by an act of Congress in 
1900, but remained unorganized until 1912, when 
it was organized as a Territory. The Governor 
is appointed by the President with approval of 
Congress. The legislature consists of two 
branches, the Senate with eight members chosen 
for four years and the House of Representatives 
with sixteen members chosen for two years. 
Women have the right of suffrage the same as 
men. Prohibition was adopted throughout the 
Territory in 1916. Alaska is subdivided into 
four judicial districts with courts at Fairbanks, 
Juneau, Nome and Valdez. One delegate, who is 
not permitted to vote, represents Alaska in the 
House of Representatives at Washington. Schools 
are supported, partly by federal aid and partly 
by local concessions, in the larger communities. 
Several mission schools are promoted under the 
direction of Protestant and Roman and Greek 
Catholic supervision. The first college in Alaska 
was established at Skagway in 1899. 

Inhabitants. Three races of native inhabi¬ 
tants are found in Alaska. The Alutes occupy 
the Aleutian Islands, the Eskimos are chiefly 
in the country north of the Yukon, and the 
Athabascan Indians are the principal inhabi¬ 
tants of the valley of the Yukon and the region 
as far south and west as Cook’s Inlet.. A race 
nearly extinct, the Thlinkeets, formerly occu¬ 
pied the section lying between Yakutat Bay and 
Puget Sound. Sitka, on Baranof Island, is the 
oldest town and was the capital of the Terri¬ 
tory until 1906, when the seat of government 
was removed to Juneau, a thriving city of 1,644 
people at the entrance of Taku Inlet. Eagle 
City, on the Yukon, and Skagway, the seaport 
of the White Pass Railway, are commercial 
centers. Nome, on Norton Sound, had a popu¬ 
lation of 12,486 in 1900, and its estimated popu¬ 
lation in 1912 was 3,500. Other towns include 
Circle City, Sunrise City, Chilka, and Igagik. 
In 1920 the Territory had a population of 64,506, 
as compared with 63,592 in 1900. With the former 
were included 1,209 Chinese and 25,331 Indians. 


ALATAU 


51 


ALBANY 


History. Vitus Bering, a Danish navigator, 
in 1740, while in the Russian service, explored 
the peninsula and islands of Alaska. Captaii) 
Cook in 1778 visited the coast of Alaska, and 
explorations were made about the same time 
by the Spaniards and a company of Russians. 
In 1784 the first settlement was made on Kodiak 
Island and named Three Saints. The Russian- 
American Fur Company was chartered in 1799 
to promote the furring trade but after futile 
efforts to establish a profitable business its 
members became dissatisfied and gave up the 
project. The Western Union Telegraph Com¬ 
pany explored certain sections in 1864-67 with 
the view of connecting America with Europe 
by telegraph at Bering Strait, though the suc¬ 
cessful laying of the Atlantic Cable caused the 
project to be abandoned. The United States 
purchased Alaska of Russia in 1867 at a mone¬ 
tary consideration of $7,200,000, and in the same 
year took formal possession. It was organized 
as the territory of Alaska in 1912. 

Two international controversies, one relating 
to the control of the sea fisheries and the other 
to the boundary between Canada and Alaska, 
were made the subjects of negotiation between 
Great Britain and United States. In regard to 
the former the United States claimed that Rus¬ 
sia and the United States had exclusive con¬ 
trol of Bering Sea, but when this was referred 
to a commission it was decided that the claim 
was not well founded, but the commission 
recommended the restriction of the killing of 
seals in order to save the industry. The con¬ 
troversy as to the boundary was settled 
in October, 1903, when a commission of 
three representatives of the United States 
and three of Great Britain decided that the 
boundary should follow the coast and be fixed 
ten marine leagues inland from the coast of the 
mainland. The decision divided the gold fields 
about equally between the two countries, but 
the United States secured exclusive control of 
the Pacific Coast. 

ALATAU (a-la-tou'), a range of lofty 
mountains in Asia, forming the boundary be¬ 
tween Mongolia and Turkestan. The Alatau 
mountain range is located at the northern limit 
of the vast tableland of Central Asia. The 
formations are largely granitic and the eleva¬ 
tions approximate 15,000 feet. 

ALBA LONGA (al'ba lon'ga), a city of 
Latium, in Italy, situated near Lake Alban, 
about 16 miles southeast of Rome. According 
to tradition, it was founded by Ascanius, son 
of Aeneas. Tullus Hostilius, third king of 
Rome, destroyed it, and its inhabitants removed 
to Rome. At the time of its prosperity is was 
the most powerful city of Latium. 

ALBANI (al-ba'ne), the stage name of 
Marie Louisa Cecilia Emma Lajeunesse, dra¬ 
matic soprano, born near Montreal, Canada, 
Nov. 1, 1851. She developed a sweet voice at 
an early age, and appeared at Albany, N. Y., in 


1863. Subsequently she studied in Paris and 
Mhan, and won applause at Messina, Sicily, in 
1870. She sung in opera in Paris, London, Ber¬ 
lin, and many cities of the United States. Al- 
bani, the name by which she is best known, was 
adopted because she first sang at Albany. 

ALBANIA (al-ba'ne-a), an independent king¬ 
dom of Europe, located in the southwestern part 
of the Balkan peninsula, lying along the coast 
of the Adriatic and Ionian seas and the Strait 
of Otranto. It is about 300 miles long, and has 
a width ranging from fifty to eighty-five miles. 
The area is about 11,500 square miles. 
Though this region was under Turkish do¬ 
minion since the 15th century, in 1913 it ac¬ 
quired an independent government. The surface 
is largely mountainous, embracing ancient 
Epirus, Illyris Graeca, and parts of Dalmatia. 
Most of the inhabitants consist of Albanian 
mountaineers, but there are also a considerable 
number of Turks and Greeks. Agriculture, fruit¬ 
growing, stock raising, manufacturing, and 
commerce are the chief industries, though there 
are also productive fisheries and some mining. 
The Albanians fought against Turkey in the re¬ 
volt under Ali Pasha in 1807, the insurrection 
of 1908, and the war of 1913. The people are 
chiefly Mohammedans but include many Greek 
and Roman Catholics. Durazzo (population 
9,500) is the capital. William of Wied was 
chosen king in 1913, but abdicated the following 
year. Population, 1919, 986,820. 

ALBANY (al'ba-ny), a city of New York, 
county seat of Albany county, and capital of 
the State. It is finely situated on the Hudson 
River, 145 miles north of New York City, and 
is the focus of a large number of railroads, in¬ 
cluding the New York Central, the West Shore, 
and the Delaware and Hudson lines. It has 
additional transportation facilities by steamboats 
on the Hudson River, by numerous electric 
interurban lines, and by the Erie Canal, the latter 
connecting the city with Lake Erie. Near the 
river is a narrow plain, but the ground rises 
gradually toward the west, hence the location is 
both convenient and healthful. State Street 
runs westward from the river, forming a fine 
thoroughfare, and the principal streets running 
parallel to the river are North and South Pearl 
and Broadway streets. The city has 150 miles 
of street more or less improved, and about 90 
miles are paved substantially with stone, asphalt, 
and macadam. Washington Park, in the west¬ 
ern part of the city, is the largest public resort. 
It contains a fine lake and Calverley’s bronze 
statue of Robert Burns. Rural Cemetery, about 
four miles north of the city, is the burial place 
of President Arthur. 

The architecture of Albany is substantial, and 
the buildings are constructed chiefly of brick 
and stone. The capital building, constructed 
of granite in the Renaissance style, is one of 
the finest and most costly structures of its kind 
in America. It is 390 feet long by 290 feet wide, 


ALBANY 


ALBATROSS 


K9 

Ou 


situated on an elevated plat of ground in the 
heart of the city, and was erected at a cost of 
$23,500,000. Other notable buildings include 
the city hall, the customhouse, the Cathedral of 
the Immaculate Conception, the Albany Acad¬ 
emy, the Union Station, the First Dutch Re¬ 
formed Church, the post office, the Masonic 
Temple, and the State armory. Albany has a 
well-organized system of public schools and 
many charitable and educational institutions. It 



is the seat of a State normal school, of Dudley 
Observatory, and of the law and medical de¬ 
partments of Union University at Schenectady. 
The State library of 435,000 volumes is located 
in the capitol building, and several school insti¬ 
tutional libraries are maintained within the 
city. 

Albany is important as a manufacturing cen¬ 
ter and has a large trade in cereals, mer¬ 
chandise, and live stock. The leading manufac¬ 
tures include ironware, clothing, tobacco and 
cigars, boots and shoes, machinery, spirituous 
liquors, books and stationery, and farming imple¬ 
ments. It maintains adequate police and fire 
departments, has extensive systems of water¬ 
works and gas and electric lighting, and has 
modern means of conducting its sewage and 
storm drainage. As a wholesaling and jobbing 
center it takes high rank, having a large trade 
with points in the New England states and 
Canada. 

The city is the second oldest permanent set¬ 
tlement founded within the thirteen colonies. 
Verrazano, the French navigator, visited the 
region as early as 1524, and a trading post was 
planted soon after on the present site of Albany 
by the French. In 1614 it was known as Fort 
Nassau, but the name was changed to Fort 
Orange in 1624, when the first real settlement 
of colonists was made. When New Nether¬ 
lands was transferred to the English, in 1664, 
the name was changed to Albany in honor of 
the Duke of York and Albany, who after¬ 
ward became James II. The Albany Conven¬ 
tion was held here in 1754, at which plans for 
uniting the colonies were discussed, and it be¬ 


came the seat of the State government in 1797. 
Its rapid growth began in 1825, when the Erie 
Canal was opened, and its larger commercial 
and manufacturing period began with the con¬ 
struction of railroads. Population, 1905, 
98,370; in 1910, 100,2-53; 1920, 113,344. 

ALBANY, a city of Oregon, county seat of 
Linn County, 60 miles southwest of Portland. 
It is located on the Willamette River, which 
supplies good water power, and has transpor¬ 
tation facilities by the Southern Pacific and 
other railroads. The river is crossed by a 
fine steel bridge. It has manufactures of fur¬ 
niture and farm machinery, flouring mills, 
brickyards, and a public high school. Electric 
lights and waterworks are among the public 
utilities. The first settlement on the town site 
was made in 1850, and it was Incorporated in 
1864. Population, 1900, 3,149; in 1920, 4,840. 

ALBANY, or Albion, an ancient name for 
Scotland and sometimes applied to the whole 
of Britain, but later used to designate only the 
Scottish highlands. It is thought to be of 
Celtic origin. In 1398 a Scottish council at 
Scone conferred the title of Duke of Albany 
upon the brother of King Robert III. Subse¬ 
quently the title was conferred upon a number 
of princes of the British royal family, though 
it soon became extinct. In 1881 it was restored 
and conferred upon Prince Leopold (1853-84), 
the youngest son of Queen Victoria. 

ALBATROSS (al'ba-tros), an aquatic bird 
allied to the petrels and gulls. It is the largest 
of the web-footed birds, weighing about twenty 



ALBATROSS. 


pounds, and its wings measuring from tip to 
tip twelve to seventeen feet. The beak is large 
and unusually straight and strong, and the 
upper mandible is characterized by sutures and 
a hooked point. These birds are frequently 
seen a great distance from land. They are 
most numerous in the South Seas, particularly 
near the Cape of Good Hope, but frequent the 
Arctic region as far as the extreme northern 
part of Bering Strait. A single albatross is 
often seen in the act of following ships several 
days in succession, though, more commonly, sev¬ 
eral fly within sight of each other, and appear 
to glide through the air rather than fly like 
other birds. When food is abundant, they gorge 
themselves like the vultures and then sit mo¬ 
tionless on the water. The eggs are about four 
inches long, and are favored as articles of food. 
Natives of the Kurile Islands and Kamchatka 




































ALBAY 


53 


ALBERTA 


blow up the entrails to make floats for their 
fish nets, and their wing bones are used for 
tobacco pipes and various domestic purposes. 
Sailors regard the albatross with superstitious 
affection, a fact made use of in Coleridge’s 
“Rime of the Ancient Mariner.” 

ALBAY (al-bi'), the name of a bay, volcano, 
city, and province in the southwestern part of 
Luzon, an island of the Philippines. The bay 
is a fine landing place, and the surrounding 
mountains make it an important strategic point. 
Albay, the mountain, is an active volcano. The 
city of Albay is regularly platted, carries a con¬ 
siderable trade, and has a population of 14,360. 
The province has a population of 296,850. 

ALBEMARLE SOUND (al'be-marl), an 
inlet from the Atlantic Ocean, extending into 
the eastern part of North Carolina. Its length 
is sixty miles, the breadth is from four to fif¬ 
teen miles, and it has a number of small coastal 
indentations. The Roanoke and the Chowan 
rivers flow into it, and it is connected by an 
artificial channel with Chesapeake Bay. An 
island separates it from the ocean. 

ALBERT (al'bert), Francis Charles Au¬ 
gustus Emmanuel, Prince Consort of Great 
Britain, Prince of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, born at 

Coburg, Germany, 
Aug. 26, 1819; died in 
Windsor Castle, Eng¬ 
land, Dec. 14, 1861. He 
received a liberal edu¬ 
cation, graduating from 
the University of Bonn, 
and in 1838 visited 
England, where he was 
introduced by King 
Leopold of Belgium to 
Queen Victoria. The 
latter announced to the 
Privy Council in 1839 
that she intended to 
marry Prince Albert, who was naturalized by 
act of Parliament in 1840, and on Feb. 10 of 
that year the marriage was celebrated. The 
prince was soon after made field marshal in the 
British army, knight of the garter, and chan¬ 
cellor of the University of Cambridge. He re¬ 
fused the chief command of the English army, 
which had been proposed to him by Wellington, 
and in 1857 the title of Prince Consort was 
conferred upon him. It was generally believed 
that his sympathies were in favor of the Union 
at the beginning of the Civil War in the United 
States, and he was a trusted and prudent adviser 
of the queen. Victoria mourned his death with 
almost unexampled feelings. 

ALBERT, Frederick Augustus, king of 
Saxony, born in Dresden, Germany, April 23, 
1828: died June 19, 1902. He was educated 
under the direction of a Protestant tutor, took 
part in the War of 1848-49, and fought with the 
Austrians in the Battle of Sadowa in 1866. In 
1870 he distinguished himself in the battles at 



PRINCE ALBERT. 


Gravelotte and Sedan, for which he was pro¬ 
moted to the rank of commander-in-chief of the 
fourth army, at the head of which he entered 
Paris after the siege of the French capital. He 
ascended the throne of Saxony in 1873 and gov¬ 
erned with much ability. 

ALBERT I. See Belgium. 

ALBERTA (al-bert'a), a province of the 
Dominion of Canada, bounded on the north by 
Mackenzie, east by Saskatchewan, south by the 
United States, and 
west by British Colum¬ 
bia. Its length from 
north to south is 720 
miles, the southern 
boundary is 175 miles, 
and the northern 
boundary, which 
reaches the parallel of , 

60°, is 220 miles in / 
length. Its area is 254,- Q" 

559 square miles, being 
somewhat larger than 
Saskatchewan. The 
water surface is about 
20,000 square miles. 

Surface. The sur¬ 
face is mainly a great 
plain, with open prairie 
in the southern portion, 
extensive forests in the 
northern section, and 



ALBERTA. 

1, Edmonton; 2 , Calgary; 


elevated ranges of the 3, Banff. 

Rocky Mountains in Chief railways are shown 
the western part. The by dotted Iines * 
drainage of the southern part is toward the 
southeast, and the streams of the northern por¬ 
tion flow into Great Slave Lake, from which the 
water flows through the Mackenzie River into 
the Arctic Ocean. In elevation above sea level 
the surface varies considerably, Fort Smith, on 
the northern border, being the lowest elevation, 
680 feet above the sea, while the prairie steppe 
at the eastern side of the province is nearly 
3,000 feet, and the highest peaks of the Rocky 
Mountains approximate 14,000 feet. The high¬ 
est range of the Rocky Mountains in this 
section trends northwest and southeast, form¬ 
ing the southwestern boundary between Alberta 
and British Columbia. In the northern part are 
the Buffalo Head Hills, the Clear Hills, and 
the Cariboo Mountains, whose summits rise 
from 600 to 1,000 feet higher than the surround¬ 
ing plain. 

Rivers and Lakes. Alberta has four dis¬ 
tinct drainage basins, one in the northern and 
three in the southern section. The Mackenzie 
basin is in the northern part and occupies two- 
thirds of the province. The most important 
streams of this system are the Peace and Atha- 
baska Rivers, which merge and form the Slave 
River near the western end of Lake Athabaska, 
though the last mentioned is really the Mac¬ 
kenzie, being known as the Slave River between 







ALBERTA 


54 


ALBERTA 


Lake Athabaska and Great Slave Lake and 
as the Mackenzie from Great Slave Lake to the 
ocean. Both the Peace and Athabaska rivers 
are navigable, the former from the mountains 
to the lake, except below Fort Vermilion, where 
navigation is obstructed by Vermilion Falls. 
The Athabaska River rises in the mountains 
within Alberta, and is important as a highway 
for the trade carried between points in Alberta 
and the posts along the Slave and Mackenzie 
rivers. In the southeastern part the drainage 
is by the Saskatchewan River and its tribu¬ 
taries. The North Saskatchewan is important 
for navigation, and carries considerable trade 
from Edmondton to the country lying toward 
the east. Besides the Saskatchewan basin, the 
southern part of Alberta has sections lying in 
the basins of the Churchill and Missouri rivers. 
Lake Athabaska, partly in Alberta and partly in 
Saskatchewan, is the largest and most important 
body of water. Other lakes of considerable 
extent are Hay Lake, Lake Cla-ire, Lesser Slave 
Lake, Whitefish Lake, Lac la Biche, Beaver 
Lake, and Sullivan Lake. 

Climate. The winters are dry and cold 
and the summers are warm. The average tem¬ 
perature at Fort Chipewyan, on Lake Atha¬ 
baska, in July, is about 61°, and a temperature 
of 90° has been recorded at that place. Though 
extremely cold in the winter, a dry atmosphere 
makes the severity less oppressive, and in the 
southern part the warm Chinook winds sweep 
across the country from the mountains and 
influence the temperature favorably. In the 
northern part rainfall is abundant for the 
germination and growth of all crops adapted 
to the country, but in the southern part it is 
more or less deficient and agriculture is 
extended by means of irrigation, water being 
drawn from numerous mountain streams and 
rivers. 

Industries. Agriculture, stock raising, 
mining, lumbering, and commerce are the chief 
industries. Wheat is a staple product, especially 
in the section lying east of Calgary and between 
the Bow River and the Red Deer River, where 
irrigation canals designed to supply water to 
irrigate fully three million acres have been 
constructed. The beet sugar industry has 
received marked attention, especially in the 
vicinity of Raymond, near the international 
border. Stock raising is one of the chief busi¬ 
ness enterprises, large areas being devoted to 
ranching and dairying. Progress in lumbering 
has been slow on account of a lack of trans¬ 
portation facilities, but the improvement of 
several rivers as highways and extensive build¬ 
ing of railroads are causing a great impetus in 
developing immense wealth from timber re¬ 
sources. Coal deposits are extensive below the 
perallel of 56°, the veins in the southern sec¬ 
tion being bituminous, but in the mountains 
occur anthracite deposits of considerable extent. 
Salt and petroleum exist in the valley of the 


Athabaska River, and gold is worked east of 
Edmondton, on the Saskatchewan River. Oats, 
barley, flax, vegetables, and small fruits arc 
profitable crops and considerable attention is 
given to the rearing of sheep, swine, horses, 
and poultry. Wild animals, such as antelope, 
geese, grouse, and partridges, are common. Deer 
and moose are met with in the northern section. 
The streams and lakes abound with edible fish. 

Government. The chief executive power 
is vested in a Lieutenant Governor, appointed 
for five years by the Governor General of the 
Dominion. Four members constitute the execu¬ 
tive council, each of which is at the head of a 
department, known as minister of education 
and provincial treasurer, attorney general, min¬ 
ister of public works, and minister of agricul¬ 
ture and provincial secretary. The legislative 
assembly has 25 members, chosen by popular 
vote. Support is given to public education 
through land grants and by taxation, and ample 
provision has been made for the training of 
teachers and improvement of facilities to pro¬ 
mote collegiate and higher instruction. The 
towns and counties have charge of local admin¬ 
istration, and common pleas and higher courts 
have jurisdiction of judicial affairs. 

Education. Notwithstanding the recent 
establishment of the Province of Alberta, its 
educational facilities are remarkably well de¬ 
veloped. The organization of elementary pub¬ 
lic schools follows close upon the advance of 
settlement, and such schools are maintained by 
a revenue derived from a moderate self- 
imposed tax and supplemented by very liberal 
legislative grants. The programme of studies 
for these schools is so formulated as to give 
the pupils whose education ends therein an 
equipment for life as practical and complete 
as possible. Secondary schools, where stu¬ 
dents may prepare for the professions or obtain 
a liberal general education, exist as an outgrowth 
of the elementary school system and are simi¬ 
larly maintained. The higher courses of these 
schools permit of specializing to a moderate 
degree. The regulations provide for uniformity 
in the system of inspection of schools and 
licensing of teachers. A number of private col¬ 
leges of considerable importance have been 
established in the larger centers. Two provincial 
normal schools for the training of teachers are 
located at Calgary and Camrose. The buildings 
are substantial and are equipped in every depart¬ 
ment with modern appliances. The University 
of Alberta, situated in Edmonton, received its 
first classes in the autumn of 1908. The 
courses include those leading to the degrees of 
B. A. or B. Sc. 

Inhabitants. The inhabitants are largely 
Canadians who have come from the provinces 
farther east in the Dominion, but since 1905 
there has been considerable immigration from 
European countries and the United States. 
Encouragement was given by the government 



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ALBERT 


ALBION 


through the enactment of homestead laws in 
the Dominion^ and by extensive building of 
railroads. The trunk line of the Canadian 
Pacific passes through the southern section, 
with branches from Dunmore Junction and 
Macleod to Calgary and. Edmondton, while 
lines of the Canadian National pass east and 
west through Edmondton. Other lines have 
been projected and are in course of construc¬ 
tion. Edmondton,- on the north bank of the 
Saskatchewan, is the provincial capital, and 
Calgary, at the confluence of the Bow and 
Elbow Rivers, is noted as a commercial center. 
In 1906 the former had a population of 11,163 
and the latter 11,967, but since then both have 
grown materially in population and commence. 
Strathcona, on the south bank of the Sas¬ 
katchewan, has 3,500, and Medicine Hat, on 
the South Saskatchewan River, is an important 
business center. The census of 1911 credited 
Alberta with a population of 374,295. Popula¬ 
tion, 1921, 588,454. 

History. The territory now included in 
Alberta was long a part of the portion of the 
Dominion known as the Northwest Territories. 
In 1882 the district of Alberta was established 
for administrative purposes. Then autonomy 
in local affairs was not granted and the area 
was 106,400 square miles. The province of 
Alberta was organized in 1905, when the boun¬ 
daries were extended by annexing to it parts 
of the districts of Athabaska, Saskatchewan, 
and Assiniboia. George Hedley Vicars Bulyea 
was appointed the first lieutenant governor, 
who, assisted by efficient deputy heads and 
executive councilors, rendered efficient services 
as administrator of public affairs. 

ALBERT EDWARD NYANZA (-m-an'- 
za), an important lake of Africa, about fifty 
miles southwest of Lake Albert Nyanza, with 
which it is connected by the Semliki River. It 
was first discovered by Baker in 1862, and was 
visited by Stanley in 1876, who also visited the 
region while on his famous expedition to relieve 
Emin Pasha. Lake Albert Edward Nyanza is 
somewhat smaller than Lake Albert Nyanza, 
and its elevation above sea level is somewhat 
greater. Stanley named it in honor of the 
Prince of Wales, now Edward VII. In its 
vicinity are excellent forests, and it abounds 
in fish, crocodiles, hippopotami, and many 
aquatic birds. 

ALBERT LEA (le), a city of Minnesota, 
county seat of Freeborn county, 108 miles 
south of Minneapolis. It is located on a small 
lake of the same name, and on the Minneapolis 
and Saint Louis, the Chicago, Milwaukee and 
Saint Paul, and other railroads. The surround¬ 
ing country is a fertile farming and dairying 
region. It has manufactures of flour, ma¬ 
chinery, lumber products, and earthenware. 
The city has several fine county buildings, 
excellent schools, and good municipal improve¬ 
ments. It is the seat of Albert Lea College, 


a Presbyterian institution for women. Popula¬ 
tion, 1905, 5,657; in 1920, 8,056. 

ALBERT MEMORIAL, a monument erect¬ 
ed in Hyde Park, London, to the memory of 
Prince Albert, husband of Queen Victoria. It 
was built from plans of George Gilbert Scott, 
who was knighted for his skill in designing the 
memorial. Four marble sculptures represent¬ 
ing engineering, commerce, manufacture, and 
agriculture are at the four corners of the base, 
and in the center is a splendid statue of the 
prince. A Gothic spire, surmounted by a cross, 
crowns the canopy above the hall in the interior, 
which is elegantly ornamented with mosaics and 
has a height of 175 feet. 

ALBERT NYANZA (m-an'za), a lake in 
East Central Africa, one of the headwaters 
of the Nile. It is 22 miles wide and 100 miles 
long. Sir Samuel Baker first explored the lake 
in 1864, and estimated its surface 2,720 feet 
above sea level. It receives the White Nile 
from Victoria Nyanza, and its overflow is car¬ 
ried toward the north into the Mediterranean 
Sea. It is noted for its excellent fisheries. 
Extensive forests abound in the surrounding 
country, and its vicinity is infested with croco¬ 
diles and hippopotami. 

ALBIA, county seat of Monroe County, 
Iowa, 66 miles southeast of Des Moines, on the 
Chicago, Burlington and Quincy, the Wabash, 
and other railroads. It has meat packing, brick 
paving, and fine city and county buildings. It 
was settled in 1845. Population, 1920, 5,067. 

ALBIGENSES (al-bi-jen'sez), a religious 
sect organized in the 12th century, and which 
was formerly well represented in France. This 
sect seems to have originated from the 
»Paulicians, a branch of the Greek Catholic 
Church, which sprang into existence in the 
6th century. In 1209 a severe war broke 
out between them and their allies on one side 
and the Catholics on the other. After many 
thousands had perished on both sides, a peace 
was concluded in 1229. By the end of the 13th 
century this sect had totally disappeared. 

ALBINO (al-bi'no), the name applied to a 
person whose skin and hair are perfectly white, 
a remarkable peculiarity of the physical con¬ 
stitution of some individuals. While albinism 
occurs in all parts of the world and in all races, 
it is most marked in Indians and Negroes. The 
skin has a pale, unhealthy white color, and the 
iris of the eye is pink or red. While the vision 
of albinos is better in the dark than that of 
others, they are unable to bear a strong light. 
The peculiarity of albinism is always born with 
the individual. It is not confined to the human 
race, but has been observed in rabbits, rats, 
mice, fishes, and birds, especially in those whose 
color is commonly black. 

ALBION (al'bi-un), a city of Michigan, in 
Calhoun County, 20 miles west of Jackson. It 
has municipal waterworks and a public library, 
and is important as a railroad center, being on 


ALBION 


56 


ALCHEMY 


the Michigan Central and the Lake Shore and 
Michigan Southern railroads. Albion College is 
located here. Flouring mills, plowworks, and ma¬ 
chine shops are its chief manufactories. The first 
settlement at Albion was made in 1830, and its 
charter dates from 1896. Population, 1904, 
4,943; in 1910, 5.833; in 1920, 8,354. 

ALBION, a town in New York, county seat 
of Orleans County, 30 miles west of Rochester. 
It has transportation facilities by the Erie Canal 
and the New York Central and Hudson River 
Railroad. Farming and quarrying are leading 
industries in the vicinity. It has several public 
institutions, including the Western House of 
Refuge for Women and a modern county 
courthouse. Population, 1900,4,477 ; in 1920, 4,863. 

ALBONI (al-bo'ne), Marietta, contralto 
singer, born at Cesena, Italy, March 10, 1823; 
died June 23, 1894. She studied under Rossini, 
and at 15 made her debut at Bologna. In 1846- 
47 she sang in the chief cities of Europe, and 
at London was considered a rival of Jenny 
Lind. She toured the United States and Can¬ 
ada in 1852, singing successfully in concert and 
opera. While she lacked strength to perform 
dramatic parts, she was charming and grace¬ 
ful in comedy and her voice had unusual full¬ 
ness and sweetness. 

ALBUMEN (al-bu'men), an organic com¬ 
pound found both in animals and plants. It 
abounds in the blood and chyle, and more or 
less in all the serous fluids of the animal body. 
It is the principal ingredient in the white of 
eggs. Albumen occurs in the sap of vege¬ 
tables, in their seeds, and in other parts of 
vegetable growth. Among the chief constitu¬ 
ents are nitrogen, oxygen, carbon, hydrogen, 
and small proportions of phosphorus and sul¬ 
phur. It is soluble in water, in which state it 
is found in the juices of flesh, serum of the 
blood, juices of vegetables, and in the egg, but 
when heated to a temperature of 140° to 160° 
it coagulates and becomes insoluble in water. 
When put in tannic acid, ether, creosote, and 
alcohol, it also coagulates. Since it contains 
more nutritious matter and is more easily 
digested than any other food, it constitutes one 
of the most important of food materials. The 
meat of young animals is more tender than that 
of older ones, because in it are found larger 
quantities of this substance. Some forms of 
albumen are used to clear liquids, such as coffee 
and sorghum, because when boiled it collects im¬ 
purities and rises as scum to the surface or 
sinks to the bottom, this depending upon the 
weight of the liquid containing it. With the 
kno\/ledge of the amount of albumen con¬ 
tained in the different kinds of food, and the 
effect of heat upon it when mixed with other 
substances, the skillful cook can turn the art of 
cookery into channels both pleasing and 
healthful. 

ALBUQUERQUE (a-boo-kar'ka), a city of 
New Mexico, county seat of Bernalillo county, 


72 miles southwest of Santa Fe, on the Atlantic 
and Pacific and the Atchison, Topeka and Santa 
Fe railways. It is finely situated on the Rio 
Grande, has a considerable local and jobbing 
trade, and contains a number of fine school 
‘and church buildings. Among its chief build¬ 
ings is the University of New Mexico, founded 
in 1892, at which time an annual territorial ap¬ 
propriation of $14,000 was granted. The uni¬ 
versity is non-sectarian and is open alike for 
the education of both sexes. The surrounding 
country is farming and stock raising. Electric 
lights, telephones, and waterworks are among 
the municipal improvements. The first settle¬ 
ment in its vicinity was made by Spaniards in 
1706. Population, 1900, 6,238; in 1920, 15,157. 

ALBURNUM (al-bur'num), or sapwood, 
the part of the wood of exogenous trees which 
is of most recent growth and near to the bark. 
In color it is pale or white. It gradually 
hardens with age, when it is converted into 
duramen, or heartwood, which is harder and 
more valuable than alburnum. 

ALCAEUS (al-se'us), eminent lyric poet, 
born at Mitylene, in Lesbos, about 600 b. c. 
He was a contemporary with Sappho, of aristo¬ 
cratic birth, and a vigorous opponent of the 
tyrants of Mitylene. Banished from home by 
the tyrant Myrsilus, he traveled in Asia Minor 
and Egypt. As a writer he was original and 
his lyrics are pervaded with enthusiasm for 
justice and freedom. 

ALCAME.NES (al-kam'e-neez), an eminent 
sculptor of Athens, pupil of Phidias, who 
flourished from about 448 to 400 b. c. Pliny, 
Lucan, and Cicero mention his skill as an artist, 
and he ranked as one of the great triumvirate 
of Greek sculptors, including Phidias, Alca- 
menes, and Polycletus. “Venus Urania” is con¬ 
sidered his masterpiece, and he successfully 
competed with Phidias in a statue of Minerva. 

ALCESTIS (al-ses'tis), in mythology, the 
daughter of Pelias and wife of Admetus, King 
of Thessaly. It had been decreed that her hus¬ 
band should die, but she suffered voluntary 
death as his substitute, and was rescued by 
Hercules from Hades. Euripides made the 
story of her devotion the subject of one of his 
tragedies. 

ALCHEMY (arke-my), the ancient name 
for the science of chemistry, and which in 
former times was much studied. Modern 
sciences may be said to date from three dis¬ 
coveries — that of Copernicus, whose effect was 
to expel the astrologers from the society of the 
astronomers; the discovery of the weight of the 
atmosphere by Torricelli and Pascal, which laid 
the foundation of physics; and the discovery 
of oxygen by Lavoisier, which destroyed the 
theory of Stahl, the last alchemist who can be 
excused for not being a chemist. The objects 
of former alchemists included the discovery of 
a universal solvent; the acquirement of ability 
to transmute all metals into gold or silver, 


ALCIBIADES 


57 


ALCOHOL 


especially the former; and to obtain an elixir or 
universal medicine which might cure all dis¬ 
eases and indefinitely prolong human life. In 
this they were open to ridicule rather than the 
object they aimed at. All these objects were 
essentially laudable, and it could not be known 
whether or not they were attainable without 
vast experiments covering prolonged periods 
of time. To achieve success in the study of 
alchemy it was thought necessary for one to 
obtain first the philosopher’s stone, which was 
described as a red powder with a peculiar smell, 
and was thought to possess the essential prop¬ 
erty necessary to turn to gold everything with 
which it came in contact. Though the 
alchemists failed in their immediate object, they 
discovered muriatic, nitric, and sulphuric acids, 
and laid the foundation for the whole science 
of modern chemistry. A skillful alchemist was 
called an adept. Alchemy flourished in the 
Middle Ages, but later sank gradually in repute, 
and ultimately became the object of ridicule 
to real scientific inquirers and the civilized 
world at large. However, it is to be noted 
that when the science of chemistry was fully 
established there were still many researches 
for the philosopher’s stone, by which gold 
might be produced successfully. Jean Baptiste 
Dumas (1800-84), the eminent French chemist, 
thought the necessary solution might be found 
in the doctrine of molecular isomerism, while 
Sir Humphry Davy, the celebrated English 
chemist, refused to give an opinion contrary to 
its possibility. The much-discussed problem of 
producing gold as a manufactured product is 
still receiving attention from some of the lead¬ 
ing scientists. 

ALCIBIADES (al-si-bi'a-dez), an eminent 
statesman and general of Athens, son of Clinias 
and Dinomache, born in Athens in 450 b. c. ; 
died in Bithynia in 404. His father was slain 
in the Battle of Chaeronea in 497, when his 
uncle, Pericles, was appointed his guardian. In 
youth he showed characteristics that indicated 
future greatness and excellence of character, 
both in study and physical exercises, while his 
relationship with Socrates and other dis¬ 
tinguished men gave him high standing and 
many friends. His marriage with the daughter 
of Hipponicus brought him considerable wealth, 
but instead of putting it to good use he lived 
in dissipation, and spent large sums of money 
in public display, especially at the Olympic 
games. He took an important part in the 
Peloponnesian War as a commanding general, 
especially at the Battle of Delium in 424, where 
he saved Socrates from the sword of the con¬ 
quering Boeotians. In 415 he advocated an 
expedition against Sicily, but before sailing was 
charged with being implicated in profaning and 
mutilating the statues of Mercury in Athens. 
On reaching Sicily with a gallant Athenian 
annv, he was recalled to stand trial, but instead 
of returning to Athens to make a defense he 


fled to Sparta and used his energy to defeat 
his own countrymen. After successful work 
in organizing the Spartans and raising revolts 
in their interest, they became jealous of his 
influence and power, and he was compelled to 
flee for safety to Persia. To regain the con¬ 
fidence of the Athenians and make his return to 
his native town possible, he promised Greece 
the friendship of Persia. Upon communicating 
this promise, he was recalled and again made 
general, in which capacity he won a number of 
brilliant victories, but was again banished after 
his first defeat. He was assassinated while on 
his way to the Persian court to enlist aid for 
his country. Plutarch wrote the history of 
his life. 

ALCOHOL (al'ko-hol), the name applied to 
a series of substances formed of the same 
elements, alike in essential properties, but vary¬ 
ing in composition. Wood alcohol is the 
simplest form, known in the markets by the 
name of methyl, and is obtained by distilling 
wood. While it has nearly the same properties 
as common alcohol, it has an unpleasant taste 
and gives off an offensive odor. It is used in 
manufactures and in the arts as a substitute 
for common alcohol largely on account of its 
cheapness. Amyl alcohol, or fusel oil, is made 
in considerable quantities by the fermentation 
of potatoes. It has a nauseous fermentation 
and odor, and is far more poisonous than com¬ 
mon alcohol. After standing for some years, 
amyl alcohol is converted into the ordinary 
alcohol. Ethyl alcohol is the common alcohol 
made from beer, wine, and other beverages. 

Fermentation of sugar or of saccharine mat¬ 
ter is the only source of alcohol. Some plants 
contain free sugar, and others are rich in starch 
that can be converted into sugar. The vegetable 
substances best adapted for the manufacture of 
alcohol are those that contain the greatest 
abundance of sugar or starch. It cannot be 
produced in a pure state by a single distilla¬ 
tion, owing to its attraction for water and its 
tendency to mix freely with* it. Common 
spirits, such as brandy, whisky, and others, 
contain from forty to sixty per cent, of alcohol; 
in other words, they are about half water and 
half alcohol. The milder beverages, such as 
beer, cider, and the light wines, contain from 
four to fifteen per cent, of alcohol. Distilled 
liquors are made by a process called distilla¬ 
tion. The process requires an apparatus in 
which the substance to be distilled is heated. 
The alcohol rises and passes into a coiled tube, 
called the worm, which is located in a vessel 
called the worm-tub. The worm-tub is kept 
full of cold water, by means of which the 
alcohol passing through the worms is cooled 
and condensed and flows out of the end of 
the worm-pipe into a tank. Some watery vapor 
or steam always passes with the alcohol, hence 
distilled liquors usually contain from ten to 
sixty per cent, of water, but this can be largely 


ALCOTT 


58 


ALDEN 




extracted by a second or third distillation, or 
by mixing with the alcohol fused chloride of 
calcium, quicklime, or fused carbonate of pot¬ 
ash. If the whole be allowed to stand for 
twelve hours and then distilled a second time, 
the resulting alcohol is quite free from water. 

Alcohol is employed largely by some schools 
of medicine, while others discourage its use and 
claim it possesses no valuable medicinal prop¬ 
erties for which some other preparation may 
not be successfully substituted. It is quite 
probable that there are conditions under which 
a limited and careful use of alcohol may be 
applied for preventive and curative medicinal 
purposes, though it is very injurious to the 
young or immature of either sex. Its effect is 
more marked in females than in males, and in 
the weak than in the strong. In hot climates 
it is a prolific source of disease, and scarcely 
possesses a compensative advantage. The Rus¬ 
sian authorities do not permit a man who has 
indulged recently in the use of liquors to under¬ 
take a long march in the cold season. Living¬ 
stone found in his exploration tour of Africa 
that those addicted to the continual use of 
alcohol are most easily overcome by sustained 
exertion or excessive heat, while in the cele¬ 
brated tour of Greely to the North Polar Sea it 
was proven that users of intoxicants more 
easily succumbed than nonusers. It is certain 
that alcohol is not a necessity nor beneficial in 
cold regions, and the majority of those addicted 
to it would be more vigorous if they did not 
use it in any form. Its present employment 
by mankind is more powerful for evil than 
good. While this is true, it is certain that 
alcohol is one of the most valuable products in 
the culinary arts, in manufactures, and for 
preservative purposes. According to a report 
issued in 1920, the four countries consuming the 
largest quantities of alcoholic beverages per 
capita rank in the following order: Belgium, 
England, France and Germany. 

ALCOTT (al'kut), Amos Bronson, educator 
and philosopher, born at Wolcott, Conn., Nov. 
29, 1799; died March 4, 1888. He was reared 
on a farm and in 1828 removed to Boston, 
where he established a school. His methods 
were conversational and have been the subject 
of considerable study. He belongs to a school 
of philosophy known as transcendental. As a 
lecturer he visited the principal cities of Eastern 
Canada and the United States. His publica¬ 
tions embrace “Conversations with Children on 
the Gospels,” “Sonnets and Canzonets,” “Con¬ 
cord Days,” and “Essay on Ralph Waldo Emer¬ 
son, His Character and Genius.” 

ALCOTT, Louisa May, authoress, daughter 
of Amos Bronson Alcott, born in Germantown, 
Pa., Nov. 29,' 1882; died March .6, 1888. She 
had the advantages of thorough instruction un¬ 
der the guidance of her father, who was an 
educator, and for some years engaged in school 
teaching. Her first work, 'entitled “Flower 


Fables,” was published in 1855, and this was 
followed by a number of stories written for 
periodicals published in Boston. She served in 
the volunteer hospital 
service during the 
Civil War, which 
furnished material 
for her “Hospital 
Sketches,” and her 
experiences as nurse 
were made the basis 
for several of her in¬ 
teresting tales. Few 
writers have been 
able to produce more 
valuable material for 
children, and none 
have attained to 
greater popularity. Her writings are whole¬ 
some in that they give insight into child life 
and touch many phases of interest to children. 
Among her best-known works are “Little 
Women,” “Little Men,” “Jo’s Boys,” “An Old- 
Fashioned Girl,” “Under the Lilacs,” and “An 
Old-Fashioned Thanksgiving.” 

ALCUIN (al'kwln), or Flaccus Albinus, 
eminent scholar, born at York, England, about 
735; died May 19, 804. He studied under Arch¬ 
bishop Egbert in the Cathedral School of York, 
where he became familiar with Latin classics. 
In 766 he succeeded Egbert as archbishop, and 
in 781 he was invited by Charlemagne to take 
charge of the famous Palace School, in which 
he received the name of Flaccus Albinus. He 
visited with Charlemagne at Parma and 
founded a number of schools in his empire. 
His methods and system of organization had a 
marked influence upon the intellectual develop¬ 
ment of Europe, especially in France, where 
he founded a number of schools. He was 
versed in Greek, Latin, and Hebrew, and is 
the author of several poems and works treat¬ 
ing of theology and philosophy. 

ALC YON ARIA (al-si-6-na'ri -a), a group of 
invertebrate animals, mostly marine, in which 
the stomach and other cavities are united. 
They comprise a group of coral polyps, and 
are characterized by having eight tentacles 
around the mouth. Some writers extend the 
group to embrace sponge’s. 

ALDEN (al'den), Henry Mills, editor and 
author, born at Mount Tabor, Vt., Nov. 11, 
1836. He was a classmate of James A. Gar¬ 
field and Horace E. Scudder at Williams Col¬ 
lege, where he graduated in 1857, and later 
attended Andover Theological Seminary. In 
1863-69 he was editor of Harper’s Weekly and 
several years lectured on “Structure of Pagan¬ 
ism ’ at Lowell Institute in Boston. His pub¬ 
lications include “God in His World” and 
“Ancient Lay of Sorrow.” He died Oct. 7, 1919. 

ALDEN, Isabella McDonald, author, known 
under the pen name of Pansy , born at Rochester, 
N. Y., Nov. 3, 1841. She was educated at Ovid 







ALDEN 


59 


ALDRICH 


and Auburn, N. Y., and in 1866 married Rev. 
J. R. Alden. For some years she was on the 
editorial staff of several religious papers, in¬ 
cluding the Christian Endeavor World. She 
wrote a number of volumes of fiction and about 
75 books for Sunday Schools. Her work entitled 
“The Prince of Peace” is a life of Christ. Her 
writings have been translated into the principal 
European and Asiatic languages. 

ALDEN, John, one of the Pilgrim Fathers 
who landed in Massachusetts in 1620, born in 
England in 1599; died in 1687. “The Courtship 
of Miles Standish,” written by Longfellow, if 
based on the romantic incidents of his courtship 
with Priscilla Mullens. It is related that he 
proposed marriage to a Pilgrim lady on behalf 
of Miles Standish, and received the reply, 
“Prithee, John, why do you not speak for your¬ 
self?” The query led to John’s becoming the 
lady’s husband. It is said that he was the first 
of the Pilgrims to set foot upon Plymouth Rock 
when the Mayflower landed. 

ALDEN, William Livingston, author, born 
in Williamstown, Mass., Oct. 9, 1837. He at 
tended Lafayette and Jefferson colleges, and in 
1865 became connected with the editorial staff 
of the New York Times. President Cleveland 
appointed him consul general of the United 
States to Italy, where he served efficiently in 
1885-89 and was honored by King Humbert, 
who made him chevalier of the Order of the 
Crown of Italy. Subsequently he settled in Lon¬ 
don and was literary correspondent of the New 
York Times. He introduced the sport of canoe¬ 
ing in America. His books include “Domestic 
Explosions,” “Loss of the Swansea,” “New 
Robinson Crusoe,” “Life of Christopher Colum¬ 
bus,” “The Cruise of the Canoe Club,” and 
“Drewitt’s Dream.” He died Jan. 14, 1908. 

ALDER (al'der), a group of trees and 
shrubs native to the temperate and colder 
regions, and usually found in wet places. The 
wood has the property of remaining in an 
undecayed state for a long time while un¬ 
der water, hence it is 
used extensively in 
building sluices, 
pumps, millwork, and 
bridges. Tanners find 
the young roots of 
value, while the bark 
is used in the manu¬ 
facture of bitters, 
||n astringents, and medi- 
cine useful in treat¬ 
ing ague. The young 
twigs yield dyes of 
value in coloring dif¬ 
ferent shades of red 
and yellow. 

ALDERMAN (al'def-man), Edwin An¬ 
derson, educator, born in Wilmington, N. C., 
May 15, 1861. He graduated at the Univer¬ 
sity of North Carolina in 1882, and afterward 



E. A. ALDERMAN. 


at the University of the South and at Johns 
Hopkins. For a number of years he engaged 
in the profession of teaching, was superintend¬ 
ent of schools at Goldsboro in 1884-87, and 
subsequently assistant state superintendent. In 
1892 he became professor of pedagogy at the 
University of North Carolina, and after four 
years was made its president. He was elected 
president of the University of Virginia in 1904. 
In educational circles he is well known as 
speaker and lecturer. He publshed “Life of 
William Hooper” and “School History of North 
Carolina.” 

ALDERNEY (al'der-m), or Augrigny, an 
island in the English Channel, eight miles from 
Cape la Hague, France, and about 60 miles 
from the nearest point in England. The area 
is three square miles. It is located about 15 miles 
from Guernsey, another of the Channel Islands. 
The climate is healthful and mild. The inhabi¬ 
tants are mostly of French extraction and are 
noted for rearing the Alderney cows, a small 
breed celebrated for their rich milk. Population, 
1921, 2,561. 

ALDERSHOT (al'der-shot), a town in 
England, in Hampshire, 14 miles east of Bas¬ 
ingstoke. Near it is the famous Aldershot 
military grounds, a permanent camp of the 
British army, at which splendid maneuvers are 
conducted in the spring and summer. The town 
is important as a railroad junction. It has a 
public library, a number of churches, and several 
benevolent institutions. Population, 1911,35,040. 

ALDINE EDITIONS, the title of various 
works published at Venice, Italy, by Aldus 
Manutius and his family. This family flourished 
in 1490-1597, and its members became famous 
as scholars because of the correctness and 
beauty of their publications. The editions in¬ 
clude works of Latin, Greek, and Italian writ¬ 
ers, all of tasteful manufacture, and many 
were counterfeited by printers in France and 
Italy. The establishment produced 908 works 
and remained the property of the family more 
than a century. “The Hours of the Blessed 
Virgin” is one of the finest productions. 

ALDRICH (al'drich). Nelson Wilmarth, 
public man, born in Foster, R. I., Nov. 6, 1841. 
He engaged in mercantile pursuits and entered 
State politics. In 1875-76 he was a member of 
the State Legislature. In 1878 he was elected 
a member of Congress as a Republican, serving 
until 1881, when he resigned to take a seat in 
the United States Senate as successor to General 
Burnside. He was reelected to the Senate in 
1886, 1892, 1898, and 1904. As a politician he 
ranked as a leader of the conservative element 
in his party. He died April 16, 1915. 

ALDRICH, Thomas Bailey, poet and 
novelist, born in Portsmouth, N. IT., Nov. 11, 
1836; died, March 19, 1907. He was employed 
for some time in a New York counting house, 
where he began to contribute to various jour¬ 
nals, and in 1881-92 was editor of the Atlantic 



ALE 


60 


ALEXANDER 


Monthly. His prose is noted for humor and 
descriptive power, and his verse for metrical 
perfection and dainty thought. Among his 
most noted writings are a series of articles 
contributed to the Atlantic Monthly, and pub¬ 
lications entitled, “The Bells,” “Ballad of Baby 
Bell,” “Cloth of Gold and Other Poems,” 
“Flower and Thorn,” “Queen of Sheba,” and 
“Daisy’s Necklace.” 

ALE (al), a fermented beverage now exten¬ 
sively manufactured, and said to have been 
made originally in Egypt. It is brewed like 
beer, and differs from it chiefly in having a 
smaller proportion of hops. The value of ale 
depends largely upon the proportion of sugar 
that is converted into alcohol, which process 
takes place in part after the liquor has been 
drawn off into a barrel, hence age greatly in¬ 
creases its strength. See Beer. 

ALEMANNI (al-e-man'e), the name ap¬ 
plied to a large union of German tribes on the 
Upper Rhine, with whom the Romans first came 
in collision in the reign of Caracalla. Dion 
Cassius was the first to mention them in his¬ 
tory, and he describes a victory over them in 
the year 213 a. d. by Emperor Caracalla. Being 
powerful and persistent enemies to the Romans 
and Gauls, they were attacked and defeated 
by nine Roman emperors at different times, but 
were never wholly conquered. Their later 
history is included with that of Germany. The 
Swabian and Swiss dialects of the German 
language have been traced more or less distinctly 
to these people, and the former is known gener¬ 
ally as the Alemannic. 

ALENQON ( a-lan-son'), a city in France, 
capital of the department of Orne, situated 
near the junction of the Sarthe and Birante 
rivers. It is well built, has a public library, and 
is the seat of a church built in the Gothic style, 
dating from the 16th century. Alengon is noted 
for the manufacture of artificial flowers, em¬ 
broidered fabrics, and a point lace known as 
point d’Alenqon. In the vicinity are granite 
quarries from which fine rock crystal called 
Alengon diamond is obtained. Population, 1919, 
17 378 

ALEPPO (a-lep'po), a city of Syria, 
situated near the northwest extremity of the 
Syrian Desert. It is a place of great antiquity, 
and occupies the site of ancient Beroea. After 
the destruction of Palmyra, it became the great 
metropolis of trade between the Mediterranean 
and the nations of the East. The Saracen in¬ 
vaders conquered it in 638 and again in 1260, 
and in 1401 it was plundered by the Tartars. In 
1517 in came into possession of the Turks, under 
whose dominion it has since remained. At the 
beginning of the 19th century its population 
numbered over 200,000, but at present it does 
not exceed 225,000, of whom 25,000 are Chris¬ 
tians and 5,000 Jews. It has a large export 
trade in cotton, wool, oil, cereals, and live stock. 
The prevailing language spoken is Arabian. 


ALESSANDRIA (a-les-san'dre-a), a for¬ 
tress in northern Italy, capital of a province of 
the same name, situated near the junction of 
the Tanaro and Bormida rivers. It is strongly 
fortified, the citadel being one of the most im¬ 
portant in Europe. It has manufactures of 
silk and linen textiles, woolen goods, porcelain, 
and machinery. The surrounding country is 
rich in fruit and flowers. Marengo, the site of 
a battle in which Napoleon defeated the army 
of Austria, is not far from Alessandria. The 
city was founded in 1168. Population, 1901, 
71.293; 1919, 73,680. 

ALEUTIAN (a-lu'shan), the name of an 
American archipelago, including about 150 
islands, of which about eighty are of consider¬ 
able size. They are situated west of Alaska, 
separating Bering Sea from the Pacific Ocean, 
extending nearly 1,000 miles from east to west, 
and embracing an area of 6,391 square miles. 
The islands are of volcanic origin, and contain 
a number of volcanoes still active. The cli¬ 
mate is cold, but somewhat modified by oceanic 
influences, and the entire group belongs to the 
United States. Hunting and fishing are the 
chief occupations, and there is a considerable 
trade in fish and fur. The natives are known 
as Aleuts and belong to the Eskimo stock. Most 
of the inhabitants have embraced Christianity 
as a result of active work of missionaries of the 
Greek Church. The Aleutian Islands were dis¬ 
covered in 1741 by Vitus Bering (1680-1741), 
and were subsequently acquired and occupied by 
Russia together with Alaska. They came into 
possession of the United States by the Alaskan 
purchase in 1867. Population about 8,275. See 
Alaska. 

ALEXANDER (al-egz-an'der), William, 
soldier, known as Lord Stirling, born in New 
York City in 1726; died Jan. 15, 1783. He en¬ 
tered service as commissary in the French and 
Indian Wars, and later became aid-de-camp to 
General Shirley. In 1856 he went to England 
to prosecute his claim to the earldom of Stirling 
before the House of Lords, but met with dis¬ 
appointment. He joined the Colonial army at 
the beginning of the Revolution and was taken 
prisoner at the Battle of Long Island, but was 
exchanged in the course of a month. Subse¬ 
quently he became major general and served 
with distinction at the battles of Brandywine, 
Germantown, and Monmouth. He was one of 
the founders and the first president of King’s 
College, now Columbia University, in New York 
City. 

ALEXANDER, the name of eight Popes, 
the first of whom, Alexander I., ruled from 109 
to 119. The most celebrated of these Popes 
was Alexander VI., born at Valencia, Spain, in 
1430; died in 1503. He became a cardinal at 
the age of twenty-five years, and was raised 
shortly after to the dignity of vice chancellor. 
In 1492, after the death of Innocent VIII., he 
was elevated to the papal chair. The papal 


ALEXANDER 


61 


ALEXANDER III. 


revenues having been weakened, he endeavored 
to break the power of the Italian princes and 
to appropriate their possession for the benefit of 
his own family. A large number of indulgences 
were sold in his pontificate, and the wills of 
several cardinals were set aside for his personal 
benefit. The powerful eloquence of Savonarola 
was aroused against him, and by pen and pulpit 
he urged his deposition. The Pope thereupon 
condemned him to be burned as a heretic in 
1498. It is commonly supposed that he died 
from drinking poisoned wine, which is thought 
to have been intended for his guests. See Pope. 

ALEXANDER, the name of three kings 
of Scotland, who governed between 1107 and 
1283. Alexander I., son of Malcolm Canmore, 
succeeded his brother Edgar in 1107, and died 
at Stirling in 1124. He encouraged education, 
secured the independence of the Scottish church, 
and founded the Abbey of Inchcolm. Alexan¬ 
der II., son of William the Lion, succeeded his 
father Dec. 4, 1214, and died July 8, 1249. He 
ranks as a conspicuous figure among Scottish 
kings on account of his ability and the liberality 
of his reign. He united the league of English 
barons against King John, and holds a high 
place in the history of Scotland. Alexander 

III., son of Alexander II., succeeded to the 
throne at the age of eight years, and two years 
later married the eldest daughter of Henry 

111., King of England. Owing to his youth, the 
King of England sought to obtain entire control 
of Scotland, but this was averted by the energy 
and wisdom displayed by the young king, and, 
when he became of age, English ascendency was 
made impossible. In 1263 Haco, King of Nor- 
. way, endeavored to grasp from him the Western 

Isles. He was not only defeated, but ceded to 
Scotland the Hebrides and the Isle of Man. His 
rule was eminently successful, and he endeared 
himself to his subjects on account of justice, 
wisdom, and liberality. He died as a result 
of falling from his horse while riding on a dark 
night in the vicinity of Burntisland. 

ALEXANDER, I., Emperor of Russia, 
eldest son of Paul I., born Dec. 23, 1777; died 
Dec. 1, 1825. His education was conducted 
under the care of his grandmother, Catharine 

11., who afterward intrusted him to the care of 
Count Nicholas Soltikoff, under whose direc¬ 
tion he acquired a liberal education in languages, 
history, botany, and physics. He ascended the 
throne on the assassination of his father, in 
1801, and proceeded at once to lay the founda¬ 
tion for national culture, systematized organiza¬ 
tion in government, unshackled industry, in¬ 
duced foreign commerce, and promulgated a 
new feeling of unity and patriotism. He was 
concerned in founding institutions devoted to 
science, the publication and spread of the Bible, 
and the encouragement of printing in the Rus¬ 
sian language. Either as ally or enemy, he 
was involved in all the great Napoleonic wars. 
At Austerlitz, in 1805, he personally witnessed 


the defeat of the allied Russian and Austrian 
armies. His armies were defeated at Eylau and 
Friedland in 1807, which terminated in the 
Treaty of Tilsit. He declared war against Eng¬ 
land and Sweden in 1809, carried on hostilities 
in Persia and Turkey, and the following year 
annexed Finland and some territory on the Dan¬ 
ube to his dominion. Napoleon invaded Rus¬ 
sia in 1812, but was met by an army of 900,000 
and driven out with great slaughter after the 
burning of Moscow. Russian successes resulted 
in the fall of Paris in 1814, the consequent ab¬ 
dication of Napoleon, and the restoration of the 
Bourbons. After the defeat of Napoleon at 
Waterloo in 1815, Alexander made a second 
entrance into Paris, where he united with Prus¬ 
sia and Austria in a treaty known as the Holy 
Alliance. The achievements of Alexander 
caused the limits of Russian boundaries to 
become extended in all directions, and resulted 
in the empire of the czars rising rapidly as 
one of the greatest powers in the world. 

ALEXANDER II., Emperor of Russia, 
son of Czar Nicholas, born April 29, 1818; died 
March 13, 1881. He was carefully educated 
under the direction of his father and mother, 
the latter being Alexandra Feodorovna, sister 
of William I. of Prussia, and was early imbued 
with a spirit for Russian unity. At an early age 
he was put in charge of an important command 
in the army and spent much time in traveling 
for information and to recruit his energies, 
which had been impaired by an injury to his 
health received in a military parade. On ascend¬ 
ing the throne in 1855, he found the old Mus¬ 
covite party zealous for war and the more 
peaceable portion of the nation ardent for peace, 
which put him in a critical position, but his 
sympathies were with the latter. In 1861 he 
emancipated 23,000,000 serfs by proclamation, 
and in 1865 established elective representation 
in the provinces. His decided sympathy with 
the Slavonic people under Turkish rule, and 
the atrocities perpetrated by the Turks on 
Greek Christians, caused a war with the latter 
in 1877-78, when he took the field in person. 
Being a liberal and humane monarch, he was 
supported by the conservative element, but met 
with opposition from those more eager to se¬ 
cure radical reforms. Three attempts to assas¬ 
sinate him were made; the first in Paris by a 
Nihilist in 1867 proved unsuccessful; the second 
in 1879, when he was shot at in his own capital, 
was also unsuccessful, but in 1881 he was fatally 
injured by a bomb thrown at him near his 
palace, from the effect of which he died shortly 
after. 

ALEXANDER III., Emperor of Russia, 
son of Alexander II., born March 10, 1845; 
died at Livadia, in the Crimea, Nov. 1, 1894. 
He received a liberal education in languages, 
arts, and sciences, and ascended the throne 
on the assassination of his father in 1881. 
His fear that Nihilists would attempt to assas- 


ALEXANDER THE GREAT 


62 


ALEXANDER SEVERUS 


sinate him caused him to live in close retire¬ 
ment for some time at Gatschina, but on May 
27, 1883, the coronation took place at Moscow. 
He suppressed Nihilism, developed remarkable 
military power, kept a carefully tabulated sys¬ 
tem of supervision over Asiatic countries, and 
extended the boundary of Russia in Asia. How¬ 
ever, his reign was comparatively an uneventful 
one. In 1892 he made an extended visit with the 
German emperor, and later entered with Ger¬ 
many and Austria in the Dreikaiserbund, a com¬ 
pact whereby the three powers were pledged to 
maintain the peace of Europe. He encouraged 
railroad building, commerce, manufactures, and 
educational arts. His eldest son, Nicholas II., 
succeeded him. 


ALEXANDER THE GREAT (al-egz-an'- 
der), son of Philip of Macedon, born at 
Pella, in 356 b. c.; died in 323. He was tutored 
under a Greek scholar, studied the “Ilaid,” 
and at the age of thirteen was placed for three 
years under the instruction of Aristotle, who 
was his devoted friend. His father permitted 
him to share in the government of the king¬ 
dom, and gave him a military temper by per¬ 
mitting his attendance on several battlefields. 
His bravery decided the issue of battle at 
Chaeronea in 338, and at the age of twenty 


years he ascended to the throne more than his 
father’s equal in statesmanship and military 
skill. When Thebes revolted, he leveled the 
city to the ground and sold its inhabitants into 
slavery, sparing only the house of Pindar, the 
poet. This terrible example quieted all oppo¬ 
sition. He at once became commanding general 
of the Grecian forces, and set out on a perilous 
expedition in 334 to invade Persia. With an 
army of 35,000 brave warriors he crossed the 
Hellespont, and was the first to leap on the 
Asiatic shore. After defeating the Persians at 
Granicus and Issus, he turned south and be¬ 
sieged Tyre. After building a stone pier several 
hundred feet wide and half a mile long for 
the purpose of crushing the walls, his army 
made an assault and succeeded in taking the 
city. Egypt was conquered soon after, in which 
country he founded the city of Alexandria. From 

Egypt he marched 
upon the city of Baby¬ 
lon, which h e con¬ 
quered after consider¬ 
able resistance, and 
subsequently burned 
Persepolis to avenge the 
destruction of Athens 
140 years before. Still 
anxious to conquer, he 
pressed further east, ex- 
// ploring, conquering, and 

ALEXANDER THE GREAT. f oun( Lng cities until his 

army refused to proceed 
further into the unknown regions. His troops 
returned to Greece through Baluchistan, while 
he descended the Indus, reaching Babylon 10 



years after crossing the Hellespont. He died 
at Babylon, while planning a second invasion 
of Arabia. 

Alexander had in view the massing of a 
vast empire by molding the diverse nations 
which he had conquered, and dreamed of mak¬ 
ing Babylon its capital. He married Princess 
Roxana, the daughter of Oxyartes, induced 
many of his army to marry Persians, and 
sought to cement a relationship between the 
Greeks and Persians. The result of his reign 
has not yet disappeared. Great cities founded 
under his command are still centers of com¬ 
merce. The culture of Greece was spread over 
the Orient, and the Greek language became the 
medium of communication among the educated 
people from the Adriatic to the Indus. His mili¬ 
tary achievements have caused his name to be 
written indelibly in history. Not only are his 
achievements to be estimated by conquering the 
known world, but also by the landmarks that 
have endured the centuries. The north of 
Africa, the west of Asia, and the east of Europe 
were all under his dominion, and he was the 
ruler and sovereign of a vast region and large 
populations. It had been foretold by oracle 
that whoever could untie the gordian knot, at 
Gordium, would be the ruler of the world, and 
to inspire awe he cut it with his sword. Darius, 
the powerful king of Persia, surrendered his 
army of 500,000 and was compelled to recognize 
him as ruler of all his empire, while Babylon 
and India were reduced to meek submission. 
He carried industry, manufacture, and com¬ 
merce to remote regions and Hellenic civiliza¬ 
tion to Egypt. When asked to whom his throne 
should descend, he answered, “To the 
worthiest.” His empire was divided among his 
generals, and Ptolemy, the most famous of his 
^commanders, founded a dynasty in Egypt. 

ALEXANDER, King of Greece, second son 
of Constantine I., born Aug. 1, 1893. He was 
liberally educated. His father was thought to be 
pro-German, although he declared himself neu¬ 
tral, and the treaty powers—that is England, 
France and Russia—deposed him in 1917. Alex¬ 
ander was placed on the throne. He severed dip¬ 
lomatic relations with the Central Powers, and it 
was declared that a state of war existed with them. 

ALEXANDER NEVSKI (nef'ske), prince 
and hero, born at Vladimir, Russia, in 
1220; died Nov. 14, 1263. He was the son of 
Prince Yaroslav of Novgorod, and showed 
bravery in resisting the Mongols. In 1240 he 
was sent to the western frontier against an 
army of Danes, Swedes, and Teutonic Knights, 
receiving the surname of Nevski from his 
victorv over the Swedes on the Neva. 

ALEXANDER SEVERUS, Roman em¬ 
peror, born in 205; died in 235. He was care¬ 
fully educated under the direction of his mother, 
Julia Mammaea, and sought the society of the 
learned. In 222 he was proclaimed emperor 
by the pretorian guards and confirmed by the 



ALEXANDRA 


G3 


ALEXANDRIA 



Senate. He commanded an army against the 
Persians in 233 and the following year marched 
against the Gauls and Germans. During an 
insurrection among his troops, headed by Maxi- 
min, he was waylaid and murdered. Maximin 
succeeded him as Emperor of Rome. 

ALEXANDRA (al-egz-an'dra), Caroline 
Marie, Queen of England, born in Copenha¬ 
gen, Denmark, Dec. 1, 1844. Her father, King 

Christian IX. of 
Denmark, provided 
the means by which 
she received a care¬ 
ful and liberal edu¬ 
cation, and in 1863 
she was married to 
Albert Edward, 
Prince of Wales. In 
1866 she was present 
at the opening of 
Parliament. When 
the Prince Consort 
died, in 1861, Queen 
Victoria withdrew 
from society and 
she became the lead¬ 
er of social life in 
government circles. 
When Albert Ed¬ 
ward ascended the 
throne, in 1901, as 
Edward VII., she 
became Queen of 
England. She holds the degree of doctor of 
music, being an accomplished musician, and has 
projected many benevolent enterprises. 

ALEXANDRIA, an important city of 
Egypt, on the Mediterranean Sea, 112 miles 
northwest of Cairo, and seven miles west of 
the Canopic mouth of the Nile. The city 
was founded by Alexander the Great after the 
destruction of Tyre, in 332 b. c., and at one 
time had a population of fully a million people, 
possessed great wealth, and was cultured by 
learning and civilization. It became celebrated 
for its lighthouse, situated on the island of 
Pharos, reckoned among the seven wonders of 
the world, and the island itself was connected 
with the mainland by a dike, through which 
vessels could pass by means of movable bridges. 
Much of its early success was due to Creek 
scholars, who fostered learning and aided in 
founding its great library. After the death 
of Alexander the Great, it became the residence 
of the Ptolemies and was next to Rome and 
Antioch the most magnificent city of antiquity. 
At this time it rose to prominence as the seat of 
Grecian learning and literature, which not only 
augmented its material prosperity, but spread its 
influence over the greater part of the ancient 
world. The Romans came into possession of it 
about 30 b. c., from which period dates the de¬ 
cline of the city, largely because its wealth and 
treasures were carried to Rome, and many of 


ALEXANDRA, QUEEN OF 
ENGLAND. 


its institutions were laid waste and pillaged. Be¬ 
sides, the rise of Constantinople, its powerful 
rival, aided in the declining tendency. The 



PHAROS LIGHTHOUSE, ALEXANDRIA. 


city wasted away so rapidly that in the 4th 
century a. d. the only building of any impor¬ 
tance remaining was the Temple of Serapis. In 
the 7th century it was sacked by the Arabs, and 
in the 9th century was conquered by the Turks. 
It had a population of only about 6,000 in 1778, 
but soon after the conquest of Egypt by the 
French it began to regain importance. 

The modern development of Egypt has again 
placed Alexandria with the foremost com¬ 
mercial cities on the Mediterranean. Among the 
causes affecting its modern growth may be 
named the discovery of America, the passage 
of commerce from India by the way of the Cape 
of Good Hope, and the construction of the Suez 
Canal. The foremr two had a more or less 
depressing effect by diverting its trade with 
India, but the building of the Suez Canal more 
than compensated by giving to the prosperity 
of Egypt a decided impetus. The present city 
is not situated on the exact site occupied by 
ancient Alexandria, but is built mostly on the 
island of Pharos and the mole connecting it 
with the land opposite. Though the mole was 
originally an artificial dike, it has been broad¬ 
ened by alluvial deposits into a considerable 
stretch of land, and occupies a position between 
the two harbors. Formerly two obelisks, known 
as Cleopatra’s needles, sculptured in the time 
of King Thothmes III., in the 16th century b.c., 
adorned the city, but these have been trans¬ 
ported, one to the United States and the other 
to England. The city has exports valued at 
$17,500,000, and imports aggregating about one- 
half that amount. It is the focus of many rail¬ 
ways, and has rapid transit, electric lights, and 
other modern facilities. Among the leading 
exports are cotton, sugar, rice, grain, and fruits. 









































ALEXANDRIA 


G4 


ALFALFA 


The manufactures are chiefly clothing, utensils, 
jewelry, chemicals, toys, and articles of food. 
Its inhabitants are greatly diversified, including 
Turks, Greeks, Arabs, Persians, and many Euro¬ 
pean tradesmen. Population, 1922, 445,882. 

ALEXANDRIA (al-egz-an'dri-a), a city 
of Indiana, in Madison County, 48 miles north¬ 
east of Indianapolis, on the Lake Erie and 
Western and the Big Four railways. It is 
surrounded by a fertile farming country and 
has a growing trade in produce and merchan¬ 
dise. The manufactures include glass, clothing, 
ironware, and machinery. Waterworks, sewer¬ 
age, electric lighting, and pavements are among 
the public utilities. The first settlement in 
its vicinity was made in 1834. Population, 1900, 
7,221; in 1920, 4,172. 

ALEXANDRIA, a city in Louisiana, cap¬ 
ital of Rapides parish, on the Red River, 
about 195 miles northwest of New Orleans. 
It is on the Southern Pacific, the Iron Moun¬ 
tain and Southern, the Texas Pacific, and other 
railroads. Having excellent steamboat and 
railway facilities, it exports large quantities of 
fruits, cotton, rice, and sugar. There are a 
number of fine parish and school buildings, 
numerous churches, and many municipal con¬ 
veniences. Among the manufactures are to¬ 
bacco products, machinery, and utensils. Alex¬ 
andria was settled in 1820 and incorporated in 
1840. Population, 1900, 5,G48; in 1920, 17,510. 

ALEXANDRIA, a city of Virginia, county 
seat of Alexandria county, on the Potomac 
River, seven miles south of Washington, D. C. 
It has transportation facilities by steamboat 
lines and by the Baltimore and Ohio, the Penn¬ 
sylvania, the Southern, and the Chesapeake and 
Ohio railways. The streets are regularly platted, 
and improved by gas and electric lights, pave¬ 
ments, waterworks, and an extensive system of 
street railways. There are manufactures of ma¬ 
chinery, tobacco products, earthenware, cloth¬ 
ing, and farming implements. The city has 
excellent public schools and numerous churches, 
and carries on a considerable interior and for¬ 
eign trade. General Braddock made it his head¬ 
quarters in 1755, and the citizens contributed 
to the British in 1814 in order to save them¬ 
selves from an attack by a fleet. Federal troops 
occupied the city during the Civil War. Popu¬ 
lation, 1900, 14,528 ; in 1920, 18,060. 

ALEXANDRIAN LIBRARY, the most 
remarkable and largest collection of books 
of antiquity, founded by Ptolemy Soter in 
Alexandria, Egypt, and greatly enlarged by 
succeeding Ptolemaic rulers. It embraced the 
collected literature of Egypt, India, Greece, and 
Rome, and at the time of its first manager, 
Demetrius Phalereus, contained 50,000 volumes, 
but was subsequently enlarged to 700,000. A 
part of the library was situated in a museum in 
the portion of the city called Bruchium, near 
the royal palace of the Ptolemies, and the other 
part was in the temple of Jupiter Serapis. The 


former portion was destroyed in the siege of 
Alexandria by Julius Caesar, but was largely 
replaced by Mark Antony and presented by 
him to Queen Cleopatra. The portion of the 
library situated in the temple of Jupiter Serapis 
was destroyed in the time of Theodosius the 
Great, and the collection of Mark Antony was 
burned in 640, when the city was conquered by 
the Arabs. Some writers contend that this por¬ 
tion of the library was destroyed by fanatical 
Christians in 391, who were led by Archbishop 
Theophilus. See Libraries. 

ALEXANDRIAN SCHOOL, a term used 
to designate the age or time, after the decline 
of Greece, when Alexandria, Eg} 7 pt, became 
the seat of science and literature. It is usually 
divided into two periods, the first embracing 
the reign of the Ptolemies, from 323 to 30 b. c., 
and the second from 30 b. c. to 640 a. d., in¬ 
cluding the Roman supremacy and ending with 
the conquest by the Arabs. To the founder of 
the Alexandrian Library, Ptolemy Scter, is also 
ascribed the introduction of science and litera¬ 
ture. The grammarians and poets of this period 
included Egyptians, Greeks, and Jews, and later 
also Romans. Their chief aim was to col¬ 
lect and preserve for future generations writings 
then existing, and to add to these the literature 
of subsequent years. The language of Alexan¬ 
drian writers was remarkable for correctness, 
purity, and elegance of expression. Though dis¬ 
tinguished for fine rhetoric, their productions 
lacked the spirit that animated Greek poetry. 
In a school where imitation and rule were sub¬ 
stituted for inspiration, each generation became 
more artificial and lifeless than preceding mas¬ 
ters. However, the school was long distin¬ 
guished for culture in mathematics, astronomy, 
and physical sciences. It was Here that Euclid 
in the 3d century b. c. wrote his great work on 
geometry, and Archimedes, Eratosthenes, and 
Philadelphus declared well-established mathe¬ 
matical and scientific principles. For four cen¬ 
turies the Alexandrian School was the chief 
seat of learning and science of the world, and 
from its origin to its fall includes a period of 
1,000 years. 

ALEXANDRIAN VERSION, or Alex¬ 
andrian Codex, an important manuscript writ¬ 
ten on parchment with uncial letters, now in 
the British Museum. It constitutes a transcript 
of the Old and New Testaments in the Greek 
language, but there are some omissions from 
the New Testament. The Old Testament is 
written in the translation known as the Septua- 
gint, and, in connection with it, are epistles of 
Clemens Romanus. The manuscript is thought 
to date from the 6th century. 

ALFALFA (al-fal'fa), or Lucerne, a deep¬ 
rooting clover-like perennial plant. It is culti¬ 
vated extensively for forage in America and 
in the European countries bordering on the 
Mediterranean Sea. Owing to rooting deep 
into the ground, it is the best known plant for 


i 


ALFIERI 


65 


ALGAE 


dry localities, and is profitably cultivated in 
such regions. It yields from two to fifteen tons 
of fodder per acre, and has the advantage of 
being both nourishing and healthful as a food 
for stock- The stem is upright and branching, 



the leaves are purple colored, and the flowers 
grow in clusters. It has been cultivated in 
Europe as a forage plant more than 2,000 years 
and is grown extensively in the arid regions of 
Nebraska, Kansas, Texas, Colorado, and other 
states. 

ALFIERI (al-fe-a're), Vittorio, tragic 
poet, born in Piedmont, Italy, Jan. 17, 1749; 
died in Florence, Oct. 8, 1803. His early edu¬ 
cation was limited, but later he studied Latin 
and went to Tuscany to acquire the Tuscanian 
dialect. On his way thither he became attached 
to the Countess of Albany, through whose in¬ 
fluence he secured the advantages that led to 
his success and poetic excellence. He may be 
classed as the first tragic writer of Italy. “Cleo¬ 
patra” was his first production, and “Saul” the 
most successful. His entire works include 
twenty-one tragedies, six comedies, several epics 
and lyrics, and numerous translations from 
ancient classics, chiefly from the Greek and 
Roman. 

ALFONSO (al-fon'so), the name of a 
large number of kings of Portugal and Spain. 
There were five sovereigns in Aragon, six in 
Portugal, and twelve in Leon and Castile bear¬ 
ing this name. Alfonso I., the earliest king 
of Portugal bearing this name, was born in 
1110; died in 1185. He conquered the Moors 
in 1139, and eight years later took Lisbon. 
Alfonso X., King of Leon and Castile, was 
born in 1221; died in 1284. After storming 
Seville in 1248 and achieving other successes, 
he became a pretender to the imperial throne 
of Germany, but was defeated by Rudolph of 
Hapsburg. He was noted as a poet, astronomer, 
and philosopher. 

ALFONSO XIII, King of Spain, son of 
Alfonso XII., born May 17, 1886. His father 
became King of Spain in 1876, and in 1879 mar¬ 
ried the Archduchess Maria Christina of Aus¬ 
tria, but died in 1885. Alfonso XIII. was born 
posthumously. He was recognized as King of 
Spain at birth under the regency of his mother, 

i 



under whose care he received a liberal educa¬ 
tion. The early years of his reign were dis¬ 
turbed more or less by the pretensions of the 
Carlists to the throne, 
and in 1898 occurred 
the Spanish-American 
War, which resulted in 
the loss of the last 
Spanish possessions in 
America. Alfonso 
ranks as a progressive 
sovereign, and has 
manifested consider¬ 
able interest in indus¬ 
trial development. In 
1906 he married Prin¬ 
cess Ena of Battenberg, 
a relative of William II. of Germany and 
a granddaughter of Queen Victoria of Eng¬ 
land. 


ALFONSO XIII. 


ALFORD (al'ferd), Henry, biblical critic 
and poet, born in London, England, Oct. 7, 1810; 
died Jan. 12, 1871. He studied at several uni¬ 
versities and in 1856 was made dean of Canter¬ 
bury. His reputation as a biblical critic is 
based on his edition of the Greek New Testa¬ 
ment, which was published in 1852, and in which 
he made liberal use of the treasures of Ger¬ 
man learning. He was not only a literary critic 
and editor, but was efficient in painting, music, 
and carving. His books include “New Testa¬ 
ment for English Readers,” “A Plea for the 
Queen’s English,” “Homilies on the Acts of 
the Apostles,” “Letters from Abroad,” and “The 
School of the Heart, and Other Poems.” 

ALFRED THE GREAT, King of the 
West Saxons, born at Wantage, in Berkshire, 
in 849; died Oct. 28, 901. He became king at 
the age of twenty-two years, at a time when the 
country was disturbed by a war with the Danes, 
and a month later met the enemy at Wilton, 
where, after a long struggle, he was defeated. 
Both parties being tired of war, a treaty of 
peace was concluded, and the Danes withdrew 
to London. In 878 a second war broke out 
with the Danes, but he defeated them with great 
loss at Eddington, and again in 894, when the 
Danes were commanded by Hastings. Alfred 
was a military genius and a devout Christian, 
and sought to promote justice and peace for the 
welfare of his country. He translated a number 
of works which he thought would be useful 
to his people, including Orosius’s “History of 
the World,” and Boethius’s “Consolation of 
Philosophy.” Edward the Elder, his son, suc¬ 
ceeded him as king. 

ALGAE (al'je), the general name applied 
to numerous plants that grow in water, both 
fresh and salt, comprising seaweeds and other 
species. In size they range from forms too 
small to be seen by the naked eye to the giant 
kelp common to the west coast of America, 
which attains a length of from 800 to 1,500 
feet. They are devoid of true roots, and usually 




ALGEBRA 


ALGER 


06 


adhere to the bottom of the water or to rocks, 
and frequently are seen afloat on the surface. 
In structure they are of cellular tissue, as the 
common carrageen, which, when bleached, is 
the Irish moss of commerce. This plant and 
many others are edible: Some species are used 
in the manufacture of iodine, kelp, and bromine, 
and many are of value as manure. Masses of 
gulfweed many miles in extent are met by 
navigators, such as the Sargasso Sea. Most 
species common to salt water are brown or 
red, and the fresh-water plants are greenish in 
color. 

ALGEBRA (al'j£-bra), a branch of pure 
mathematics, which, like arithmetic, treats of 
numbers. This department of mathematics en¬ 
ables one to generalize by the aid of symbols, 
and therefore to abbreviate the method of solv¬ 
ing propositions relating to numbers. It is 
a valuable medium in the solution of intricate 
problems, and by means of it results can be 
obtained that by arithmetic are impossible. 
Comte defines algebra as the calculus of func¬ 
tion, to distinguish it from arithmetic, which he 
defines as the calculus of values, but this defini¬ 
tion places some algebra in common arithmetic 
and some arithmetic in school algebra. However, 
in practice, this condition now exists in many 
common schools, since authors of texts in 
arithmetic have introduced more or less exten¬ 
sive applications of algebra with each division 
of arithmetic. 

The symbols used in algebra are of three 
kinds, those of quantity, those of operation, 
and those employed as abbreviations for ordinary 
words. Symbols of quantity may be known or 
unknown, and consist of letters of the alpha¬ 
bet and of ordinary numbers, as 2 a~\sb by 2 a — 
3 b, meaning that the former quantity is to be 
multiplied by the latter. Numerals or the first 
letters of the alphabet are generally employed 
to represent known quantities, as a, b, c; 
and the last letters of the alphabet to represent 
unknown quantities, as x, y, z. The symbols 
of operation are +, —, X> "D etc., and the 
symbols used as abbreviations are y /, denoting 
square rootj^K, cube root, <, greater than, etc. 
The divisions of algebra are addition, subtrac¬ 
tion, multiplication, division, involution, evolu¬ 
tion, and equations, though some authors of 
text-books and many institutions of learning 
make the last mentioned a distinct branch of 
study. 

An equation is the statement of the quality of 
two algebraic expressions, the expression to the 
left of the sign of equality being the first mem¬ 
ber and the one to the right of the sign being 
the second member. Equations are designated 
by degree: one of the first degree is called a 
simple equation; of the second, quadratic; of 
the third, cubic; of the fourth, quartic or 
biquadratic, etc. It has long been possible to 
solve general equations of the second, the third, 
and the fourth degree, but whether an equation 


of the fifth degree can be solved was in dis¬ 
pute for many centuries. This question was 
finally settled by Niels Henrik Abel (1802-2.9), 
an eminent Norwegian mathematician, who 
demonstrated the impossibility of solving gen¬ 
eral equations of any degree higher than the 
fourth. However, it is possible to construct 
special equations of the fifth or of a higher 
degree which admit of being solved, but such 
problems belong to the highest branch of 
algebra. Diophantus of Alexandria, Egypt, is 
thought to have originated this science in the 
4th century, when that city was the seat of 
culture and learning. Europeans first learned 
of algebra from the Arabs, who derived it from 
the Hindus. The work from which Europeans 
drew largely was that of Mohammed Ben Musa, 
who lived in the 9th century. Leonardo 
Bonaccio, an Italian merchant, while traveling 
in the East, about 1200, acquired a knowledge of 
algebra, and on his return introduced it among 
his countrymen. Later it was introduced into 
all European countries, and its signs and sym¬ 
bols were greatly enlarged. It began to be 
taught with much enthusiasm in the early 
period of the revival of learning. It was first 
applied in a case of one cubic equation in 1505, 
later to two cubic equations, and still later to 
biquadratic equations. Descartes applied algebra 
to geometry, and was the first to represent the 
nature of curves by means of equation. Other 
eminent scholars applied algebraic methods to 
the sciences, including formal logic, economics, 
and psychology. 

ALGECIRAS (al-je-se'ras), a city of Spain, 
in the province of Cadiz, six miles west of 
Gibraltar. It is important as a seaport, has a 
well-protected harbor, and carries on- a profit¬ 
able trade. The Moors seized it in 711, and it 
remained in their possession until 1344, when 
it was beseiged and captured by Alfonso XI. 
It was the seat of the Algeciras Conference in 
1906, which considered the rival claims of 
Germany and France in Morocco. Population, 
1922, 12,986. 

ALGER (al'jer), Horatio, author, born at 
Revere, Mass., Jan. 13, 1834; died July 18, 1899. 
He studied at Harvard University, where he 
graduated in 1852, and afterward completed a 
course by graduation at the Harvard Divinity 
School. In 1864 he became pastor of a 
Unitarian church at Brewster, Mass., but after 
two years removed to New York, where he 
gave his time largely to literary work. His 
writings consist largely of juvenile literature 
and he published about seventy books, of which 
about 800,000 copies were sold in America and 
Europe. Among his bpoks are “Do and Dare,” 
“Luck and Pluck,” “Tattered Tom,” and “Paul 
Preston’s Charge.” 

ALGER, Russell Alexander, soldier and 
statesman, born in Lafayette, Ohio, Feb. 27, 
1836; died Jan. 24, 1907. After attending the 
Dublic schools, he studied law and was admitted 


ALGERIA 


67 


ALGERIA 


to the bar, and in 1859 began to practice his 
profession at Cleveland. He enlisted for 
service in the Union army in 1861, when he was 
made captain in the Second Michigan cavalry, 
and before the war closed he was made a brevet 
major general. He distinguished himself at 
Gettysburg and in the Shenandoah Valley. 
After the war he settled permanently in Detroit, 
Mich., where he became wealthy in the lumber 
business, and in 1884 was elected Governor of 
the State as a Republican. He was an unsuc¬ 
cessful candidate for the nomination for Presi¬ 
dent in 1888. In 1889 he was chosen com¬ 
mander in chief of the Grand Army of the 
Republic. President McKinley appointed him 
Secretary of War in 1897, which position he 
resigned two years later. The Spanish-Ameri- 
can War was in progress while he administered 
the department, and he was severely criticised 
as being indirectly responsible for the unsani¬ 
tary condition of many camps. In 1902 he was 
appointed United States Senator and was 
elected to a full term the following year. 

ALGERIA (al-ge'ri-a), a colony of France 
in North Africa, bounded on the north by the 
Mediterranean Sea, east by Tunis and Tripoli, 
south by the Sahara Desert, and west by 
Morocco. The length from east to west is 
about 550 miles and it extends inland about 
375 miles. It has an area of about 343,500 
square miles, but the area exclusive of the 
Sahara region is 184,474 square miles. 

Description. Algeria comprises a portion of 
the plateau of North Africa, which rises from 
the sea in three terraces, but along the 
Mediterranean is an extensive and fertile coast 
plain. The Atlas Mountains traverse the entire 
northern part from east to west in two chains, 
known as the Great Atlas and the Middle or 
Maritime Atlas. These chains are more or less 
parallel to the coast, the former bordering on 
the Sahara and the latter trending between it 
and the sea. The Great Atlas includes some 
of the highest summits of Algeria, as Mount 
Shelia, which is 7,600 feet above sea level. 
Deep and tortuous defiles furrow the moun¬ 
tains in many places. The portion of the 
Sahara lying within Algeria is a rocky plateau 
with an elevation of about 1,500 feet. ■ All of 
the streams are small and unimportant. They 
are confined almost exclusively to the coastal 
plain of the north, since the region included in 
the Algerian Sahara is arid. The Sheliff, 
which flows into the Mediterranean near 
Mostaganem, is the largest river. Numerous 
small lakes abound in the highland, some of 
which are saline and have deposits of salt on 
the bottom during the dry season. 

The climate is moderate and healthful, but 
it varies largely with differences in elevation 
and local peculiarities, being generally arid 
toward the south and moderately humid in the 
northern part. The most productive and best 
watered section of the country is along the 


sea, extending inland about fifty miles, and most 
of the European settlements are within this belt. 
This section has a moderate temperature, but 
the summers as a whole are hot and dry. A 
large number of fertile oases are located in the 
desert on the south slope of the highlands. 
They are covered with vegetation and are well 
watered, but the greater part of the desert is 
devoid of vegetation and unfit for occupation. 

Productions. Many minerals abound in the 
highlands, but mining has not been developed 
to any great extent. The more extensive de¬ 
posits are those of iron, copper, zinc, lead, and 
quicksilver. Building stone, especially granite, 
is found in large quantities. Extensive deposits 
of salt occur in the southern part. Agriculture 
and stock raising are the leading industries, 
and these enterprises are largely in the hands 
of natives, while commerce is monopolized by 
Europeans, mostly Frenchmen. Wheat is the 
leading cereal, but comparatively large interests 
are vested in growing barley, oats, potatoes, 
alfalfa, and grapes. Other products include 
coffee, tobacco, onions, and fruits. A fine 
grade of horses are reared for draft purposes. 
Other domestic animals include cattle, sheep, 
camels, and poultry. 

Algeria has large interests in timber and is 
an exporter of lumber and lumber products. 
As a wine-producing country it takes high rank, 
and it has manufactures of pottery, cotton and 
woolen textiles, clothing, - utensils, and esparto 
goods. The foreign trade is chiefly with 
France, Great Britain, Spain, Italy, and Ger¬ 
many. The leading exports include cereals, 
wine, minerals, cork, alfalfa, and live stock. 
Among the imports are clothing, furniture, tex¬ 
tiles, and machinery. Railroad building has 
received marked attention under grants made 
by France, and the lines in operation in 1908 
included a total of 2,250 miles. Tramway 
lines have been constructed in the larger cities 
and in some of the mining districts, and a sys¬ 
tem of national highway has been inaugurated. 

Government. The administration is vested 
in a governor general, who is responsible to the 
national assembly of France. He is assisted 
by a ministry, although a part of the territory is 
governed under military rule. For the purpose 
of government the country is divided into three 
provinces, called departments. These include 
Algiers, Constantine, and Oran. Each depart¬ 
ment has its own council, and these councils 
send delegates to the superior council, which 
meets annually at Algiers. Judicial authority is 
exercised by justices of the peace, commercial 
courts, courts of first instance, and a court of 
appeal located at Algiers. As a whole the coun¬ 
try is organized and governed under the system 
of French laws, both in civil and criminal 
affairs. The state gives support to education 
and religion, but the instruction in elementary 
schools may be either in French or Arabic. 
Several institutions of higher learning and a 


ALGIERS 


68 


ALGONQUINS 


number of commercial and technical schools are 
maintained under encouragement by the govern¬ 
ment. 

Inhabitants. Although Algeria has been a 
dependency of France since 1830, only about 
350,000 of the inhabitants are French, and the 
total foreign population is given at 765,500. 
The two chief classes are Arabs and Berbers, 
the former being largely nomadic and engaging 
extensively in pastoral occupations. Formerly 
the region was occupied wholly by Berbers, who 
are generally termed Kabyles, and there are 
parts of the country which are still occupied 
almost exclusively by these people. The Berbers 
have a language peculiar to themselves, but they 
have been influenced more or less by the Arabs 
and Jews and use the Arabic characters in 
writing. Mohammedanism is the prevailing 
religion, but Judaism is well represented and 
many of the natives profess Christianity. A 
small element of the inhabitants consist of 
Negroes and Turks. Algiers, the capital of 
Algeria and of the department of Algiers, is 
the largest city. Other cities include Oran, 
Constantine, Bona, Mustapha, Tlemcen, and 
Gardaja. Population, 1922, 5,231,850. 

History. The region occupied by Algeria 
was known to the Romans as Numidia, but 
anciently it included Tunis. The Vandals con¬ 
quered it in 430 a. d., but it was occupied 
by an army of the Byzantine Empire in 533, 
and became a possession of the Saracens in the 
7th century. When the Jews and Moors were 
driven from Spain by Ferninand and Isabella 
at the close of the 15th century, large numbers 
of them located in Algeria, where they 
developed the arts and industries of the 
Europeans. Spain undertook a war against 
Algeria at the beginning of the 16th century, 
and by 1510 made much of the country tribu¬ 
tary. The Turkish pirate, Horush Barbarossa, 
made himself Sultan of Algeria in 1516, but 
he was captured soon after and beheaded by 
the Spaniards. In the 16th century the country 
became a part of the Turkish domain, but the 
Turks did not establish complete supremacy 
over all the tribes, and in 1830 it became a 
colonial possession of France. At the time of 
the Franco-German War, in 1870-71, an up¬ 
rising took place to throw off the dominion of 
France. Subsequently other attempts were 
made to secure independence, but in the main 
the country has been prosperous and peaceable. 
French occupancy has greatly facilitated com¬ 
merce and manufactures, extended internal im¬ 
provements, and stimulated a devlopment of 
the natural resources. 

ALGIERS (al-jerz'), a seaport city on the 
Mediterranean, capital of Algeria, on the west 
shore of the Bay of Algiers. It occupies a fine 
site on the slope of a hill fronting the sea, the 
mountains back of it giving a beautiful back¬ 
ground effect. The city consists of two parts, 
the old and the new divisions. In the former 


the streets are platted irregularly, giving an 
Oriental appearance, while the latter was planned 
and built by the French and is both modern and 
beautiful. Four aqueducts supply water, and 
the newer part of the city is lighted with gas 
and electricity. The old part is built in the 
Moorish style, and the architecture is plain 
from the outside, but the interiors are beauti¬ 
fully decorated in the Moorish art. Formerly 
the city had about one hundred mosques, but 
they have been partly displaced by synagogues 
and Christian churches. Among the educational 
institutions are schools of science, law, and 
medicine, and many secondary schools are 
maintained by the French and the Mussulmans. 
The harbor is well fortified and spacious, fur¬ 
nishing landings for a large number of vessels. 
Considerable export trade is carried on with 
France and other European countries, and it is 
the most important coaling station on the 
Mediterranean. Tourists visit Algiers in large 
numbers during the winter, owing to its pleas¬ 
ant and healthful climate. Population, 1906, 
138,240; 1922, 172,397. 

ALGOA BAY (al-go'a), an inlet on the 
southeastern coast of Africa, in Cape Colony, 
about 425 miles east of the Cape of Good Hope. 
The Sunday and Baasher rivers discharge into 
it, and it affords excellent anchorage for ves¬ 
sels. On the west coast is Port Elizabeth, near 
Cape Recife, which is the seat of a consider¬ 
able export and import trade. 

ALGONKIAN (al-gon'ki-an), a division of 
geologic time, preceded by the Archaean and 
succeeded by the Cambrian. Traces of this 
period are most distinct in the vicinity of Lake 
Superior, both in the United States and Canada, 
and its name was derived from the Algonquin 
Indians who originally inhabited that region. 
The rocks are sedimentary and metamorphic, 
and consist chiefly of marble, schist, geneiss, 
quartz, granite, and conglomerates. Few fos¬ 
sils occur and those found are indistinct. In 
some regions volcanic rocks are imbedded in 
shale and limestone, while in other sections 
rich deposits of copper and iron are abundant, 
the former particularly in Upper Michigan and 
the latter in Northern Minnesota. The Hud¬ 
son Bay country, Ontario, New England, and 
the Black Hills have large areas of the Al- 
gonkian system. 

ALGONQUINS (al-gon'kwinz), a family 
of North American Indians, the most promi¬ 
nent of three aboriginal races found in the great 
basin of the Saint Lawrence. They include 
the Mohegans, Pequots, and Narragansetts of 
New England; the Delawares, Powhatans, and 
Shawnees; and many tribes living in the vicini¬ 
ty of the Great Lakes. During the Colonial 
period they were friendly to the French and 
fought against the English, especially in 
French and Indian wars, but later they became 
greatly scattered. At present about 81,200 of 
these Indians are living, the larger part of 


ALHAMBRA 


69 


ALISON 


which are in Canada, notably in the provinces 
of Quebec and Ontario. The tribe known as 
Algonquins has dwindled down to about 1,200, 
and about two-thirds of these are in Canada. 

ALHAMBRA (al-ham'bra), a noted palace 
in Spain, situated about a mile from the city 
of Granada, to which it forms a citadel or 
acropolis. It was formerly the residence of the 
Moorish kings. It was founded and commenced 
by Ibnu-l-ahmar, and completed about 1348. 
There are two oblong courts; the smaller one, 
known as the Court of the Lions, contains a 
fountain ornamented with twelve lions in mar¬ 
ble, and is 66x115 feet; the other, called the 
Court of the Blessings, is 74x138 feet. The 
Alhambra is surrounded by gardens, in which 
are beautiful waterfalls, exquisite fountains, and 
decorative vines. Within are gorgeous color¬ 
ings, whispering galleries, and geometrical de¬ 
signs interwoven with passages from the Koran. 
An Arab poet likened the Alhambra to “a pearl 
set around with emeralds,” while it was once 
described as “the gem of Arabian art in Spain, 
its most beautiful and most perfect example.” 
Washington Irving’s “Alhambra” is the best 
known description written of this place in the 
English language. 

ALI-IBN-ABU-TALIB (a'le-ib’n-a-boo-ta'- 
leb), eminent Mohammedan, born at Mecca 
about 602; died in 661. He was a cousin of 
Mohammed and one of the early converts to 
the faith of Islam. He married Fatima, the 
daughter of Mohammed, and was expected to 
become the first caliph, but was preceded in 
that office by Abu Bekr, Omar, and Othman. 
As caliph he was brave and faithful, but his 
term of office was characterized by opposition 
and contention on account of sects that began 
to form. His followers came to be known as 
Shiites and their most powerful opponents were 
the Sunnites. The Shiites are at present most 
numerous in Syria, India, Afghanistan, and 
Persia, while the Sunnites are represented 
largely in Turkey and Northern Africa. The 
Fatimites, believed to be descendents of Ali and 
Fatima, ruled in Egypt for many years. 

ALIAS (a'lT-as), a term used in law to 
designate a name assumed by a person who 
wishes to conceal the name by which he passes 
or is known. An alias is usually assumed for 
purposes of deception, though this is not always 
the case, as it is quite proper under certain 
conditions to employ an alias, such as pseu¬ 
donyms adopted by writers, stage names used 
by actors, and descriptions employed by detec¬ 
tives, all of which are properly comprehended 
under the term. The name is frequently used 
in law to describe a writ given after one of 
the same kind has been issued for an identical 
purpose. 

ALICANTE (a-le-kan'ta), a city of Spain, 
in the province of Alicante, located on the 
Mediterranean. Many of the buildings are of 
stone, and the streets are well improved and 


regularly platted. It is well fortified and ranks 
next to Cadiz and Barcelona as a seaport in 
Spain. The manufactures include tobacco, 
clothing, and machinery, and the city has a 
large trade in grain and fruit. It is the seat 
of two nunneries, a collegiate church, and 
several consulates. The Romans named it 
Lucentum. Population, 1920, 50,495. 

ALIEN (al'yen), a term used to designate 
a person born outside of the jurisdiction of 
the country in which he resides and who has 
not acquired the full rights of citizenship. In 
Great Britain the alien may become a citizen 
under the Naturalization Act of 1870. On the 
other hand, in the United States, the status of 
an alien is determined under the provisions of 
the National Constitution, or under the Con¬ 
stitution of the State in which such alien may 
reside. An alien, even after naturalization, is 
restricted in a number of respects, as, for in¬ 
stance, he is not eligible to a seat in Congress 
until after seven years after naturalization, and 
may not hold the office of President or Vice 
President. 

ALIEN AND SEDITION LAWS (se-df- 
shun), the name applied to certain enactments 
of Congress passed in 1798, while John Adams 
was President. They raised the number of 
years necessary for naturalization from five 
to fourteen; provided for the arrest of sub¬ 
jects of any foreign power with which the 
United States should be at war; provided for 
the punishment of any person maliciously slan¬ 
dering the government or any of its officers, 
and gave the President power to banish or 
arrest any aliens he might deem dangerous. 
These laws proved a political blunder and were 
never enforced to any extent. They aided largely 
in the downfall of the Federal party. 

ALIMENTARY CANAL (al-i-men'ta-ry), 
the name of that portion of the digestive appar¬ 
atus through which food passes after mastica¬ 
tion. It includes the pharynx, aesophagus, 
stomach, and small and large intestines. 
These organs are lined with a mucous mem¬ 
brane, which possesses the function of absorb¬ 
ing certain substances and rejecting waste mat¬ 
ter, and is modified in each region according 
to the function of the part. The length of the 
alimentary canal is five to six times the height 
of the individual, usually about thirty feet in 
the adult, measured from the base of the skull 
to the extreme end of the large intestines. 

ALISON (al'i-sun), Sir Archibald, histo¬ 
rian, born at Kenley, England, Dec. 29, 1792; 
died near Glasgow, May 23, 1867. He was a 
son of Archibald Alison (1757-1839), a Scottish 
clergyman, and studied in the schools and Uni¬ 
versity of Edinburgh. In 1814 he was admitted 
to the bar and for some time traveled in 
Europe, and in 1834 became sheriff of Lanark¬ 
shire. He published his first writing in 1832, 
entitled “Principles of the Criminal Law of 
Scotland,” and soon after the “Practice of the 


ALIZARIN 


70 


ALLEGHANY 


Criminal Law.” His best known work, entitled 
“History of Europe from 1789 to 1815,” begins 
with the French Revolution and ends with 
Napoleon’s defeat at Waterloo, but was subse¬ 
quently brought down to 1852. This work 
shows considerable research, but contains some 
inaccuracies occasioned by the partisanship of 
the author. Other writings embrace “Principles 
of Population,” “Life of the Duke of Marl¬ 
borough,” and “Political and Historical Es¬ 
says.” 

ALIZARIN (a-liz'a-rin), a coloring matter 
derived from the root of the madder. This 
plant is cultivated in Southern Europe for its 
coloring principles, but alizarin is now derived 
largely from anthracene, a hydrocarbon con¬ 
tained in the refuse of coal tar. From it the 
Turkish red dyes are obtained. 

ALKALI (al'ka-li), a term of Arabic origin, 
alki being the name of the plant from which 
an alkaline substance was first derived. The 
name is now applied to a class of substances 
that have similar properties, the most con¬ 
spicuous being solubility in water, power of 
corroding vegetable and animal substances, 
ability to neutralize acids and with them to 
form salts, and the property of changing the 
tint of various coloring matter. Properly, 
there are four alkalies—soda, lithia, potash, and 
ammonia. The first three are oxides of metals; 
the last is called the volatile alkali, being in the 
form of gas, and compounded of nitrogen, 
oxygen, and hydrogen. Potash is called the 
vegetable alkali, being largely found in the 
ashes of plants, and soda is termed the mineral 
alkali, owing to its predominating in minerals. 
Alkalies have a soapy taste, form soap with 
fats, and act on the skin. They turn most 
vegetables green, turmeric brown, and reddened 
litmus blue. When united with an acid, the, 
peculiar qualities of each are destroyed or 
neutralized, as is exemplified when mixing soda 
with sour milk; the former an alkali, and the 
latter an acid. The term alkali as employed in 
commerce usually implies caustic soda or pot¬ 
ash, and both are used in the arts for the 
manufacture of glass, soap, and many other 
products. Caustic potash is used in surgery for 
cauterizing. 

ALKALOID (al'lca-loid), a compound of 
vegetable origin, usually complex in composition, 
and found in living plants. All the alkaloids con¬ 
tain nitrogen and certain properties in com¬ 
mon with ammonia, especially the power to 
form salts when combined with acids. Their 
properties, which are extracted from the plants 
by treating with dilute acids, are poisonous and 
medicinal. The list of alkaloids embraces 
quinine, cocaine, morphine, caffeine, strychnine, 
aconitine, narcotine, codeine, coniine, nicotine, 
theobromine, etc. Artificial alkaloids are de¬ 
rived from coal tar products. 

ALLAH (al'la), the Arabian name of God, 
whose attributes arc thus summed up by the 


Koran: “There is no God but God. This only 
true, great, and most high God has his being 
through himself; is everlasting; is not begotten 
and begetteth not; is all-sufficient in himself; 
fills the universe with his infinity; is the center 
in which all things unite, as well the hidden 
as the manifest; is Lord of the world of bodies 
and spirits, creator and ruler, almighty, all¬ 
wise, all-loving, merciful; and his decrees are 
unchangeable.” Allah Akbar, meaning God is 
great, is a popular war cry among the Mo¬ 
hammedans. 

ALLAHABAD (al-la-ha-bad'), an im¬ 
portant city of India, capital of the North¬ 
west Provinces, at the junction of the Ganges 
and Jumna rivers. It is strongly fortified, has 
extensive railroad facilities, and is regarded the 
holiest of all places by the Hindus. Those 
people make it one of their chief resorts, and 
thousands make pilgrimages to bathe at the 
junction of the two rivers. The Mohammedans 
also hold it sacred, and to them it is known as 
the “City of Allah.” There are a number of 
fine government buildings, numerous mosques, 
temples, and educational institutions, and it is 
the seat of a famous annual industrial exposi¬ 
tion. The manufactures include clothing, car¬ 
pets, textiles, leather, pottery, and machinery. 
It was founded in the 3d century b. c., and 
has long ranked as an important trade and 
manufacturing center. Population, 177,210. 

ALLAN (al'lan), Sir Hugh, financier, born 
at Saltcoats, Scotland, Sept. 29, 1810; died 
Dec. 8, 1882. He was first employed as a clerk, 
and in 1824 removed to Canada. In 1837 he 
took part in the Canadian rebellion and at¬ 
tained the rank of captain. He is one of the 
founders of the Allan line of ocean steamers, 
which became important in the commercial de¬ 
velopment of Canada. In 1871 he was knighted 
and became prominent in Canadian politics and 
in the development of railroad building. His 
ability as financier caused him to become one 
of the wealthiest men in the Dominion. 

ALLAN, Sir William, painter, born in 
Edinburgh, Scotland, in 1782; died Feb. 22, 
1850. Pie studied in the Royal Academy at 
London, traveled in Russia and Turkey, and 
gave special attention to historical painting. 
In 1838 he was elected president of the Royal 
Scottish Academy, and Queen Victoria knighted 
him. Among his best-known paintings and en¬ 
gravings are “Queen Mary Signing Her Abdi¬ 
cation,” “Waterloo,” “John Knox Admonishing 
Queen Mary,” and “A Slave Market at Constan¬ 
tinople.” 

ALLEGHANY (al -le-ga'ni), a name some¬ 
times applied to the great mountain system in 
the eastern part of the United States, though 
it is more commonly known as Appalachian. The 
Alleghany mountains proper are the ranges of 
the Appalachian system that traverse the states 
of Virginia, Maryland, and Pennsylvania. They 
comprise a number of parallel chains that trend 


ALLEGHANY SPRING 


71 


ALLEN 


from the southwest to the northeast. Their 
average elevation is about 2,500 feet, reaching 
their highest summits in Virginia, where they 
are over 4,000 feet high. These mountain 
ranges are well wooded to the summit and 
throughout the region are many fertile valleys. 
Large quantities of iron, bituminous and an¬ 
thracite coal, limestone, and other minerals and 
quarry products are obtained. 

ALLEGHANY SPRING, a village and 
post office of Virginia, in Montgomery County, 
80 miles west of Lynchburg, near the line of 
the Norfolk and Western Railroad. It is noted 
for the large number of highly saline springs 
that are located in the surrounding country. 
The vicinity is known as Alleghany Springs and 
is much frequented as a summer resort. Shaws- 
ville, three miles distant, is the railroad station. 

ALLEGHENY, a river of the United States, 
rises in Potter County, Pennsylvania, and unites 
with the Monongahela at Pittsburg to form the 
Ohio. It courses through a fertile valley, is 
about 365 miles long, and is navigable some 
distance above Pittsburg. 

ALLEGHENY, formerly a city of Pennsyl¬ 
vania, in Allegheny County, opposite Pittsburg, 
but united with the city of Pittsburg since 1906. 
It is finely situated on the Allegheny River, is 
the focus of a network of railroads, and ranks 
as a favorite residence place for Pittsburg busi¬ 
ness men. A large number of bridges cross 
the Allegheny River, both for pedestrians and 
commercial traffic, and it has extensive elec¬ 
tric railway facilities with many points within 
the State. It is important as a center for the 
manufacture of ironware, boilers, spirituous 
liquors, salt, locomotives, machinery, clothing, 
stoves, white lead, and leather. There are 
extensive municipal improvements, including 
waterworks, pavements, gas and electric light¬ 
ing, and sewerage. Among the chief buildings 
are the Western University of Pennsylvania, 
the Allegheny Observatory, the Western Theo¬ 
logical Seminary, and numerous libraries, 
schools, hospitals, and churches. Allegheny 
was first settled in 1788, and its incorporation 
as a city dates from 1840. Population, 1900, 
129,896. See Pittsburg. 

ALLEGIANCE (al-le'jans), the term used 
to express that duty which a citizen owes to 
the State to which he belongs, or the tie or obli¬ 
gation to one’s country. The English doctrine 
which asserted that allegiance is indelible was 
early adopted by the United States, but this 
theory has since been modified by the enact¬ 
ment of naturalization laws. 

ALLEGORY (al'le-go-ry), a narrative or 
discourse in which the principal subject is 
described in a manner that really refers to an¬ 
other, which resembles it in many important 
characteristics. In a complete allegory, the 
characters or leading circumstances refer to 
some underlying thought. This is the case in 
Bunyan’s “Pilgrim’s Progress,” in which is de¬ 


scribed a journey from the City of Destruction 
to the Celestial City by the faithful Christian. 
Chaucer’s “House of Fame” and Tennyson’s 
“Idylls of the King” are other examples of 
English allegories. 

ALLEN, Charles Herbert, public man, 
born at Lowell, Mass., April 15, 1848. He 
attended the public schools and graduated at 
Amherst College in 1869, and engaged in the 
lumber business at Lowell. In the meantime 
he took an interest in local politics, served in 
the lower house of the Legislature in 1881-82, 
and the following year was a member of the 
State senate of Massachusetts. He was a 
member of Congress two terms, from 1885 to 
1889, and in 1898 was made Assistant Secretary 
of the Navy, in which office he succeeded Theo¬ 
dore Roosevelt. In 1900 he was appointed first 
Civil Governor of Porto Rico, in which position 
he did much to promote the trade and the in¬ 
ternal improvements of the island. 

ALLEN, Ethan, soldier and patriot, born in 
Litchfield, Conn., in 1737; died in Burlington 
Vt., Feb. 13, 1789. In 1765 he settled in wha^ 
was then known as New Hampshire Grants. 
and now forming Vermont. This region was 
claimed by New Hampshire and New York, 
and, to protect their interests, the settlers organ¬ 
ized a company under the name of Green 
Mountain Boys and chose Allen as leader. This 
company, aided by the New Hampshire gran¬ 
tees, expelled the New York settlers. In 1775 
after the Battle of Lexington, he marched with 
his company against Ticonderoga and Crown 
Point. At the break of day on May 10 he 
surprised Ticonderoga. Having secured en¬ 
trance to the fort with eighty-four men, he 
awoke the sleeping garrison with a shout of vic¬ 
tory and demanded of Captain Delaplace, the 
British commander, an unconditional surrender 
“in the name of the Great Jehovah and the Con¬ 
tinental Congress.” The fort yielded, surren¬ 
dering with 120 cannon, many small arms, and 
large quantities of* ammunition and supply 
stores. For this excellent service he received 
a vote of thanks from Congress. In Septem¬ 
ber of the same year, while on an expedition 
to Montreal, he was taken prisoner by the 
British and sent to England. After Burgoyne’s 
surrender at Saratoga, he was released by ex¬ 
change for a British colonel, and was appointed 
major general of the Vermont militia, in which 
capacity he rendered valuable services. After 
the close of the Revolution, in 1784, Allen wrote 
a book, entitled “Reason the Only Oracle of 
Man,” the first of the works against Christianity 
published in America. 

ALLEN, James Lane, author, born near 
Lexington, Ky., in 1849. He graduated at 
Transylvania- University and taught in Ken¬ 
tucky University, and afterward was an in¬ 
structor at Bethany College, W. Va. After 1886 
he devoted his time entirely to literature. His 
works are numerous and consist chiefly of 


ALLEN 


72 


ALUGATOR 


novels. Among his books are “John Gray: A 
Novel,” “A Night in Arcady,” “The Reign of 
Law,” “The Choir Invisible,” “The Kentucky 
Cardinal,” and “The Mettle of the Pastor.” 

ALLEN, Jeremiah M., business man, born 
in Enfield, Conn., May 18, 1833; died Dec. 29, 
1904. He descended from Samuel Allen, of , 
Revolutionary fame, and became widely known 
as president of the Hartford Steam Boiler In¬ 
spection and Insurance Company, which office 
he held thirty-three years. He founded the Lo¬ 
comotive, an engineering magazine. 

ALLEN, William, statesman, born in Eden- 
town, N. C., in 1806; died July 11, 1879. He 
studied at Chillicothe Academy, Ohio, and in 
1827 was admitted to the bar. His eminent 
ability as a lawyer gave him a lucrative prac¬ 
tice. He was elected to Congress in 1832, 
where he was the youngest member of the 
House, and in 1837 he became a member of the 
Senate, where he was also the youngest mem¬ 
ber, and was reelected in 1843. In 1848 he 
refused the nomination for President on the 
Democratic ticket, since his support had been 
pledged to Lewis Cass. He became Governor 
of Ohio in 1873, but was defeated for reelection 
by R. B. Hayes. 

ALLENBY, Sir Edmund Henry Hynmon, 

soldier, born in England, April 23, 1861. He 
studied at Haileybury, served in the campaigns 
of South Africa, and commanded on the Somme 
and the Aisne in France. In 1917 he had charge 
of the expedition in Palestine, where he defeated 
the Turks and captured Jerusalem. His skillful 
generalship contributed to many British sue- 
cesses. 

ALLENTOWN (al'en-town), a city in 
Pennsylvania, county seat of Lehigh county, on 
the Lehigh River. In its vicinity are extensive 
coal and iron ore mines and factories producing 
brick and tile. The city has convenient rail¬ 
road facilities, being on the Central of New 
Jersey, the Lehigh Valley, and other railways. 
It is an important market for farm and dairy 
products, and has extensive manufacturing and 
commercial interests. The chief manufactures 
include leather, boots and shoes, machinery, 
boilers, hardware, furniture, and clothing. It 
is the seat of Muhlenberg College and of Allen¬ 
town Female College, and has excellent public 
schools, numerous churches, and a fine county 
courthouse. Gas and electric lights, pavements, 
street railways, several libraries, and a number 
of parks are among the conveniences. William 
Allen, then the chief justice of Pennsylvania, 
after whom it was named, platted the town 
in 1752. It was incorporated as Northampton 
in 1811, but its original name was restored in 
1838. Population, 1900, 35,416; in 1920, 73,502. 

ALLIANCE (al-li'ans), a city of Stark 
County, Ohio, on the Mahoning River, fifty- 
seven miles south of Cleveland. The city has 
transportation facilties by the Pennsylvania, the 
Lake Erie, and other railways. It is sur¬ 
rounded by a rich agricultural country, which 


produces cereals, dairy products, fruit, coal, 
and mineral oil. Among the manufactures are 
hardware, carriages, farming implements, pot¬ 
tery, machinery, and clothing. Gas and electric 
lights, pavements, street railways, public parks, 
and extensive railroad facilities are among the 
conveniences. The city has fine public schools 
and churches, and near it is Mount Union Col¬ 
lege. Population, 1900, 8,974; in 1920, 21,603. 

ALLIBONE (al'li-bon), Samuel Austin, 
author, born in Philadelphia, Pa., April 17, 
1816; died Sept. 2,-1889. He first entered upon 
a mercantile career, but soon began to compile 
his “Critical Dictionary of English Literature 
and British and American Authors.” In this 
publication he attempted to give the title of 
every book published in the English language, 
including quotations from critical writers and 
biographical sketches of the authors. The work 
comprises notices of 46,599 writers and repre¬ 
sents about 20 years of hard work by the 
author. He was for several years secretary of 
the American Sunday School Union and com¬ 
piled “Poetical Quotations from Chaucer to 
Tennyson,” “Prose Quotations from Socrates 
to Macauley,” “Indexes to Edward Everett’s 
Orations and Speeches,” and “Explanatory 
Questions on the Gospels and the Acts.” 

ALLIGATOR (al'li-ga-ter), a large car¬ 
nivorous reptile peculiar to America, and found 
mostly in the swamps and streams of the 
warmer regions. It is closely allied to the croc- 



ALLIGATORS. 


odile family, with which it is classed, but has 
a broader head, larger number of teeth, and 
feet less webbed, and its habits are less aquatic. 
Alligators are often seen in groups by day bask¬ 
ing on the dry ground in the warm sun, but 
at night they become active and noisy. They 
burrow in the mud of swamps in the winter, 
where they lie torpid until the return of warm 
weather. The chief food of both alligators and 
crocodiles is fish, but they also devour small 
animals and carrion, and when pressed by hun¬ 
ger show considerable determination in attack¬ 
ing man. Some writers assert that the alliga¬ 
tors possess a musky fluid secreted by the 








ALLIGATOR LIZARD 


73 


ALLOY 


glands of the throat, which they throw out as 
a sort of bait to attract the fish on which they 
prey. The female lays a large number of eggs, 
ranging from forty to two hundred, which she 
buries in the sand or in heaps of vegetable mat¬ 
ter to be hatched by the warm sun. At fifteen 
years the alligator is not more than two feet 
long, and it requires from sixty to ninety years 
to develop the full growth of the adult. The 
skin on the back of mature alligators is so 
hardened by horny scales that a large rifle ball 
is required to inflict a fatal wound. These 
plates form two upright denticulated crests, 
which gradually converge toward the middle 
of the tail, and there unite and form a single 
row to the extremity. The skin of alligators 
is used in the manufacture of boots and shoes. 
A full-grown alligator is very large, attaining 
a length of eighteen to twenty feet, and its body 
is about eight times longer than the head. The 
flesh is sometimes eaten, though mostly by 
savages. A species known as spectacled cay¬ 
man is native to South America. 

ALLIGATOR LIZARD, a class of reptiles 
common to Mexico and the southwestern part 
of the United States. These animals are active 
and are frequently seen on the sides of stone 
walls and adobe houses, and in forests hide 
near fallen trees or ascend to the branches of 
standing trees to escape from intruders. They 
are characterized by flat scales and the absence 
of spines, and when the head is raised the bril¬ 
liant colors of the throat become visible. They 
multiply rapidly, laying their eggs in the sand 
to be hatched by the sun. 

ALLISON (al'li-son), William Boyd, 

statesman, born in Perry, Ohio, March 2, 1829; 

died Aue - . 4. 1908. He studied at the Western 

Reserve Academy, 
Ohio, was admitted 
to the bar, and in 
1 8 5 7 removed t o 
Iowa. At the be¬ 
ginning of the Civil 
War he became a 
member of the Gov¬ 
ernor’s staff a n d 
aided in organizing 
the Iowa volun¬ 
teers. In 1862 he 
was elected to Con¬ 
gress, serving four 
william boyd allison. terms in the House 
of Representatives, and in 1873 was chosen 
United States Senator to succeed James Har¬ 
lan. As a legislator he attained much influ¬ 
ence, serving on many important commis¬ 
sions and committees, and was reelected five 
times consecutively. In 1892 he served as a 
delegate for the United States to the Inter¬ 
national Monetary Conference. Senator Alli¬ 
son ranks among the most prominent states¬ 
men of America, and was frequently men¬ 
tioned as a Republican candidate for Presi¬ 


dent. His service of four terms in the House 
and six in the Senate, a total of 44 years, is the 
longest any one has been a member of Congress. 

ALLITERATION (al-lit-er-a'shun), the 
repetition of the same letter at the beginning 
of two or more words immediately succeeding 
each other, or at short intervals. It was used 
extensively in the Middle Ages, and in old 
German and Scandinavian poetry it took the 
place of rhyme. Spenser employed this style 
of writing extensively, and uses of it are made 
in the works of Pope and Gray. Tennyson 
employed illiteration combined with the dis¬ 
tribution of vowels and in this practice was 
joined by many poets, but prose writers usually 
avoid it. “The fair breeze blew, the white 
foam flew” and “Many men of many minds” 
are examples of alliteration. 

ALLOPATHY (al-lop'a-thy), the term 
originated by Hahnemann (q. v.) to distinguish 
the ordinary practice of medicine from homeop¬ 
athy. It was founded on the theory expressed 
by Hippocrates that “opposites are remedies for 
opposites.” Plowever, the term is gradually 
going out of use, since practitioners cannot 
confine themselves to such limitations in the 
treatment of diseases. In the development of 
new branches of science, as, for instance, bac¬ 
teriology, new resources have become promi¬ 
nent and have been extensively developed. 

ALLOY (al-loi'), a name given by the 
French to a compound or combination of two 
or more metals fused together. It is now ap¬ 
plied to any mixture of metals, excepting cases 
in which mercury is one of the metals, when 
the compounds are called amalgams. Most 
metals mix in any proportion, but some form 
true mechanical compounds by uniting only in 
definite proportions, while others resist homo¬ 
geneous combination and form a conglomerate 
of distinct masses. A very great variety of 
changes are produced by the combination of 
metals. An alloy may differ in color from 
either of the components, or may be very simi¬ 
lar to one of them. While an alloy is generally 
harder than its components, it usually consti¬ 
tutes a body less malleable and ductile. Its 
specific gravity is sometimes less than the aver¬ 
age of that of its ingredients, while it is al¬ 
ways more fusible. Bronze, brass, pewter, and 
type metals are alloys. The silver money of 
the United States is made up of nine parts of 
silver and one part of copper; the gold coins 
contain nine parts of gold, and the other part 
is one-fourth silver and three-fourths copper. 
The reason other metals are mixed with gold 
and silver is that they are too soft for money 
unless hardened by mixing with other metals. 
Some of the valuable bronze alloys compounded 
in recent years contain aluminum. In electro¬ 
typing, alloys are made by using thirteen parts 
tin with aluminum to form a nonshrinking 
combination. Arsenic adds strength to copper, 
while other chemicals increase the brightness 


— - — —- , 







I 


ALL SAINTS’ DAY 74 ALMANAC 


of gold. Besides these, there are many other 
useful combinations. 

ALL SAINTS’ DAY, or Allhallows, a 

Christian festival instituted in 835, and cele¬ 
brated in honor of the saints in general. This 
festival is observed by the Anglican, Lutheran, 
and Roman Catholic Churches on November 
1, and by the Greek Church on the Sunday 
after Whit Sunday. It was introduced because 
a separate day could not be set apart for every 
saint. 

ALL SOULS’ DAY, a festival observed on 
November 2 by the Roman Catholic Church. 
It was instituted in 998 as a day for prayers 
offered publicly at the Eucharist for the faithful 
departed who have not attained to perfect life. 

ALLSPICE (al'spis), or Jamaica Pepper, a 
tree-like plant of the West Indies, whose fruit 
combines the flavors of cinnamon, nutmeg, and 

cloves. The fruit is used 
extensively in medicine 
and cookery and in the 
manufacture of an essen¬ 
tial oil and other products. 
It also serves as an aro¬ 
matic, and forms the basic 
ingredient of distilled wa¬ 
ter. The tree is of an or¬ 
namental character, usual¬ 
ly twenty to thirty feet in 
height, with oval leaves 
and small flowers. A sin¬ 
gle tree produces about 
100 pounds of the dried 
spice. 

ALLSTON (awl'ston), 
Washington, painter, 
born in Waccamaw, S. C., 
Nov. 5, 1779; died in Cam¬ 
bridge, Mass., July 9, 1843. He graduated from 
Harvard College, and afterward studied in Lon¬ 
don, Paris, and Rome. While in Europe, he 
formed the friendship of Benjamin West, Cole¬ 
ridge, and Thorwaldsen. Many of his paint¬ 
ings are founded on subjects taken from sacred 
history, and all display high imaginative power 
and a rare mastery of color. He has been sur¬ 
passed by no American painter in the delinea¬ 
tion of sacred history. His chief productions 
include “Dead Man Revived by Touching the 
Bones of Elijah,” “Uriel in the Sun,” and “Bel- 

clip 7 7 o t- * c f-T pp cf ^ 

ALLUVIUM (al-lu'vi-um), the deposits of 
soil by the action of water, consisting chiefly 
of clay, loam, marl, and sand. The term is 
used in reference to transported matter by the 
action of fresh water, which was deposited both 
during the Pleistocene and recent periods. 
When used in the former sense, it includes 
deposits formed on large bases in all geological 
ages, but in the latter sense it is confined more 
strictly to the action of oceanic waves, deposits 
of rivers as seen in deltas, and washes from 
hill sides, caused by recent rains. Lands made 


in this way are said to be alluvial in their origin. 
This action is going on constantly by various 
agencies. It is exemplified by the Ganges, Nile, 
Volga, Mississippi, and other rivers, particu¬ 
larly at their mouths, where the silt is deposited 
and forms deltas of considerable extent. An 
estimate recently made places the silt carried 
annually by the Mississippi at a volume suffi¬ 
cient to cover 275 square miles of land with 
a layer one foot deep. 

ALMA (al'ma), a small river in the 
Crimea, coursing in a westerly direction to 
Kalamita Bay, near Sebastopol. Prince Ment- 
schikoff, the Russian commander, selected the 
southern bank of this river as a defensive posi¬ 
tion in the Crimean War, where he was attacked 
by the allied army Sept. 20, 1854. The Rus¬ 
sian army of 35,000 men was defeated by the 
allies numbering 62,000, and as a result of the 
battle the road to Sebastopol was opened. 

ALMAGRO (al-ma'gro), Diego de, ex¬ 
plorer, born in Almagro, Spain, about 1464; 
died in 1538. His parentage is unknown, and 
he was so named from the place of his birth, 
where he was raised as a foundling. He came 
to America at an early age, and, after acquiring 
considerable wealth, joined Pizarro at Panama 
in an attempt to conquer Peru from the Incas. 
Though he never learned to read and write, he 
showed remarkable ability as a manager of sup¬ 
plies, and in 1535 undertook to seize Cuzco, 
the capital of Peru, and afterward invaded 
Chile. Subsequently he was recalled to sup¬ 
press a rising of the Peruvians, whom he de¬ 
feated, but became entangled in a quarrel with 
Pizarro.* The latter caused him to be taken 
and executed. 

ALMANAC (al'ma-nak), a small book 
primarily designed to furnish a calendar or 
table of the days belonging to the several 
months of the year for which it is published. 
Besides serving as a guide to designate the 
days of the month, calendars usually contain 
data of the rising and setting of the sun and 
moon, the phases of the moon, the position of 
the heavenly bodies, important dates observed 
by the church and state, and much other infor¬ 
mation of use to the public. The term is of 
Arabic origin, but it is known that an almanac 
was published at Alexandria by the Greeks 
about the 2d century a. d. Almanacs were first 
published in Europe by Solomon Jarchus in 
1150, and subsequently came into extensive use. 
Benjamin Franklin began the publication of an 
almanac in 1732, pretending it was written by 
one Richard Saunders, and his publication came 
to be called “Poor Richard’s Almanac.” Be¬ 
sides the monthly calendar and movements of 
the heavenly bodies, his almanac contained 
anecdotes, scraps of useful information, and 
odds and ends of literature, and was published 
annually for twenty-five years. In more recent 
times almanacs came to be published in connec¬ 
tion with advertisements of large manufactur- 




ALMA-TADEMA. 


75 


ALPENA 


ing and publishing companies, and many are 
now distributed free of charge to the public. 
Some of the great daily newspapers of the 
United States and Canada publish annually 
almanacs in which valuable information is de¬ 
tailed, many of these publications embracing 
5(H) to 800 printed pages. A publication known 
as “The Nautical Almanac” is published annually 
by the United States Bureau of Navigation, 
and serves the purpose of a guide for naviga¬ 
tors. By means of it any locality on mid ocean 
can be determined by the sailor. The compu¬ 
tations are made for three years, and the pub¬ 
lications serve for that period of time. Similar 
almanacs are published by the governments of 
France, Germany, and Great Britain. 

ALMA-TADEMA (al-ma-tad'e-ma), Law¬ 
rence, eminent artist, born in Dronryp, 
Holland, Jan. 8, 1836. He descended from an 
ancient family, studied at the Academy of Ant¬ 
werp, and in 1873 settled in England. Most 
of his productions relate to classical subjects, 
and show excellent taste in design and coloring. 
Among his most important paintings are “Way 
to the Temple,” “At the Close of a Joyful Day,” 
“Entrance to a Roman Theater,” and “Dedica¬ 
tion to Bacchus.” He died June 24, 1912. 

ALMERIA (al-ma-rl'a), a seaport of Spain, 
in a province of the same name, 60 miles 
southeast of Granada. It is located at the 
head of Almeria Bay, an inlet from the Mediter¬ 
ranean, and the country adjacent is devoted to 
the culture of fruits and cereals. The manu¬ 
factures include macaroni, sugar, white lead, 
and clothing, and there is a considerable trade 
in iron ore, fruit, and wine. It is the seat of 
a bishop, a Gothic cathedral, and several nun¬ 
neries. The Church of San Pedro, a fine edi¬ 
fice, occupies the site of a Moorish mosque. 
Almeria was founded by the Phoenicians and by 
the Romans was called Magnus Pontus. Popu¬ 
lation, 1920, 45,198. 

ALMOND (a'mund), the fruit of the 
almond tree, which is native to Africa and 
Asia, but has been naturalized in America and 
Europe. There are two varieties, the bitter and 
the sweet. The sweet almond is an article of 
food, and when taken in moderate quantities 
is quite nutritive. Almond oil is obtained from 
the kernel of either the bitter or the sweet 
species, and is alike valuable for medicine and 
as a perfume. Prussic acid is obtained from 
the bitter almond. 

ALOE (al'o), the name of a number of 
plants belonging to the order of lilyworts, some 
of which are not more than a few inches high, 
while others attain a height of thirty feet. 
The different species include herbs, shrubs, 
and trees, and are characterized by erect spikes 
or clusters of flowers. In the West Indies they 
serve as hedges. The juice is purgative in 
large doses and laxative in small quantities, 
and the fibers yield a product useful in mak¬ 
ing coarse cloth and cordage. See Agave. 


ALOES WOOD, or Eagle Wood, the 

inner part of the trunk of trees native to the 
tropical parts of Asia. These trees are supposed 
to be the lign aloes mentioned in the Bible. 
They yield a fragrant resinous substance, which 
has a pleasant odor when burned, and is highly 
prized as a medicine by Asiatic people. Several 
species of this class of trees are found, some 
of which yield wood that takes a high polish 
and is used for ornamental work. The younger 
wood is white and almost devoid of scent, 
while the older growth has a dark color and 
yields the most fragrant resinous substances. 

ALPACA (al-pak'a), an animal native to 
the mountain regions of Peru and Chile, where 
it subsists on the coarse and scanty forage 
growing on the sterile soil. It is shaped much 



ALPACA 


like a sheep, but is larger, and its color varies 
from grayish white to almost black. The wool 
is soft and silky, usually light chestnut brown, 
nearly a foot long, and is strong and almost 
as fine as that of the Cashmere goat. Thin 
cloth called alpaca is made from alpaca wool 
mixed with cotton or silk. It is an important 
article of commerce, and is used largely for 
shawls, light clothing, and umbrellas. The 
alpaca is a mammal of the cud chewing class, 
and is classed with the same family as the camel. 
Its flesh is pleasant and wholesome. 

ALPENA (al-pe'na), a city of Michigan, 
county seat of Alpena county, on the shore of 
Lake Huron, at the head of Thunder Bay, on 
the Detroit and Mackinaw Railway. It has 
an excellent harbor and enjoys considerable 
trade advantages. It is the seat of a United 
States fish hatchery, and has a fine public school 
system, numerous churches, and several libra¬ 
ries. There are manufactures of furniture, 
machinery, cigars, canned fruit, and clothing. 
Electric lights, rapid transit, waterworks, sewer¬ 
age, and several parks are among the con¬ 
veniences. It has an extensive export trade in 
lumber. The first settlement in' its vicinity was 
made in 1835, and it was incorporated in 1871. 
Population, 1904, 12,400; in 1920, 11,101. 






























ALPHA AND OMEGA 


76 


ALSACE-LORRAINE 


ALPHA AND OMEGA (al'fa o-me'ga), 
the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet, 
used as a symbol to denote the Divine Being, 
and often made to signify the beginning and 
the end, or the first and the last of anything. 
The term is also used to signify the chief aim, 
as: “Ambition was the Alpha and Omega of his 
existence.” 

ALPHABET (al-fa'bet), a list of symbols 
that represent to the eye the sounds heard in 
speech. The name originated from the first 
two letters of the Greek alphabet—alpha and 
beta. The alphabets of the different languages 
show marks of wide differences. In the English 
alphabet and many others are characters to 
represent both vowels and consonants, but the 
Hebrew alphabet contains letters only for the 
consonants, the vowels being distinguished by 
slight changes in some of the consonant let¬ 
ters. The alphabet of the Cherokee Indians 
and a number of others represents each syllable 
by a letter, while the Chinese have no alphabet 
as that term is understood, but instead use a 
sign or character for every word in their 
language. The English alphabet, like most 
of those of modern Europe, is of Latin deriva¬ 
tion, the Latin in turn came from the ancient 
Greek, and that again from the Phoenician. The 
Phoenician alphabet is believed to have origi¬ 
nated, like the Hebrew, from Egyptian hier¬ 
oglyphics. 

Most of the European alphabets agree in 
many respects, but some do not represent all 
the English sounds and do not contain all the 
letters. The Russian language has many sounds 
not common to other languages and contains 
thirty-six letters. The French have not the w; 
the Portuguese no k and w, and the Italian no 
k, w, x, and y. In the German alphabet are 
all the letters common to the English, but they 
differ somewhat in sound and in the number of 
sounds represented by the vowels. The Eng¬ 
lish alphabet is. both defective and redundant, 
and is a very imperfect instrument to serve the 
purpose for which it is intended. Its imper¬ 
fection is at least partly due to a want of 
characters to represent all the simple sounds, 
and in having more than one symbol for the 
same sound. However, since sounds change as 
well as grammatical forms, it may never be¬ 
come possible to secure a perfect alphabet in 
any language. 

ALPHONSO. See Alfonso. 

ALPS (alps), the most extensive system 
of mountains in Europe, covering a region of 
90,000 square miles, which lies chiefly in Italy, 
France, Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. The 
average height is about 7,700 feet, and many 
of the summits extend far above the snow line, 
and are covered with perpetual snow and ice. 
Mont Blanc, 15,781 feet, and Mont Rosa, 15,217 
feet, are the culminating peaks, but several 
others rise almost as high. The system of 
ranges is grouped as Eastern, Western, and 


Central Alps. They occupy the form of a semi¬ 
circle, with the Apennines, Balkans, Vosges, 
Hartz, and Carpathians extending out from the 
principal chain. On the north is the great 
glacier called Mer de Glace, which is five miles 
wide, fifteen miles long, and 100 feet thick. 
Other glaciers abound in different parts of this 
region of snow-capped peaks, from which great 
masses of snow and broken ice move into the 
valleys, bearing with them rocks and trees, and 
destroying many objects in their way. Forests 
and villages have often been buried beneath the 
avalanches of snow and ice, and when melted 
they have caused great floods in the valleys. 
There are now many roads leading over the 
Alps, some passable for carriages, and others 
only for travelers on foot. A number of these 
highways were built by Napoleon to convey 
his army and supplies over the Alps to the 
country beyond. 

In ancient times it was thought a great 
feat to cross the Alps, the most successful 
exploit of the kind being achieved by Hannibal 
at the passage of the Little Saint Bernard in 
the year 218 b.c., when he set out from New 
Carthage to invade Italy. The Duke of Alva 
led 10,000 men over Mont Cenis in 1567, and 
in 1800 Napoleon crossed from Switzerland 
into Italy with 30,000 men. All the mountains 
being barren and covered with snow, it was 
thought a remarkable piece of military skill 
to take an army with horses, cannon, ammuni¬ 
tion, and supplies safely over dangerous preci¬ 
pices and land them securely on the other 
side. In recent times railroads have been con¬ 
structed over two mountains, and two great 
tunnels have been built for other railways. Saint 
Gothard Tunnel, leading from Switzerland to 
Italy, is the largest railroad tunnel in the world, 
being nine and one-half miles long. Next to 
it is Mont Cenis Tunnel, which is nearly eight 
miles in length. Vegetation in the Alps is 
varied, owing to the great altitude, and there 
are valuable deposits of iron, manganese, mar¬ 
ble, and many other minerals. With the ascent 
of every thousand feet is a marked difference 
of temperature, .until the region of perpetual 
snow shuts out all signs of plant life. The 
chamois and the mountain goat are animals 
peculiar to the Alps. 

ALSACE-LORRAINE (al-sas'16-ran'), a 
region in the eastern part of France, situated 
north of Switzerland and west of Germany, 
and including an area of 5,668 square miles. 
The region lies largely in the valley of the 
Upper Rhine, is traversed by a network of 
railroads, and its inhabitants engage largely 
in agriculture, fruit growing, and manufactur¬ 
ing. It was a part of the kingdom of Lothaire 
in the 9th century. When his dominions were 
partitioned between France and Germany in 
969, it became an object of contention between 
these two powers, and has since been a source 
of dispute at various times. The region was the 


ALTAI MOUNTAINS 


77 


ALTONA 


scene of several decisive battles in the Franco- 
German War of 1870-71. Strasburg and other 
fortified cities were besieged and captured by 
the German army. At the peace negotiations, 
Germany demanded the cession of Alsace to¬ 
gether with what is called German Lorraine, 
this being one of the early conditions of peace 
laid down by Count Bismarck, and was accepted 
by M. Thiers, and afterward ratified by the 
national assembly at Bordeaux. The language 
spoken in German. Attendance at free schools 
is compulsory. Strasburg, on the Ill River, near 
the Rhine, is the capital and largest city. The 
French invaded Alsace-Lorraine, near Altkirch, 
in 1914, and in 1919 it was given to France by 
the Paris Peace Congress. Pop., 1919, 1,895,705. 

ALTAI MOUNTAINS (al-ti'), an impor¬ 
tant range of mountains in Asia, forming a 
part of the boundary between China and Si¬ 
beria. Among the great rivers having their 
sources in these mountains are the Obi, Irtish, 
Yenisei, and Amur. The different chains lie 
partly in Russian and partly in Chinese terri¬ 
tory. Byeluka is the highest peak, elevation 
11,000 feet. A celebrated trade route from 
Pekin to Saint Petersburg crosses these moun¬ 
tains some distance southwest of Lake Baikal, 
but it is not used as extensively as formerly, 
owing to the construction of the Trans-Siberian 
Railway. The Altai Mountains are rich in miner¬ 
als, including iron, copper, silver, gold, and 
petroleum. Many of the people inhabiting the 
mountain region are Russians. Barnaul is the 
chief city. 

ALTAMAHA (al-ta-ma-ha'), a river in 
Georgia, formed by the confluence of the Oconee 
and Ocmulgee rivers. Its general course is 
southeast through a sandy plain, and it flows 
into Altamaha Sound, an inlet from the Atlan¬ 
tic. The Ohoopee is its principal tributary. 
Darien, a thriving commercial town, is about 
12 miles above its entrance into the sea. 

ALTAR (al'tur), an elevated place of 
worship in Christian churches. Altars are 
constructed of wood, stone, or marble, though 
they are of great variety in shape and structure. 
Most of the Protestant churches have not re¬ 
tained the altar, but generally apply the same 
name to the table-like structure on which com¬ 
munion is offered. The altar is still used in 
some of the Lutheran churches, and both the 
Roman and Greek churches contain altars. Pope 
Sixtus II. erected the first stone altar, and it is 
thought that Saint Wolstand introduced stone 
altars in England. The ancient Greeks and 
Romans had a number of altars in their places 
of worship, each dedicated to some particular 
diety, and sacrifices and blood offerings were 
made on altars in many countries, especially 
among the heathen. In some nations the altar 
was looked upon as a refuge in the time of 
danger. The Jews regard the altar a sanctuary. 

ALTENBURG (al'ten-boorg), a city in 
Germany, canital of Saxe-Altenburg, near the 


Pleisse River, about 24 miles south of Leipzig. 
It is the seat of several educational institu¬ 
tions and has a fine art gallery, a museum, and 
a hospital for the poor. Several railroads and 
manufactures of woolen goods, toys, cigars, 
and clothing make it important as a commercial 
center. Population, 1920, 40,235. 

ALTGELD (alt'geld), John Peter, public 
man, born in Germany, Dec. 30, 1847; died 
March 20, 1902. He came to Ohio in 1849, 
where he attended the public schools, and in 
1864 enlisted for service in the Union army. In 
1886 he was elected judge of the superior court 
of Cook county, Illinois, and in 1S92 became 
Governor of the State, serving four years. While 
in that position he attracted national attention 
on account of his severe criticism of President 
Cleveland for sending troops to Chicago at 
the time of the great railroad strike. In 1896 
he supported the following plank, which was 
inserted in the platform adopted by the national 
Democratic convention at Chicago: “We de¬ 
nounce arbitrary interference by Federal authori¬ 
ties in local affairs as a violation of the Con¬ 
stitution of the United States, and a crime 
against free institutions, and we especially object 
to government by injunction as a new and 
highly dangerous form of oppression, by which 
Federal judges, in contempt of the laws of the 
State and rights of citizens, become at once 
legislators, judges, and executioners.” 

ALTO (al'to), a term used in designating 
voice, or pitch of sound. The term is applied 
to the lowest female voice, having a compass 
of about an octave and a half, and the term 
contralto signifies a tone quite similar, being 
the voice between the tenor and soprano. The 
term alto was formerly applied to the highest 
male voice. 

ALTON (al'tun), a city of Illinois, in 
Madison county, on the Mississippi River, 
twenty-one miles above Saint Louis. The city 
occupies a fine site about 200 feet above the 
river, and is on the Chicago and Alton, the 
Chicago, Burlington and Quincy, and other 
railways. It is a port city of entry, has ex¬ 
tensive steamboat connections, and is an impor¬ 
tant trade center. Among the manufactures 
are quarry products, machinery, furniture, to¬ 
bacco products, clothing, and earthenware. The 
streets are substantially paved wuth brick and 
asphalt. It has systems of electric lights and 
waterworks, a park, several libraries, and an 
extensive system of street railways. The city 
has excellent schools and churches, and is con¬ 
nected by electric railroad with Upper Alton, 
the seat of Shurtleff College, a Baptist institu¬ 
tion founded in 1827. The census of 1910 ac¬ 
cords Upper Alton a population of 2,918, while 
Alton in 1920 had a population of 24,714. 

ALTONA (al'to-na), an important city of 
Germany, in the province of Schleswig-Holstein, 
on the Elbe River, and connected by railroads 
and electric car lines with Hamburg. It has ex- 


ALTOONA 


78 


ALVA 


cellent public schools, an observatory, an infirm¬ 
ary, a mint, several colleges, and many libraries. 
Among the chief buildings are the palace of 
justice, the city theater, the customhouse, and 
several cathedrals and other churches. The 
manufactures include tobacco, sugar, soap, cord¬ 
age, silk and cotton textiles, chemicals, and 
leather. It has an excellent harbor, modern 
municipal improvements, and a large domestic 
and foreign trade. The city was founded by 
the Danes as a rival to Hamburg, but in 1867 
came into possession of Prussia. Population, 
1905, 168,320; in 1920, 172,533. 

ALTOONA (al-too'na), a flourishing city 
of Pennsylvania, in Blair county, near the Alle¬ 
ghany Mountains, on the Pennsylvania Rail¬ 
road. It is an extensive commercial and manu¬ 
facturing center, and produces locomotives, rail¬ 
road cars, ironware, boilers, tobacco products, 
furniture, and machinery. About 7,500 persons 
are employed in the factories. The city has a 
fine public library, municipal waterworks, elec¬ 
tric street railways, and pavements of stone and 
macadam. Lakemont Park is a fine public re¬ 
sort, and near the city is the famous Horse¬ 
shoe Bend. The Pennsylvania Railroad Com¬ 
pany founded Altoona in 1850. Population, 
1900, 38,973; in 1920, 60,331. 

ALTORF (alt'orf), or Altdorf, a city in 
Switzerland, capital of the canton of Uri, neaf 
the southern extremity of Lake Lucerne. It 
is nicely located at the foot of the Griinberg. 
Altorf is located on the railroad that passes 
through Saint Gotthard Tunnel, about 20 miles 
south. Population, 1918, 2,980. 

ALTRUISM (al'trdb-izm), a word coined 
by M. Comte and adopted with decided approval 
by Herbert Spencer. It is used to express that 
theoretical condition of human principle which 
the benevolent aim to attain in relation with 
their fellows. In popular use the term implies 
the finding of one’s own highest welfare in 
seeking the welfare of others. 

ALTUS, county seat of Jackson County, 
Oklahoma, on the Saint Louis and San Fran¬ 
cisco and other railroads. It has cotton mills, 
ice plant, public library, court house, high 
school, and street paving. The place was settled 
about 1902. Population, 1920, 4,498. 

ALUM (arum), a whitish astringent sa¬ 
line substance used in the arts and in medicine. 
Its constituents are alumina, alkali, sulphuric 
acid, and water. There are three general classes 
of alum, these depending on whether the alkali 
contained is potash, ammonia, or soda. Though 
found in a natural state, the alum of commerce 
is manufactured. In a natural state it is ob¬ 
tained from alum ore, which occurs in the lower 
coal measures. It was known and manufactured 
fully six centuries ago in Syria and other parts 
of Eurasia. Burnt alum is what remains after 
the water is taken out by heat, and in this form 
is used as a caustic. 

ALUMINIUM (al-u-min'i-um), or Alu¬ 


minum, a ductile, malleable, sonorous metal 
of a whitish color. Though the most abundant 
of all the metals, it was not discovered until 
in 1827. It is found in slate, clay, mica, spar, 
and many other mineral substances, and until 
recently was not extensively manufactured ow¬ 
ing to a lack of machinery with which to make 
its production sufficiently inexpensive. Electric¬ 
ity is employed largely in its manufacture from 
clay, since the process requires a very fierce 
heat, and the currents generated in some fac¬ 
tories attain as high as 15,000 amperes and 
30,000 volts. It can be drawn easily into fine 
wire, and may be converted into very thin foil 
by a process of rolling. In manufacture it is 
used with other metals for ornaments, scientific 
instruments, bells, and guns, and is mixed with 
different metals, such as copper, to serve very 
useful and ornamental purposes. Within recent 
years it has gone largely into the construction 
of bicycles, scientific instruments, chains used 
in mining, bath tubs, and automobiles. In large 
factories it has been successfully alloyed with 
steel in manufacturing war vessels, and a class 
of torpedo boats are constructed largely of it. 
Since it is the lightest in weight of all metals 
and yet exceedingly durable, it can be seen why 
its use is constantly increasing. 

ALUMNUS (a-lum'nus), plural Alumni, 
a term used to designate a person graduated at 
a school, university, or other place of learning. 
Thus, an alumnus of a particular school im¬ 
plies one who completed a course of study 
there by graduation. 

ALUM SHALE (al'um shale), or Alum 
Stone, a mineral consisting of clay combined 
with iron pyrites and mixed slightly with car¬ 
bon or bitumin. This mineral is weathered by 
exposure to the air and rain, causing a dis¬ 
solution of the pyrites and a union of the alu¬ 
mina with the sulphur, yielding a compound 
from which limonite and alum are obtained. 
In practice the shale is crushed before being 
exposed to the weather, or by burning slowly 
and leaching it. 

ALVA (al'va), Fernando Alvarez, gen¬ 
eral and statesman, born in Spain in 1508; died 
Jan. 12, 1582. He descended from a family 
claiming descent from the Byzantine emperors, 
received an extensive military education early 
in life, and engaged in a battle at the age of 
sixteen years. Charles V. of Spain engaged 
him for his campaigns in Italy, France, Hun- 
gary, Germany, and Africa. Later he was com¬ 
missioned by Philip II. to reduce the Nether¬ 
lands to Spanish subjection, and, being refused 
passage through French territory, he sailed 
from Cartagena with a force of 10,000 picked 
veterans. His great cruelty and inhuman war¬ 
fare caused thousands of merchants and noble¬ 
men to seek safety in Germany and England. 
Subsequently Holland and Zealand revolted and 
gained their independence, and he was dis¬ 
patched to Portugal, which he made subject to 


ALVARADO 


79 


AM AS IA 


Spain in 1580. Alva ranks as one of the most 
cruel and vicious tyrants of the 16th century. 
He boasted that he had never been surprised or 
defeated in battle, and that he had sent to 
execution 18,000 men. 

ALVARADO (al-va-ra'-tho), Pedro de, a 
conqueror of Spanish America, born at Badajoz, 
Spain, near the close of the 15th century; died 
in 1541. He sailed with four brothers for Cuba 
in 1518, and the following year became asso¬ 
ciated with Cortez, at a time when that famous 
general commanded an expedition to conquer 
Mexico. Charles V. made him governor of 
Guatemala, which he had conquered in 1523, 
and subsequently he conquered Honduras and 
added other regions to Spain. His death occur¬ 
red from his horse falling upon him while at¬ 
tempting to escape from the Indians after a 
defeat in battle. 

ALVERSTONE (al'ver-ston), Lord, Sir 
Richard Everard Webster, eminent British 
jurist, born Dec. 22, 1842. He studied at King’s 

College School and 
Trinity College, 
Cambridge, and was 
admitted to the bar 
in 1868. In 1885 he 
was elected a mem¬ 
ber of Parliament 
from Launceston, 
was attorney gen¬ 
eral of the United 
Kingdom until .1900, 
when he became 
lord chief justice of 
England. He was 
British counsel in 

LORD ALVERSTONE. ^ Venezue , a dis _ 

pute and in 1903 was president of the Alaska 
boundary commission, and in the latter posi¬ 
tion voted against the Canadian claims. He 
died Dec. 12, 1915. See Alaska. 

AMADEUS (am-a-de'us), the name of 
several rulers of Savoy, the first being the 
eldest son of Count Humbert, who was born 
at the beginning of the 11th century. Amadeus 
V., count of Savoy, was born in 1249; died at 
Avignon in 1323. He is distinguished mainly 
on account of repulsing the Turks from Rhodes, 
which was then in the possession of the Knights 
of Saint John. Amadeus VIII., count of Savoy, 
succeeded his father, Amadeus VII., in 1391. 
During his government the territory of Savoy 
was erected into a duchy, but he retired from 
the government in 1434 and entered a monas¬ 
tery in Ripaille. He succeeded Pope Nicholas 
V., his papal title being Felix V. 

AMADIS OF GAUL (am'a-de), a name 
frequently mentioned in the early romances of 
chivalry. Vasco de Lobeira, a Portuguese cour¬ 
tier, who died in 1403, was the author of this 
romance. It took high rank among some fifteen 
or twenty written by him. Translations have 
been made into various languages, among them 


Italian, English, and German, and it has been 
widely circulated. The romance is founded on 
the adventures of Amadis, son of a king of 
Gaul, who is represented as a model knight. 
It is related that he traveled through many 
countries and afterward married Oriana, daugh¬ 
ter of the king of England. The romance was 
probably written about 1380. 

AMALGAM (a-mal'gam), a term applied 
to a class of alloys in which one of the combin¬ 
ing metals is mercury. Though mercury readily 
unites with gold and silver, it does not com¬ 
bine with iron even when heated, and, for this 
reason, is used to separate gold and silver 
from the ores, the process being called amalga¬ 
mation. When properly applied, mercury dis¬ 
solves and combines with the precious metals 
and separates them from the waste matter, and 
afterward is itself driven off by heat. Numer¬ 
ous forms of amalgams are employed in the 
arts. In this way zinc and tin are prepared for 
the rubbers of electrical machines, copper and 
cadmium for uses in dentistry, silver and gold 
for plating and resilvcring, and tin for prepar¬ 
ing mirrors. The process of effecting amalga¬ 
mation differs widely, some forms being pro¬ 
duced by rubbing together the two metals, while 
others are the result of applying electricity. 
Amalgamations are effected both in solids and 
liquids. 

AMANA COMMUNITY (am'a-na kom- 
mu'm-ty), a German-American society whose 
origin dates back to the 18th century. The most 
successful community now known is located in 
the northeastern part of Iowa County, in the 
State of Iowa. The members own in common 
a tract of about 26,500 acres of land, though 
less than two thousand persons belong to the 
society. 

AMARANTH (am'a-ranth). an order of 
plants containing nearly 200 known species, na¬ 
tive to tropical and temperate countries, but 
most common in the tropics. The flowers are 
composed of separate sepals opposite the sta¬ 
mens, usually one-celled anthers, and a single 
ovary with one or more seeds, and are sur¬ 
rounded by dry, membranous bracts. The cocks¬ 
comb, love-lies-bleeding, prince’s feather, and 
globe amaranth are common kinds. The name 
amaranth is frequently applied in poetry to 
an imaginary flower supposed never to fade, 
and which serves as an emblem of immortality. 

AMARILLO, county seat of Potter 
County, Texas, on the Chicago, Rock Island 
and Pacific, the Santa Fe, and other railroads. 
The noted buildings include the court house, 
high school, federal building, opera house, St. 
Anthony’s Sanitarium, and city hall. It has 
large machine and railroad shops and a grow¬ 
ing trade. The site includes the town Economy, 
formerly a possession of a German communistic 
society. Population, 1920, 15,494. 

AMASIA (a-ma'se-a), a city of Asiatic 
Turkey, on the Innak River, 200 miles south¬ 
west of Trebizond. The surrounding country 







AMATI 


80 


AMAZONS 


is fertile and well adapted to silk culture and 
fruit growing. It has several bazaars, numer¬ 
ous mosques, and a Mohammedan university. 
In the vicinity are ruins of an old castle and 
archaic remains. Strabo, the geographer, was 
born here. Population, 30,000. 

AMATI (a-ma'te), the family name of 
several violin makers who lived in Cremona, 
Italy, in the 16th and 17th centuries. Andre 
Amati, the eldest, was born about 1520 and 
founded the Cremona school of violin makers. 
The instruments constructed by Antonio and 
Gerolimo Amati, about 1650, are held in special 
esteem by musicians. They are known by the 
general name of Cremonas, are of comparatively 
small size and flat model, and excel in purity 
and sweetness of tone. Countless attempts to 
improve upon the construction of the violin 
have produced nothing superior to the instru¬ 
ments made by this family, which are still con¬ 
sidered more valuable than any of modern con¬ 
struction. 

AMATITLAN (a-ma-te-tlan'), a town in 
Guatemala, Central America, 15 miles south of 
the city of Guatemala. It is located on the trans¬ 
continental railroad passing from the Caribbean 
Sea to the Pacific Ocean, hence has a growing 
trade in produce, especially in salt, cochineal, 
fruit, and raw silk. Near it is Lake Amatitlan, 
which is three miles wide and nine miles long. 
The town was founded by Jesuits, who promot¬ 
ed agriculture and stock raising. The surround¬ 
ing country produces large quantities of sugar 
cane. Population, 8,970. 

AMAZIAH (am-a-zi'ah), the ninth king of 
Judah, son and successor ©f Joash, flourished 
about 837 b. c. He conducted a successful ex¬ 
pedition against the Edomites, who had been 
in a state of revolt about 50 years. He captured 
the gods of the Edomites and introduced their 
worship into his kingdom, for which he was 
denounced by the Prophet Amos. In a war 
against Israel he was unsuccessful and was 
taken prisoner, but secured his release. He 
reigned about 28 years and was killed by con¬ 
spirators at Lachish. 

AMAZON (am'a-zon), the largest but not 
the longest river in the world, extending 
nearly across the northern part of South 
America. It is formed by a large number of 
head streams in the Andes, drains an area of 
about 2,500,000 square miles, and has an esti¬ 
mated length of 3,500 miles. It flows into the 
Atlantic at the equator, where it is 200 miles 
wide; 1,000 miles from the ocean it is four 
miles wide, and 2,000 miles from the ocean its 
width is about one mile. Among the chief 
tributaries are the Napo, Rio Negro, Jurua, 
Madeira, Japura, Tapajos, Xingu, and other 
streams. The Amazon and its tributaries afford 
about 30,000 miles of water surface suitable for 
navigation. In its valley is some of the most 
luxuriant vegetation on earth, being rivaled 
only in the equatorial region of Africa, and 


within its forests dwell many kinds of wild 
animals. The waters of the river system con¬ 
tain an abundance of fish. In the rainy season 
its banks and the lower courses of its larger 
tributaries are overflowed, and a large extent 
of country takes on the appearance of a vast 
inland sea. Large tracts of country traversed 
by the Amazon and its tributaries have not been 
carefully explored, but its basin is known to 
contain valuable natural resources, such as min¬ 
erals, timber suitable for construction, and large 
tracts of fertile land. It is certain that the 
Amazon basin contains all the natural resources 
requisite to support vast populations. It is 
connected with the Orinoco by the Negro and 
Cassiquiare rivers. Yanez Pingon discovered 
the Amazon in 1500, but Francis Orellana, one 
of Pizarro’s officers, first navigated it in 1541. 
In his report is a description of a nation of 
female warriors, or Amazons, with whom he 
engaged in several wars, and from whom the 
river received its name. 

AMAZONAS (a-ma-zo'nas), the largest 
province of Brazil, situated in the northwestern 
part of that country. It is traversed by the 
Amazon, has an area of 733,000 square miles, 
and a population of 162,000. The name is also 
applied to a department in the northern part 
of Peru, of which Chachapovas is the capital. 

AMAZONS (am'a-zonz), the mythical 
name of a warlike race of women who lived in 
Asia Minor, near the Bla'ck Sea. They were 



governed by a queen, and, to faciliate the use 
of the bow, burned their right breast. In 
Greek mythology it is related that Hercules 
defeated them, and that Theseus took captive 
their princess, Antiope. The Amazons fought 
on the side of Troy in the Trojan War, and 
their queen, Penthesilea, was killed in a combat 
with Achilles. Among the many sculptures of 
the Amazons is that of August Kiss (1802-65), 




AMBALA 


81 


AMBULANCE 


entitled “Mounted Amazon Attacked by a 
Tiger,” now in the Museum of Berlin, Ger¬ 
many. 

AMBALA (um-ba'la), or Umballa, a 

city in India, in the Punjab, 150 miles northwest 
of Delhi. It has convenient railroad facilities 
and an extensive trade, and is surrounded by a 
fertile country. Its chief buildings are a hos¬ 
pital, a Presbyterian church, a dispensary, and 
the government house. Ambala was founded 
in the 14th century. Population, 79,300. 

AMBASSADOR (am-bas'sa-der), a min¬ 
ister of the highest rank sent by a nation to 
the capital of another to represent there the 
interests of his country. Ambassadors are 
termed extraordinary when they are sent on 
a special mission, and ordinary when sent 
permanently to the seat of a foreign country. 
The United States did not appoint ambassa¬ 
dors until within recent years, but there was 
representation at foreign courts by officers 
termed ministers plenipotentiary, who were ap¬ 
pointed by the President with the approval of 
the Senate. In 1893 the Diplomatic and Con¬ 
sular Appropriation Bill empowered the Presi¬ 
dent to raise to the rank of ambassador extra¬ 
ordinary the American ministers accredited to 
any country which should previously confer a 
similar promotion upon its representative at 
Washington. Accordingly, Great Britain, Ger¬ 
many, Italy, and France raised their ambassa¬ 
dors at Washington to ambassadorial rank, and 
the representatives at the courts of Saint James, 
Berlin, Paris, and Rome were similarly pro¬ 
moted. Japan and several other countries have 
since named ambassadorships. 

AMBATO (am-ba'to), a town of. Ecua¬ 
dor, in the province of Leon, 75 miles south of 
Quito. It is located on the northeastern slope 
of Mount Chimborazo. It has a growing trade 
in cochineal and grain, and mining is carried 
on in the surrounding country. In 1698 it was 
destroyed by an eruption of Cotopaxi. Popu¬ 
lation, 14,000. 

AMBER ( am'ber), a hard substance, usually 
yellow, but sometimes clouded with red or 
brown. It is brittle, yields easily to the knife, 
and is translucent and sometimes transparent. 
Amber is highly electrical, on account of which 
the Greeks called it elektron, and later the 
word electricity originated from it. It is ob¬ 
tained in oceanic and tributary waters, from 
which it is taken by divers, but also occurs in 
bituminous beds of wood. The origin of amber 
is assigned to the remains of timber and other 
plants that grew in remote ages, perhaps in the 
Pliocene. Many plant and animal remains have 
been found in it, about 163 of the former and 
over 800 of the latter; fully two-thirds of 
the organisms represented are now extinct. 
Amber is sold at from $2 to $75 per pound, 
depending upon its quality. It is used for 
making ornaments, tobacco pipes, beads, and 
other articles. An imitation of amber called 


amberine is a valuable product, and is harder 
and tougher than the genuine. 

AMBERG (am'berg), a city of Germany, 
in Bavaria, 32 miles north of Ratisbon. Through 
it flows the Vils River, and a railroad line con¬ 
nects it with Nuremberg and other important 
commercial centers. Earthenware, woolen cloths, 
and machinery are its chief manufactures, and 
the government maintains here a manufactory 
of arms. It has a library of 35,000 volumes, 
an industrial school, and several fine churches. 
Population, 1905, 24,303; in 1920, 25,222. 

AMBERGRIS (am'ber-gres), a solid, 
fatty, inflammable substance derived from the 
intestines of the sperm whale. It has a gray 
or blackish color, the shades being variegated 
like marble, and possesses a peculiar earthy 
odor. The product is met with near the sea¬ 
shore and in the abdomen of the whales. It 
is an important article of commerce, and is 
used largely in the manufacture of perfumes. 
Genuine ambergris emits a fragrant smell and 
commands a high price. 

AMBOYNA (am-boi'na), or Amboina, 
an island in the Indian Archipelago, classed 
with the Molucca group. The chief products 
include fruits, cloves, nutmegs, indigo, sago, 
cocoanuts, and sea-shells. It is inhabited by 
natives of the Malayan race and a number of 
Chinese and Europeans, and is a possession of 
Holland. The city of Amboyna, on the Bay 
of Amboyna, is the capital. The island has an 
area of 280 square miles; population about 
50,000. 

AMBROSE (am'broz), bishop of Milan, 
an eminent father of the Latin Church, bom 
at Treves, in Gaul, in 340; died at Milan in 
397. His father was the Roman Governor of 
Gaul, but his mother was a Christian, and his 
education was of a highly virtuous and religious 
character. He espoused the cause of the Catho¬ 
lics, and was zealous in combating against 
heathen superstition. In 387 he founded the 
famous church of Saint Ambrose at Milan, 
later the Ambrosian Library, and was noted as 
an advocate and writer. His chief treatises 
include those entitled “Widows,” “Penance," 
“Duties of Ministers,” “Virginity,” and “Faith 
and the Holy Spirit.” 

AMBROSIA (am-bro'zha), in mythology, 
the food and drink of the gods, and supposed 
to confer immortal youth. It was not only used 
for food and drink, but was employed to anoint 
the gods, and in it they bathed themselves. 
It was sometimes served to the mortals who 
were favorites of the gods to give them 
strength, and with it the hair of Venus and 
Jupiter was anointed. Later writers say that 
nectar was the drink and ambrosia the food 
of the gods. 

AMBULANCE (am'bu-lans), a covered 
wagon used in large cities for the conveyance 
of sick or wounded persons to the hospital. 
In times of war the name is applied to moving 


6 



AMENDMENT 


82 AMERICAN FEDERATION OE LABOR 


field hospitals, especially such as are constructed 
by the Red Cross and other societies. These 
are stationed at the rear of troops that engage 
in battle. Persons wounded in action are 
carried hastily to ambulance wagons and con¬ 
veyed to the field hospital, where they are out 
of range of artillery fire and are treated by 
army surgeons. Ambulance wagons were first 
used in the French army in 1792. They are 
now in universal use in times of war, and all 
large cities employ ambulance wagons for the 
police department to convey both persons and 
animals that have been injured or wounded. 

AMENDMENT (a-mend'ment), in judicial 
proceedings, a term applied to the correction 
of errors or the addition offered in the plead¬ 
ings of a cause. It is also used to designate 
additions to the constitution of a society, State, 
or nation. In the Constitution of the United 
States the following conditions govern the addi¬ 
tion of amendments to that document: “The 
Congress, whenever two-thirds of both houses 
shall deem it necessary, shall propose amend¬ 
ments to this Constitution, or, on the applica¬ 
tion of the legislatures of two-thirds of the 
several states, shall call a convention for pro¬ 
posing amendments, which, in either case, shall 
be valid to all intents and purposes as part of 
this Constitution, when ratified by the legisla¬ 
tures of three-fourths of the several states, 
or by conventions in three-fourths thereof, 
as the one or the other mode of ratification 
may be proposed by the Congress; provided, 
no amendment which may be made prior to 
the year one thousand eight hundred and eight 
shall in any manner affect the first and fourth 
clauses in the ninth section of the first article; 
and that no State, without its consent, shall be 
deprived of its equal suffrage in the Senate.” 

AMENT, William Scott, missionary, born 
in Owosso, Mich., Sept. 14, 1851. He descended 
from Dutch parents, was educated at Oberlin 
College and Andover Theological Seminary, 
and in 1877 was appointed by the Foreign 
Mission’s Board as a missionary to China. 
For three years he was located at Paoting, and 
then was transferred to Peking, where, in 1900, 
800 foreigners were besieged by the Boxers. 
After the siege was raised by the allied forces 
in June, he and 500 native Christians took 
possession of the house of a Mongol prince, 
and it was charged that the company was 
guilty of looting, though it was afterward 
proven that only sufficient for support was 
taken in the form of food and clothing. Dr. 
Ament is the author of many thoughtful pam¬ 
phlets and addresses. He died Jan. 6, 1909. 

AMERICA (a-mer'i-ka), the name applied 
to the land masses of the western hemis¬ 
phere, which extend from an unknown region 
in the Arctic Circle to about 55° south lat. 
The Isthmus of Panama, a neck of land about 
twenty-eight miles wide at its narrowest point, 
separates the continent into two grand divisions, 


known as North and South America. America 
is bounded on the north by the Arctic Ocean, 
east by the Atlantic, which separates it from 
Europe and Africa, south by the Antarctic, and 
west by the Pacific, which separates it from 
Asia. The extent from north to south, from 
the ice fields of the Arctic regions to the 
southern extremity of Patagonia, aggregates 
10,500 miles, and the greatest width is about 
3,250 miles. There is a total land surface of 
16,237,535 square miles. See North America, 
South America, Central America. 

AMERICAN ASSOCIATION FOR THE 
ADVANCEMENT OF SCIENCE, a scien¬ 
tific society organized and maintained in the 
United States. The forerunner of this organ¬ 
ization was the association of American Geolo¬ 
gists, which was organized in Philadelphia in 
1840, and at a meeting held in Boston two years 
later its scope was enlarged and it became 
the Association of American Geologists and 
Naturalists. In 1847 the name was changed 
to American Association for the Advancement 
of Science, and to encourage and promote scien¬ 
tific work was declared to be its purpose. While 
there is no bar which would prevent any per¬ 
son becoming a member, the membership is 
limited in practice to citizens of the United 
States and Canada. The nine sections into 
which the association is divided are mathemat¬ 
ics and astronomy, physics, chemistry, mechani¬ 
cal science, geology and geography, zoology, 
botaii}% anthropology, and economic science and 
statistics. The chief executive officer is the 
president, assisted by nine vice presidents, each 
of whom presides over one of the departments. 
The society meets annually in the summer in 
some city of North America, the sections hold¬ 
ing separate sessions, and each year the pro¬ 
ceedings are published. The reports contain 
information of great scientific value. 

AMERICAN BEAUTY. See Rose. 
AMERICAN FEDERATION OF CATH¬ 
OLIC SOCIETIES, an organization promot¬ 
ed by the Roman Catholic Church, and whose 
headquarters are at Cincinnati, Ohio. The pur¬ 
pose of this organization is declared to be “the 
cementing of the bonds of Federal union among 
the Catholic laity and the Catholic societies of 
the United States; the fostering and protect¬ 
ing of Catholic interests and works of religion, 
piety, education, and charity; the study of so- 
* cial conditions; and the encouragement of the 
spread of Catholic literature and of the circu¬ 
lation of the Catholic press.” 

AMERICAN FEDERATION OF LA¬ 
BOR, an organization of trade unions, whose 
object is to improve the condition of wage 
workers. It may be considered the successor 
of the Knights of Labor, a similar industrial 
organization. The first convention recognized 
as official was held in Pittsburg, Penn., in 1881, 
at which it was declared to be the Federation 
of Organized Trade and Labor Unions of the 


AMERICAN FORESTRY ASSO’N 


83 


AMERICANISMS 


United States and Canada, and the present 
name was adopted at a trade-union meeting at 
Columbus, Ohio, Dec. 8, 1896. 

On Jan. 1, 1908, the American Federation 
of Labor included 825 local unions, 473 city 
centrals, 26 State federations, and 101 national 
and international unions. The United Mine 
Workers of America continues to be the largest 
affiliated union, and others of great numerical 
strength are the Cigar Makers’ International 
Union, the Brotherhood of Carpenters and 
Joiners, the Granite Cutters’ National Union, 
and the International Typographical Union. In 
January, 1919, the membership, excluding all 
duplicates, was placed at 1,850,000. Samuel 
Gompers is president, with headquarters at 
Washington, D. C., and his publication, The 
American Federationist, is the official organ. 

The primary object is to improve the con¬ 
dition and wages of laborers in all industrial 
pursuits, for which purpose unions of all classes 
of wage workers are to be organized and 
maintained. It is sought to form favorable 
public opinion through the press, platform, and 
legislatures, and to secure a reduction in the 
hours of labor to the toilers, the avowed pur¬ 
pose being to extend industrial progress and 
improve the status of civilization. It is sought 
to organize women wage workers, exclude 
Chinese immigration, establish shorter hours and 
better remuneration, and protect children under 
fourteen years of age from labor in factories 
and mines. To obtain the ends for which organ¬ 
ization is maintained, funds are raised by 
assessment of its members. While it is recom¬ 
mended that all unions seek to prevent strikes 
and boycotts, they are permitted under ex¬ 
tenuating circumstances, and assistance is given 
to affiliated organizations when necessarily en¬ 
gaged in protracted struggles to secure relief. 
The union labels being looked upon as impor¬ 
tant designations, efforts have been made by 
the executive committee to protect and legalize 
them. 

AMERICAN FORESTRY ASSOCIA¬ 
TION, a society in the United States whose 
purpose is to promote interest in the forest re¬ 
sources of that country and its territories. It 
was organized in 1882 and incorporated in 1897, 
and has a membership of about 2,000. Annual 
meetings are held, and at these important topics 
relating to forestry are discussed. The aim is 
to influence public sentiment in favor of plant¬ 
ing trees, preserving forests, and promoting 
legislation to accomplish these ends. This or¬ 
ganization has accomplished much for the wel¬ 
fare of the country by arousing interest to the 
extent that Congress has been induced to in¬ 
crease the timber reservations, both in number 
and extent, and the nation and many states have 
enacted laws to encourage the planting of trees 
and the protection of forests. Forestry and Ir¬ 
rigation is the official organ of this society. 

AMERICAN INDIANS. See Indians. 


AMERICAN INSTITUTE, a society or¬ 
ganized in New York City to promote domestic 
industries. It was founded in 1828 with the 
purpose of aiding in the development of the 
State, but ultimately the aim became broader 
and encouragement was given to agriculture, 
arts, manufacturing, and commerce in the en¬ 
tire country. Interest is promoted by fairs and 
exhibitions. This organization early recognized 
the value of the McCormick reaper and other 
useful inventions, such as the stocking loom, 
the telephone, the metallic lifeboat, the telegraph, 
and the milk separator, and by its recommenda¬ 
tions and public reports stimulated interest in 
the use of these and others valuable in the pro¬ 
ductive industries. 

AMERICANISMS (a-mer'i-kan-iz’m), a 
term applied to certain expressions in the Eng¬ 
lish language used extensively in the United 
States. They consist chiefly of words coined 
in America, or of words and terms obsolete in 
Great Britain, or which have been modified in 
meaning by usage. Some words and idioms 
are. local, while others have come into general 
use. The following embraces a representative 
list, though it does not include all the Ameri¬ 
canisms : 

Advantage, as a verb instead of profit. 

Backwoods, a partially cleared forest region. 

Baggage car, instead of luggage van. 

Blizzard, a storm of snow or sleet. 

Bogus, meaning false, counterfeit, fraudulent. 

Boss, an employer of laborers, a leader. 

Broncho, a western horse of small size. 

Bug, a beetle. 

Buggy, a vehicle with four wheels. 

Bulldoze, meaning to intimidate. 

Buncombe, used in the phrase to “speak for Bun¬ 
combe,” a common quotation, meaning to speak only to 
catch applause or favor. 

Bureau, a dressing table with drawers. 

Calculate, to think, to suppose, to believe. 

Calico, meaning prints, printed muslin goods. 

Canebrake, a thicket of canes. 

Canyon, a deep depression or gorge. 

Caucus, a preliminary meeting of politicians, held 
either by the members of a party in a voting precinct, 
or by members of a convention or legislative body. 

Chunk, a part or piece of any material. 

Clever, meaning obliging or good-natured. 

Cowboy, a western drover or cattle herder. 

Creek, a small stream or river. 

Cracker, a bake or biscuit. 

Creole, in the Gulf States, a person of French or 
Spanish descent. 

Cunning, sly or crafty, pretty or pleasing. 

Deadhead, to make free use of public conveyances, 
or to have free entrance to places where admission is 
charged. 

Depot, a tramway or railway station. 

Down Fast, the New England States. 

Drummer, a solicitor, a commercial traveler. 

Dry goods, the articles sold by drapers, mercers, and 
haberdashers. 

Dress, the gown worn by a woman. 

Dude, a dandy, a man dressed in the height of 
fashion. 

Endorse, to approve, confirm, sanction. 

Fall, meaning autumn. 

Fancy, the opposite of plain or common, as fancy 
horses, fancy silks, fancy store, fancy dress. 

Fish dealer, a fishmonger. 

Fix, to adjust, to put in order. 

Gerrymander, a word derived from the name of 
Elbridge Gerry, a signer of the Declaration of Inde¬ 
pendence, who devised a scheme to divide Massachu¬ 
setts into districts in such a manner that the political 
party fo which he belonged could elect a majority of the 
General Assembly. The term is now applied to the ar¬ 
rangement of political divisions in the interest of one 
party over its opponent, and in such instances it is said 
that the district so organized has been gerrymandered. 


AMERICAN LITERATURE 


84 


AMERICAN LITERATURE 


Given name, the first or Christian name. 

Hang around, to be near to or loiter about a place. 

Hardware merchant, an ironmonger. 

Help, a servant, servants, or service. 

Homely, plain, simple, unadorned. 

Hustle, to hasten, to hurry. 

Improve, to ameliorate real estate by care or cultiva¬ 
tion. 

Jew, to haggle with the view of getting a better 
bargain. 

Johnnycake, bread or cake made of Indian cornmeal. 

Lasso, the art of catching horses or cattle with a rope. 

Loafer, a vagrant, a lounger. 

Lobby, to attempt to influence legislation by the per¬ 
sonal solicitation of the members of a legislature. To 
lobby through is to get a bill adopted by such influence. 

Logrolling, a system of management by which a mem¬ 
ber of a political party or a legislative body attempts to 
secure advantage for or the adoption of a favorite 
measure. 

Lot, an allotment, a small piece of land. 

Lynch law, capital punishment executed without legal 
authority or without a trial, either by a mob or by the 
populace. 

Mail, used instead of post. 

Moccasins, a shoe of soft leather, either made to but¬ 
ton or to lace, and sometimes provided with a sole. 

Notions, small wares. 

One-horse, anything of little importance. 

Pantaloons, meaning trousers. 

Pickaninny, a small Negro child. 

Platform, a declaration of the principles upon which 
a person, a sect, or a party proposes to stand, each 
division of which is called a plank. 

Posted-up, to Be well informed. 

Rooster, the domestic cock. 

Saloon, a taproom. 

Sleigh, a sledge; sleigh riding instead of sledge driv¬ 
ing. 

Smart, meaning considerable or important. 

Span, from the German, gespann. meaning a pair of 
horses or mules. 

Stampede, to flee suddenly. 

Store, a shop, as a drug store, a book store. 

Suspenders, used instead of braces. 

Succotash, maize and beans boiled together. 

Tenderfoot, a western term, meaning a newcomer. 

Transient, a stranger, a traveler. 

Truck, small produce grown in gardens. 

Typist, one who can operate a typewriter. 

Wilt, to droop, to wither, to decay. 

Woods, meaning a wood. 

AMERICAN LITERATURE, the written 
and printed productions of American writers. 
The term is popularly applied in the United 

States to the productions of writers confined 
within the area or under the jurisdiction of that 
country, but in a broader sense it applies to 
the collective writings of all Americans. In 
the latter sense it embraces the literature of 
Canada, Mexico, Brazil, and the other Ameri¬ 
can countries. The literature of Canada is 
more nearly associated with that of England 

than that of the United States, a condition 
arising from its colonial dependence, but, like 
the latter, is largely in the English language. 
The writings of the other American countries, 
except Brazil, are practically all in the Spanish, 
while those of Brazil are in the Portuguese. 
In the scope of this article it is possible only to 
give an outline of the literature of th6 United 
States. For Canadian literature, see Canada, 

subhead Literature. 

It may be said that the advantage of study¬ 
ing the literature of a nation consists in becom¬ 
ing acquainted with the best thoughts of its 
best minds. Such writings reveal to us the 

highest ideals and the noblest motives that pre¬ 
vailed while the nation passed through succes¬ 
sive periods of growth and development. Thus, 


the reader becomes influenced by such thoughts 
and motives as actuated the writers of litera¬ 
ture, and the best that is in him is called into 
action. In the literature of America we find 
much to commend, especially because it pre¬ 
sents to us a remarkable transition from the 
literature of Europe to the writings that are 
purely American in thought and sentiment. 
Though principally in the English, there are a 
large number of American writings in the Ger¬ 
man, French, and Swedish. The German 
writers are particularly numerous, and include 
such eminent men as John Winebrenner, W. 
A. Muhlenberg, Carl F. W. Walther, Louis J. 
R. Agassiz, Henry T. Tuckermann, and Carl 
Schurz, all of whom are treated in special 
articles. 

American literature may be divided into two 
general periods: from its beginning to 1840, and 
from 1840 to the present time. However, the 
former may for convenience be subdivided into 
the Colonial, the Revolutionary, and the Tran¬ 
scendental periods. If we speak of literature in 
the stricter sense, which embraces the writings 
characterized by beauty of form and artistic 
style, it may be said that American literature 
begins properly with Washington Irving. How¬ 
ever, in the Colonial period we have writings 
closely associated with history, and, for that 
matter, there is a close relationship between 
all literature and history. 

Colonial Period. The early settlers were men 
of action, using the ax and the musket more 
than the pen, but we have a number of excellent 
works dating from the Colonial period, which 
embraces the epoch included in 1620-1775. Cap¬ 
tain John Smith produced the first three books 
written in America. The first of these, “General 
History of Virginia,” contains an account of the 
early colonists in America, and was printed in 
London shortly after the settlement at James¬ 
town. Smith’s second book is a reply to com¬ 
plaints made by the London stockholders of the 
Virginia Company, and his third, published in 
1612, is entitled “Map of Virginia.” The writings 
of Smith consist rather of history than litera¬ 
ture, but contain the first Virginian romance in 
the story of Pocahontas. George Sandys (1577- 
1644), in Virginia, made a version of Ovid’s 
“Metamorphoses” in 1620, which was really the 
first purely literary production completed in 
America. 

The establishment of Harvard College in 1636 
gave an impetus to educational effort, and the 
desire for intellectual advancement was further 
extended by the founding of William and Mary 
College in 1693 and Yale University in 1701. 
In 1639 the first printing press was set up at 
Cambridge, Mass., and the first book printed 
in America appeared in 1640, entitled “Bay 
Psalm Book.” It was not strictly original, and 
was edited by a number of eminent colonists, 
among them John Eliot, who also translated the 
Bible into the Algonquin language, but it proved 


AMERICAN LITERATURE 


85 


AMERICAN LITERATURE 


very popular and went through many editions. 
Anne Bradstreet, of Massachusetts, issued a 
volume of poems in 1650, entitled “Tenth 
Muse,” which was published in an enlarged 
form at Boston in 1678. William Bradford 
(1589-1657), Governor of Plymouth, published 
the first annals of New England, entitled “His¬ 
tory of Plymouth Plantation,” and John 
Winthrop wrote “History of New England.” 
Both these works are of immeasurable value in 
describing the life and times of the colonists, 
and from them many subsequent writers have 
drawn inspiration for a number of valuable 
works, including Whittier’s “John Underliill,” 
Longfellow's “New England Tragedies,” and 
Hawthorne’s “Scarlet Letter.” Samuel Sewall 
(1652-1730) was the first to denounce the crime 
of slavery in his tract, entitled “Selling of 
Joseph.” 

Many of the colonial writings were by 
Puritan pastors, and are devoted to a discussion 
of the doctrines and history of the colonial 
church. These include Cotton Mather’s “Mag- 
nalia Christi Americana,” and other works 
from the same author, all of which are writ¬ 
ten more or less in the style of Milton. His 
“Wonders of the Invisible World” was a leading 
factor in the Salem witchcraft trials, while his 
“Essays to Do Good” was praised by Franklin, 
who declared it a potent factor in influencing 
his life for good. The writings of Cotton 
Mather embrace 382 publications, but most of 
them have not been preserved. Roger Williams 
was the foremost advocate of religious toler¬ 
ance and a strong sympathizer with those who 
advocated kind treatment of the Indians, and 
criticized the intolerance of the Puritans in 
several excellent writings. 

Jonathan Edwards, a student of Yale, minis¬ 
ter, and president of Princeton College, at¬ 
tained the foremost place among the early 
preachers of America. He published “Free¬ 
dom of the Will,” a profound discussion of 
Calvinism, and “Treatise Concerning Religious 
Affections,” a masterly analysis of the move¬ 
ments of the mind under religious influences. 
To this period also belongs Benjamin Franklin, 
who was presented by France with a medal 
bearing the inscription, “He seized lightning 
from heaven and the sceptor from tyrants.” 
He first attained fame by publishing Poor 
Richard’s Almanac,” which he issued annually 
for twenty-five years, beginning in 1732. This 
publication was immensely popular on account 
of its concise calenders, and in the spaces be¬ 
tween the notable days were pungent sayings 
containing, excellent morals, ,such as, “It is 
hard for an empty sack to stand upright,” “The 
cat in gloves catches no mice,” “One to-day is 
worth two to-morrows,” “Little boats should 
keep near the shore,” “God helps them who help 
themselves,” “He that goes a-borrowing goes 
a-sorrowing,” “Little strokes fell great large 
oaks,” “Dost thou love life, then do not squan¬ 


der time, for that is the stuff that life is made 
of,” and “Who dainties love shall beggars 
prove.” The longest and most interesting of his 
works is his “Autobiography,” but his shorter 
writings are also of interest, particularly 
“Dialogue Between Franklin and the Gout,” 
“Story of the Whistle,” and his works on scien¬ 
tific subjects, entitled “Papers.” 

Revolutionary Period. The literature of the 
Revolutionary period embraces many excellent 
works devoted to the discussion of political 
rights, much of which appeared in the form of 
speeches by eminent champions of liberty. 
These include Samuel Adams, Josiah Quincy, 
Patrick Henry, Thomas Jefferson, Alexander 
Hamilton, James Madison, George Washington, 
and Thomas Paine. The most noted of these 
writings embrace the works of Thomas Jef¬ 
ferson, who wrote “Notes on Virginia,” the 
“Declaration of Independence,” and many able 
state papers. Alexander Hamilton, of whom 
Webster said, “He smote the rock of national 
resources and abundant streams of revenue 
burst forth,” contributed many papers as trea¬ 
tises on government in the Federalist, and may 
be regarded the father of the American finan¬ 
cial system. The Federalist published at va¬ 
rious times a number of contributions from 
John Jay and James Madison. The latter 
made the first draft of the national Constitu¬ 
tion and published the “Madison Papers,” em¬ 
bracing the debates and speeches of the con¬ 
stitutional convention. Madison’s “Notes on 
Virginia” and his first “Inaugural Address” 
take high rank in the literature of this period. 
The writings and state papers of George. 
Washington fill twelve volumes, but his “Fare¬ 
well Address,” which was prepared and pub¬ 
lished in 1796, is the most celebrated. Fisher 
Ames produced many excellent orations dur¬ 
ing the administration of John Adams. The 
best of these were delivered in 1796 and relate 
to the treaty with Great Britain. Thomas 
Paine exerted a strong influence on the colon¬ 
ists by publishing his “Common Sense,” which 
was issued immediately preceding the Revo¬ 
lution, and afterward went to France and pub¬ 
lished “Rights of Man” in reply to Burke’s 
“Reflections,” the latter relating to a justifi¬ 
cation of the French Revolution. Subsequently 
he forfeited his great popularity in America 
by publishing “Age of Reason,” in which he 
attacked the Christian religion. 

Little poetry of note was produced in the 
period of the Revolution, and the valor of its 
heroes remained unsung for more than a gen¬ 
eration after independence was secured. The 
most noted poem of this period is “McFingal,” 
by John Trumbull, which appeared in part in 
1775 and in a complete form in 1782, and went 
through thirty editions in America. Though 
a fine American political satire, it is rather 
droll, but has touches of real humor, and was 
intended as a satire on the Tories of America. 


AMERICAN LITERATURE 


86 


AMERICAN LITERATURE 


Some parts of it have come to us as proverbs, 
for instance: 

“No man e’er felt the halter draw 

With good opinion of the law.” 

The “Columbiad,” an epic in ten books, was 
published by Joel Barlow (1755-1812), who is 
also author of the humorous poem, “Hasty 
Pudding.” Timothy Dwight (1752-1817), presi¬ 
dent of Yale for twenty-one years, is the au¬ 
thor of an epic in eleven books, the “Con¬ 
quest of Canaan,” but is better known by his 
many'church hymns, such as, “I Love Thy King¬ 
dom, Lord.” “Yankee Doodle” sprang up in 
the Revolutionary period, and was first played 
and sung by the British in derision of the 
New Englanders, who afterward adopted it as 
a military air. Francis Hopkinson (1737-1791), 
a signer of the Declaration of Independence, 
wrote the humorous ballad, “Battle of the 
Kegs,” and his son, Joseph Hopkinson (1770- 
1842), wrote the popular song “Hail Colum¬ 
bia.” The “Star Spangled Banner,” another 
famous national song, was written by Francis 
Scott Key at the time the British invaded the 
United States, in 1814. Philip Freneau (1752- 
1832) attained fame by his “Wild Honey¬ 
suckle,” “Indian Burying Ground,” and other 
graceful poems regarded as forerunners of the 
lyrics of Bryant and Longfellow. The first 
American man of letters to maintain himself 
altogether by his writings was Charles Brock- 
den Brown (1771-1810), a Quaker of Phila¬ 
delphia, who may be regarded a forerunner of 
Poe and Hawthorne. His best-known writ¬ 
ings include “Wieland,” a heroic romance, and 
“Arthur Mervyn,” a description of the plague 
which ravished Philadelphia in 1793. 

Transcendental Period. The American 
writings up to the close of the 18th century 
were largely imitations of the English models, 
and the Edinburgh Review sneeringly asked, 
“Who reads an American book?” Though 
there was no immediate reply that seemed to 
satisfy, a new era in American literature 
dawned when Washington Irving published 
his “Knickerbocker’s History of New York.” 
This work appeared in 1809, and not only stood 
on its own merits, .but at once sprang into 
great popularity. From that time until 1826 
Irving busied himself largely with the “Sketch¬ 
book,” which includes the famous short stories 
of “Rip Van Winkle” and “Legend of Sleepy 
Hollow.” Other writings by this famous au¬ 
thor embrace “Tales of a Traveler,” “The 
Alhambra,” “Astoria,” “Life of Washington,” 
and “Life of Oliver Goldsmith.” James K. 
Paulding (1779-1860) published “Life of 
Washington” and a number of novels; Gulian 
C. Verplanck (1786-1870) published an edi¬ 
tion of the “Plays of Shakespeare;” Fitz- 
Greene Halleck (1790-1867) is the author of 
“Marco Bozzaris ;” Joseph Rodman Drake gave 
us his poems “Culprit Fay” and “The Ameri¬ 
can Flag;” and Nathaniel Parker Willis (1806- 


1867) founded the Youth’s Companion, a pub¬ 
lication famous for its literature suitable for 
youth. To this period of literature belong the 
writings of James Fenimore Cooper, who may 
be regarded the earliest eminent novelist whose 
style is distinctively American. In 1820 he 
published “The Spy,” the first American his¬ 
torical novel, in which he gave the American 
public an interesting story of the Revolution. 
He published “The Pioneers” in 1823, and 
soon after followed the first of the series of 
five “Leather Stocking Tales.” Cooper him¬ 
self invented “Leather-Stocking,” Natty Bumpo, 
who is represented as a back-woods philoso¬ 
pher and is the most original invention of 
character added to the world’s literature by 
an American. Subsequently he published a 
series of sea tales, including “The Pilot,” 
“The Red Rover,” and “Wing and Wing.” 
Cooper could not easily endure adverse criti¬ 
cism, and as a defense wrote several tracts 
against his opponents and brought a number 
of suits for damages. The romances of the 
sea and of the forest are his invention, in 
which he excelled, but in humorous efforts he 
was not successful. Several poets of this pe¬ 
riod succeeded in writing single -poems that 
became great favorites, among them “Home, 
Sweet Home,” by John Howard Payne; “I 
Would Not Live Alway,” by William Muhlen¬ 
berg; “The Old Oaken Bucket,” by Samuel 
Woodworth; and “My Life is Like a Summer 
Rose,” by R. H. Wilde. 

William Cullen Bryant may be classed in 
this period. A poet at the age of nine years, 
he published a volume of verse at fifteen, en¬ 
titled “Embargo.” His “Thanatopsis,” writ¬ 
ten at eighteen, shows mature thought and 
stately expression, and its gravity and dignity 
in blank verse is unexcelled by any recent 
writer. No one knew better than Bryant how 
to give interest to the solemnity of the forest 
and mountain, and to paint the impersonal 
beauty of nature. His individual poems in¬ 
clude “Death of the Flowers,” “Forest Hymn,” 
“To a Water-Fowl,” and “Fringed Gentian;” 
while among his stories of interest are “Letters 
of a Traveler” and “Tales of the Glauber 
Spa.” He Lade a translation of Homer, spend¬ 
ing four years on the “Iliad” and two years 
on the 'Odyssey.” Edgar Allen Poe is best 
known is author of the “Haunted Palace” and 
of “Ine Raven,” and his best work in prose 
is his “Tales of the Grotesque and the Ara¬ 
besque.” He is well known as a critic and 
classed Hawthorne as a great novelist and 
Longfellow as a worthy poet before either 
was known to the world. Nathaniel Haw¬ 
thorne may be regarded the greatest American 
novelist. His first production to attract at¬ 
tention appeared in 1837 as a part of the series 
known as “Twice-Told Tales.” At Concord he 
published “Mosses from an Old Manse” and 
another installment of “Twice-Told Tales.” 


) 


AMERICAN LITERATURE 


87 


AMERICAN LITERATURE 


The “Snow Image,” the most beautiful of his 
tales, appeared some time later_ In 1850 he 
published “The Scarlet Letter,” which may be 
regarded the most artistic product in Ameri¬ 
can literature. The scenes of his writings are 
laid within the limits of Massachusetts; “Mar¬ 
ble Faun” is the only exception. Other well 
known writings from the pen of Hawthorne 
include “Great Stone Face,” “Grandfather’s 
Chair,” “Tanglewood Tales,” “House of Seven 
Gables,” “Blithedale Romance,” and “Legends 
of the Province House.” 

This period of American literature is famous 
as an epoch of orators, including such eminent 
statesmen as Daniel Webster, Henry Clay, 
John C. Calhoun, and Edward Everett. Dan¬ 
iel Webster may be regarded the greatest 
American orator, and his speeches rank in 
literature with those of Demosthenes, Cicero, 
and Burke. His membership in Congress cov¬ 
ered a period that called for men of strong 
intellectual and oratorical pow'ers, and the 
events connected with his life were such as 
to bring out to the best advantages his great 
fertility of mind. The most famous of his 
orations include the one delivered at the lay- 
' ing of the cornerstone of Bunker Hill monu¬ 
ment in 1825; the one at the completion of the 
monument in 1843; eulogies of Presidents 
Adams and Jefferson in Faneuil Hall, Boston, 
in 1826; his reply to Hayne in 1830; and his 
oration on Washington in 1832. These ora¬ 
tions embody the finest sentiments of Ameri¬ 
canism, and convey as a central thought that 
the Union should be preserved at whatever 
cost. Henry Clay,, the Great Reconciler, is the 
author of the Missouri Compromise; of the 
Act of 1833 settling Nullification, and of the 
compromise measures of 1850. Calhoun ranks 
rather as a debater than as an orator, but 
his sympathies extended more closely to his 
own section, the South, than to the whole coun¬ 
try. A champion of state rights, he contrib¬ 
uted the most able arguments in favor of that 
view in government. Everett belonged to the 
illustrious orators of Boston, but he did not 
possess the massive strength of Webster. None 
of his contemporaries had so complete an edu¬ 
cation, and his speeches are among the most 
polished contributed to American literature. 
Other eminent orators of this period include 
Rufus Choate, an orator of much intellectual 
strength, and William Ellery Channing, fa¬ 
mous as a lea'der in the Unitarian movement. 
The latter is the author of two very able 
works: “Life of Napoleon Bonaparte” and 
“Essays on John Milton.” 

Ralph Waldo Emerson, the friend of Car- 
lvle, ranks as an eminent writer of this pe¬ 
riod, and is particularly famous as a factor 
in the Carlyle-Emerson correspondence. His 
prose works were mostly delivered as lectures, 
and include “Society and Solitude,” “Repre¬ 
sentative Men,” and “Letters and Social Aims. 


Many passages in his writings are majestic in 
thought and rhythm, but his style is the con¬ 
densed epigrammatic. His oration on the 
“American Scholar,” delivered in 1837, is an 
epoch-making production, and his chief poems 
are “Snow Storm,” “Concord Hymn,” and 
“Bumble Bee.” The transcendentalists, who 
supported a form of idealism, include Emer¬ 
son, who may be regarded the greatest of this 
class of writers. They represent the idealistic 
in poetry and prose, thus favoring the German 
philosophy rather than the English materialis¬ 
tic writings. The Dial, a periodical published 
at Concord, was the chief organ of the tran¬ 
scendentalists, and in it were published the 
chief poems and prose writings of this school. 
Louise M. Alcott, author of “Little Women,” 
“The Old-Fashioned Girl,” and “The Spinning- 
Wheel Stories,” belonged to this class of writ¬ 
ers. Other writers include Henry David Tho- 
reau, who found intense enjoyment in simple 
life and spent two years in a cabin on the 
shores of Walden Pond, Concord, where he 
lived as a means of closely observing nature. 
The best known of his works embrace “A 
Yankee in Canada,” “The Maine Woods,” and 
“Cape Cod.” Margaret Fuller (1810-1850) was 
prominent in this class of writers, and is well 
remembered by her plea for equality before 
the law, and by her “Woman in the Nineteenth 
Century,” “A Summer on the Lakes,” and 
“Papers on Literature and Art.” 

Recent Period. The second period of Ameri¬ 
can literature, that from 1840 to the present 
time, begins with the so-called Cambridge 
poets, whose center was at Harvard College. 
These writers embrace four of the most famous 
Americans: Longfellow, Holmes, Lowell, and 
Whittier. Henry W. Longfellow, though in¬ 
fluenced by the literature and historic associa¬ 
tions of Europe, is eminently American in the 
treatment of his subjects. Endowed with an 
appreciative nature and enriched by college 
life, select reading, and foreign travel, he has 
never been surpassed in American literature. 
In 1841 he published such favorite poems as 
“The Village Blacksmith,” “The Skeleton in Ar¬ 
mor,” and “The Wreck of the Hesperus,” and 
soon after gave us “The Old Clock on the 
Stairs.” His greatest poem, “Evangeline,” ap¬ 
peared in 1846, and is the story of an Acadian 
peasant girl. In 1855 he published “Hiawatha,” 
an interesting poem, treating of the legends 
and traditions of the American Indians, whose 
plan was suggested by the German translation 
of the Finnish epic, “The Kalevala.” Other 
writings of Longfellow include “Miles Stan- 
dish,” “Building of the Ship,” and “Belfry of 
Bruges.” Oliver Wendell Holmes is partic¬ 
ularly famous for his “Autocrat of the Break¬ 
fast Table,” which appeared in the Atlantic 
Monthly in 1857, and afterward followed “The 
Professor,” “The Poet,” and “Over the Tea- 
Cups.” His three novels include “Mortal An- 


AMERICAN LITERATURE 


88 


AMERICAN LITERATURE 


tipathy,” “Elsie Venner,” and “Guardian An¬ 
gel.” “Chambered Nautilus,” “Old Ironsides,” 
“The Last Leaf,” and “Height of the Ridicu¬ 
lous” are among his excellent poems. James 
Russell Lowell inherited culture, if that is pos¬ 
sible, and acquired an excellent education at 
Cambridge. He published three books in the 
autumn of 1848: “Sir Launfal,” “Bigelow Pa¬ 
pers,” and “Fable of Critics.” He is not a 
mountain poet like Bryant, or an ocean poet 
like Whittier, but touches with great beauty 
the birds, trees, and flowers. In his poems are 
included “The Courtin’ ” and “Indian Summer 
Reverie.” “Among My Books” and “My 
Study Windows” are excellent critical works. 
John Greenleaf Whittier, frequently called the 
poet of anti-slavery, is the favorite American 
poet of many students. His writings show that 
he lived a dual life, one in the world of fancy 
and one in the world of fact, as is shown in 
his “Bare-Foot Boy” and “In School Days.” 
The first half of his literary career was marked 
by earnest opposition to slavery, the writings 
of this period embracing productions both in 
verse and prose. His “Laus Deo,” written 
when the bells pealed for the abolition of slav¬ 
ery, is the last lyric of this period. “Snow 
Bound” is a winter idyl, “Maud Muller” and 
“Among the Hills” are exceedingly graceful, 
and “Telling the Bees” is the most pathetic 
of his productions. Whittier ranks with Bry¬ 
ant as a nature poet, but he reflects the calm 
and beauty of scenic nature, while Bryant re¬ 
lies upon placing strength in the objects of his 
descriptions. 

Harriet Beecher Stowe is famous in the anti¬ 
slavery group of writers, and is best remem¬ 
bered by her “Uncle Tom’s Cabin,” “Dred: A 
Tale of the Dismal Swamp,” and “The Min¬ 
ister’s Wooing.” Wendell Phillips was the 
orator of antislavery, and devoted his educa¬ 
tion, wealth, legal abilities, and oratorical powers 
to the cause he espoused. He was recognized 
as the representative of the movement in Fan- 
euil Hall in 1837, which continued active until 
the Emancipation Proclamation was issued in 
1863. William Lloyd Garrison’s writings are 
important in the history of the antislavery 
movement rather than in literature, but they 
contain many lofty and inspiring thoughts. The 
speeches of Charles Sumner, published com¬ 
plete in twelve volumes, are scholarly and 
powerful arguments and supply almost a com¬ 
plete history of the contest. 

William Hickling Prescott takes high rank 
among the distinguished American historians, 
and his first famous work is “The Reign of 
Ferdinand and Isabella.” He published “The 
Conquest of Mexico” in 1843, “The Conquest of 
Peru” in 1847, and “The History of Philip II.” 
in 1855. No one has surpassed Prescott in his 
treatment of these themes, but his work was 
done under great difficulties, owing to the fact 
that he was partly blind during a large part 


of his life. George Bancroft is famous among 
the historians who wrote of the Colonial and 
Revolutionary periods, and published the first 
volume of his “History of the United States” 
in 1834, and finally completed it in 1885. In 
this work he spent over half a century, con¬ 
sulting the archives of America and Europe for 
that purpose, and his writings are remarkably 
accurate in descriptive details. John Lothrop 
Motley stands preeminent as a historian, and 
in 1856 published “The Rise of the Dutch Re¬ 
public,” a historical work of vast value. Other 
writings from his pen include “The United 
Netherlands” and “Life of John of Barneveld.” 
Francis Parkman is another famous historian. 
The difficulty under which he labored resembled 
that of Prescott, and he was confined in a 
dark room and unable to read for three years. 
His writings include. “The Oregon Trail” and 
“The Conspiracy of Pontiac.” Other famous 
historians include Jared Sparks, author of 
“Library of American Biography;” George 
Ticknor, writer of “History of Spanish Lit¬ 
erature Horace Greeley, author of “Prayer 
of Twenty Millions;” and Alexander H. Ste¬ 
phens, writer of “Corner-Stone of the Con¬ 
federacy.” Other names that belong to the 
group of historians include Benson J. Lossing, 
Jefferson Davis, John Fiske, John Clark Rid- 
path, Justin Winsor, Carl Schurz, John Bach 
McMaster, and Herman Eduard von Holst. 

The famous pulpit orators include Henry 
Ward Beecher, author of “Leotures to Young 
Men,” “Aids to Prayer,” and “State Papers.” 
James Freeman Clarke, a Harvard man, pub¬ 
lished “Ten Great Religions,” and Thomas Starr 
King, the famous Unitarian pastor of Boston, 
wrote on religious and patriotic subjects and 
published “White Hills.” David Swing is the 
author of “Life Immortal” and “Truths for 
To-day;” DeWitt Talmage published many 
sermons and religious writings. Chas. M. Sheb 
don is the author of “In His Steps,” “Foi 
Christ and the Church,” and many other writ- 
ings. 

The recent writers are very numerous. Bay> 
ard Taylor, author of “Views Afoot” and 
“Songs of Summer,” and translator of Goethe’s 
“Faust,” takes high rank. Walt Whitman won 
extensive notice by his “Leaves of Grass,” 
which appeared in 1855, and afterward pub¬ 
lished “Drum Taps” and “Memoranda” during 
the war. Will Carleton is eminently popular 
as the author of “Poems of Farm Life” and as 
a lecturer, while James Whitcomb Riley has 
attained much popularity. His best-known 
writings include “Afterwhiles,’” “Knee Deep in 
June,” and many popular poetical and prose 
writings in the hoosier dialect. Eugene Field 
is famous as a writer of poems for children, such 
as “Little Boy Blue” and “Wynken and Blynken 
and Nod,” but we are also indebted to him for 
many humorous and satirical writings. Bret 
Harte is remembered for his “Luck of Roaring 


AMERICAN PARTY 


89 


AMHERST 


Camp” and ‘'Outcasts of Poker Flat;” Joaquin 
Miller for his ‘‘Songs of the Sierras;” and E. 
E. Hale for his “Man Without a Country.” 
A. E. Sweet, Josh Billings, Artemus Ward, 
Robert J. Burdette, E. W. Nye, Samuel L. 
Clemens, and Francis R. Stockton are among 
the well-known humorists. 

The recent essayists include Josiah G. Hol¬ 
land, Charles D. Warner, John Burroughs, and 
Donald G. Mitchell. Edmund C. Stedman, 
Edwin P. Whipple, George W. Curtis, and 
Richard G. White are among the critics. The 
recent women verse writers embrace Alice and 
Phoebe Cary, Helen H. Jackson, and Lucy Lar- 
com. Henry James, W. D. Howells, George W. 
Cable, Thomas W. Higginson, Edward Eggles¬ 
ton, Elizabeth Stuart Phelps, Edward P. Roe, 
and Henry James Howells are among the recent 
novelists. The miscellaneous writers embrace 
Maurice Thompson, Ella Wheeler Wilcox, 
George Ade, R. H. Stoddard, George Edward 
Woodberry, Richard Hovey, Thomas Bailey 
Aldrich, Theodore Roosevelt, Edward S. Ellis, 
Henry Harland, J. K. Bangs, and Marietta 
Holly. 

AMERICAN PARTY. See Know Noth¬ 
ings. 

AMERICAN UNIVERSITY, an educa¬ 
tional institution situated in Washington, D. C., 
which is designed for post-graduate students. 
It was chartered in 1891, when the citizens of 
Washington donated ninety acres of land for 
that purpose. The institution in under the 
patronage of the Methodist Episcopal Church. 
It is governed by a board of trustees of fifty 
members, among whom are included as ex- 
officio members the President, Vice-President, 
Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, and the 
speaker of the House of Representatives of the 
United States. The courses of study are de¬ 
signed especially for college graduates, and the 
bachelor’s degree or its equivalent is necessary 
for entrance. 

AMERICUS (a-mer'i-cus), a city in Georgia, 
county seat of Sumter County, 70 miles south¬ 
west of Macon, on the Georgia and Alabama 
and the Central of Georgia railroads. It has 
a considerable trade and is surrounded by a 
fertile country. There are excellent schools 
and churches, good municipal facilities, and 
a female college. The manufactures embrace 
machinery, tobacco products, utensils, earthen¬ 
ware, and clothing. The first settlement in its 
vicinity was made in 1832 and it was incor¬ 
porated in 1855. Population, 1920, 9,010. 

AMERIGO VESPUCCI. See Vespucci, 
Amerigo. 

AMES (amz), Fisher, statesman and orator, 
born in Dedham, Mass., April 9, 1758; died 
there July 4, 1808. He graduated from Harvard 
College at the age of sixteen years, was ad¬ 
mitted to the bar, and began a successful prac¬ 
tice in his native town. He first became gener¬ 
ally known on account of several political 


essays published by him in Boston newspapers 
under the signatures of Brutus and Camillus, 
and, when his authorship became known, he 
formed the warm friendship of leading public 
men of his State. In 1788 he was a member of 
the Massachusetts convention that ratified the 
Federal Constitution. 

AMES, Oakes, public man, born in Easton, 
Mass., Jan. 10, 1804; died May 8, 1873. He 
engaged in the manufacture of shovels and 
picks as member of the firm of Oliver Ames 
and Sons, and became wealthy on account of 
the large market for these utensils during the 
gold excitement in California and Australia. 
In 1861 he was chosen a member of the Massa¬ 
chusetts executive council, and served in Con¬ 
gress from 1863 to 1873. He supported the 
building of the Pacific railroads and became 
connected with the Credit Mobilier scheme, on 
account of which he withdrew from public 
service. 

AMES, a city in Story County, Iowa, 36 
miles north of Des Moines, on the Chicago and 
Northwestern Railroad. It has electric street 
and interurban railways. The chief features 
include the high school, federal building, and 
the Iowa State College, a noted center of learn¬ 
ing. The streets are paved and well lighted. 
Population, 1910, 4,223; in 1920, 6,270. 

AMESBURY (amz'ber-i), a town in Essex 
county, Mass., forty-two miles north of Bos¬ 
ton, on the Boston and Maine Railroad. It 
has electric street railway facilities, water¬ 
works, several libraries, and excellent school 
and church buildings. The manufactures in¬ 
clude carriages, boots and shoes, woolen goods, 
and machinery. It was the home of the poet, 
John G. Whittier, who removed here in 1836 
and made it his residence until his death. Ames- 
bury was incorporated in 1666. Population, 
1905, 8,840; in 1910, 9,894; in 1920, 10,036. 

AMETHYST (am'e-thist), the name of a 
crystallized quartz or rock, usually purple or 
bluish violet in color. Varieties that are 
characterized by beauty and hardness command 
a high price. The color is not always uniformly 
diffused, and by candlelight it appears less 
brilliant than in sunlight. The best specimens 
are brought from Ceylon, Armenia, Arabia, and 
India. Amethyst is regarded a precious stone, 
and is used largely in making rings, seals, and 
other articles of jewelry. The Greeks supposed 
that it was a protection against drunkenness and 
recommended that it be worn by those addicted 
to that habit. 

AMHERST (am'erst), a town of Massachu¬ 
setts, in Hampshire County, 23 miles north 
of Springfield, on the Vermont Central and the 
Boston and Maine railroads. It is beautifully 
situated in the valley of the Connecticut River, 
within sight of Mount Holyoke, and is the 
seat of Amherst College. It has manufactures 
of straw hats and a considerable trade in prod¬ 
uce and merchandise. The first settlement 


AMHERST 


90 


AMOEBA 


was made in its vicinity in 1703. Population, 
1905, 5,313.; in 1920, £,503. 

AMHERST, a town of Nova Scotia, capital 
of Cumberland County, nine miles east of 
Sackville. It is located on the Intercolonial 
Railroad and on an arm of Cumberland Bay. 
Shipbuilding is the chief industry, and coal 
is mined in its vicinity. Population, 1901, 
4,964; in 1919, 11,002. 

AMHERST COLLEGE, an educational 
institution at Amherst, Mass., founded as the 
Collegiate Institute of Amherst in 1821, but 
changed to Amherst College in 1825. The prop¬ 
erty and endowments are valued at $2,500,000. 
It has a faculty of thirty-eight instructors, 420 
students, and a library of 78,000 volumes. The 
institution carries advanced courses of study, 
and numbers among its alumni some of the 
most prominent educators of America. It is 
maintained in the interest of Christian educa¬ 
tion, having been founded by an association of 
Congregational and Presbyterian ministers, and 
about one-fourth of the graduates enter the 
clergy. 

AMICUS (a-me'ches), Edmundo de, soldier 
and author, born at Oneglia, Italy, Oct. 21, 
1846. He received a military education and 
entered the army of Italy in 18C5, and the 
following year participated at the Battle of 
Custozza against the Austrians. In 1870 he 
retired from the military service to take up 
literature, and with that end in view visited 
Northern Africa, Western Asia, South America, 
and many countries of Europe. From these 
travels he secured much material for his writ¬ 
ings, which include works on educational topics 
as well as travels and fiction. “The Heart of 
a Boy,” a work intended for young people, is 
one of his best known productions and has 
been widely translated. 

AMIENS (a-mi-an'), a city of France, 
capital of the department of Somme, seventy 
miles north of Paris. It is finely located on 
the Somme River, which is navigable for small 
craft, and has excellent railroad and electrical 
car line advantages. The streets are regularly 
platted and paved, and it is the seat of a 
Gothic cathedral, one of the finest in Europe. 
It has a fine public library of 100,000 volumes, 
several parks, and a statue of Peter the Her¬ 
mit. Amiens is noted for its extensive manu¬ 
factures of velvet and cotton goods. The Treaty 
of Amiens, which restored peace between 
France, Holland, England, and Spain, was con¬ 
cluded in 1802. The Germans captured it in 1870 
*and in 1914, but lost it within the latter year and 
were unable to recapture it by sanguinary fight¬ 
ing in 1918, being defeated between Albert and 
Montdidier. Population, 1919, 91,782. 

AMMEN (am'en), Jacob, soldier, born in 
Botetourt County, Va., Jan. l\ 1808; died Feb. 
6, 1894. In 1831 he graduated from the United 
States Military Academy, was instructor in 
mathematics at West Point and at the Univer¬ 


sity of Indiana, and at the beginning of the 
Civil War became captain of volunteers. By 
gallant services he attained to the rank of 
brigadier general. He took part in many im¬ 
portant battles, serving as commander of the 
military district of East Tennessee, and in 
1865 retired from the service. 

AMMON (am'mun), an ancient diety wor¬ 
shiped in many countries of Africa and Eu¬ 
rope. The Egyptians celebrated him in tem¬ 
ples at Thebes and in the Libyan oasis of Am¬ 
monium, and dedicated many statues to his 
honor. He was worshiped by the Greeks as 
identified with Zeus, while the Romans asso¬ 
ciated him with Jupiter. In statuary he is repre¬ 
sented as a man with a ram’s head. 

AMMONIA (am-mo'm-a), a volatile alkali. 
It is a colorless gas, having a penetrating, 
pungent odor and a burning taste. Though com¬ 
bustible, it will not burn in air. It was first 
made in the Libyan Desert, in Africa, from 
decaying animal matter gathered by the Arabs 
at the temple of Ammon, hence the name am¬ 
monia. The name hartshorn is frequently ap¬ 
plied to this substance from the circumstance 
that it may be prepared by making shavings of 
horns. It is now derived chiefly by distilling 
coal and refuse animal substances gathered 
promiscuously, such as hoofs, horns, bones, etc. 
Ammonia is also obtained from vegetable mat¬ 
ters, when it contains a considerable per cent, 
of nitrogen. The chief uses are for medicine, 
for motive power, and in the manufacture of 
ice. 

AMMUNITION (am-mu-mshun), the 
primer, powder, and projectiles used in fire¬ 
arms. These articles are made up ready for 
use in small arms and small cannon, when it 
is known as fixed ammunition, and in the 
larger guns they are put in separately. The 
projectile used in a large gun is put in first, 
after which the powder, handled in a brass case 
or in cloth bags, is placed, and the primer ex¬ 
plodes the charge. Fixed ammunition is put 
up in cases of brass and pasteboard, or in 
cases entirely of brass, and in this form is 
sold on the market, or the cases may be ob¬ 
tained separately and afterward loaded to 
meet the requirements. The government of 
most countries supervises and controls the 
manufacture of ammunition for the army, or 
it is manufactured to order under careful in¬ 
spection. Formerly field artillery carried be¬ 
tween 150 and 200 rounds per gun with the 
battery and a reserve of as much more, but at 
present the quantity kept ready for use is 
larger, since the rapid-fire and automatic guns 
make it necessary to have a large supply avail¬ 
able. The ammunition in the caissons is used 
first, and further supplies are drawn from 
the ammunition columns, the rule being to use 
the ammunition in the limber only when no 
other is available. 

AMOEBA (a-me'ba), a genus of micro- 


AMNESTY 


91 


AMPHIBIA 


scopic animals, belonging to the lowest class 
of Protozoa. Several species have been de¬ 
scribed, all of which are viscid like glue, and 
the specific gravity is little greater than water. 



AMOEBA. 

Showing how an amoeba is divided in the process 
of growth. 


An amoeba is an irregular mass of protoplasm, 
semi-transparent, and has the power of loco¬ 
motion by means of a streaming movement 
of the protoplasm. A small portion within 
the mass, called the nucleus, is somewhat darker 
than the general brown color, and small projec¬ 
tions, known as pseudo podia, are thrust out 
at certain points of the body while others be¬ 
hind them are retracted, and it is by these 
processes that locomotion is possible. The same 
motion is essential in taking in food, which 
is done by the pseudopodia flowing around 
digestible objects and extracting from them 
nutritious substances. In this animal the proc¬ 
esses of nutrition, sensation, motion, and repro¬ 
duction are all performed bv a single cell. Its 
power of sensation is such that it keeps in 
water of a medium temperature, and moves 
from the source of light and objects that 
endanger it. These characteristics have caused 
it to be selected as the subject of treatises on 
biological subjects. It is found in pools of water 
and swamps, and usually clings to some object, 
such as dead leaves and weeds. 

AMNESTY ( am'nes-ty), an act of pardon, 
the effect of which is that persons guilty of 
political offenses will not be called upon to 
answer for them. The amnesty may be either 
absolute or qualified. An instance of the latter 
may be found in the proclamation issued by 
Napoleon on his return from Elba in 1815, in 
which amnesty was declared for the benefit 
of all except thirteen persons, whom he named. 
Only five amnesties have been issued in the 
- United States. These were all relative to the 


Civil War, the first by Lincoln and the remain¬ 
ing four by Johnson. 

AMORITES (am'6-rits), a powerful nation 
of ancient Canaan, whose possessions extended 
on both sides of the Jordan River. The Amo- 
rites occupied the whole of Gilead and Bashan, 
and formed two kingdoms—the northern gov¬ 
erned by King Og, and the southern by King 
Sihon. The former is spoken of as King of 
Bashan, and the latter as King of the Amorites. 
They were conquered by the Israelites, after the 
death of Moses, under the leadership of Joshua. 

AMOS (a'mos), a contemporary of Isaiah 
and one of the minor Hebrew prophets. He 
originally lived at Tekoa, a town about 12 
miles from Jerusalem, where he was a herds¬ 
man and a gatherer of sycamore fruit. It is 
thought that he prophesied about 785 b. c. He 
denounced in eloquent terms the prevalent cor¬ 
ruption and oppression, using experiences in 
pastoral life to impress the force of purity and 
freedom in right living. Modern critics assert 
that many additions and changes were made in 
his writings several centuries after his death. 

AMOY (a-moi'), a city in China, on an 
island of the same name, in the province of 
Fukien. It is located on the strait of Formosa, 
near the mouth of the Pei-chi or Dragon River, 
and ranks as one of the chief seaports on the 
Pacific, having long been an open port. The 
harbor is large and deep. It has a growing 
trade in tea, opium, paper, cotton, and earthen¬ 
ware. Deposits of coal abound in the vicinity. 
Population, 1917, 115,862. 

AMPERE (on-per'), Andre Marie, mathe¬ 
matician and physicist, born in Lyons, France, 
Jan. 20, 1775; died in Marseilles, June 10, 1836. 
He became devoted 
to mathematics at an 
early age, and was a 
student of Latin and 
the natural sciences. 

In 1814 he was elect¬ 
ed a member of the 
Academy of Sciences, 
and for many years 
was inspector general 
of the Paris Univer¬ 
sity, and professor of 
mathematical analysis 
in the Polytechnic 
School. He began to 
devote much attention to the phenomena ot 
electro-magnetism in 1820, and published a 
number of works profound in thought and ex¬ 
traordinary in philosophic sagacity. His great¬ 
est work, “Classification of the Sciences,” was 
written shortly before his death. The ampere, 
the practical unit of electrical current, was 
named on account of his discoveries. 

AMPHIBIA (am-fib'T-a), the term used to 
designate a class of vertebrate animals which 
can live for a considerable time either on land 
or in water, and which for one part of their 



ANDRE M. AMPERE. 







AMPHION 


92 


AMSTERDAM 


existence live in water and at another on land. 
They include the frog, tortoise, lizard, croco¬ 
dile, snake, salamander, and many others. In 
the larval stage they possess gills, and some 
species, when fully developed, are able to 
breathe either by the gills or the lungs, and 
many retain the gills throughout life. 

AMPHION ( am-fi'un), the son of Zeus and 
Antiope, twin brother of Zethus, and husband 
of Niobe. He became skilled in music by the 
gift of the gods, and when sent to build the 
walls of Thebes he attracted the stones by the 
sound of his lyre so they moved and arranged 
themselves in the proper position without hu¬ 
man aid. Zethus, his brother, became a shep¬ 
herd. 

AMPHITHEATER (am-fi-the'a-ter), or 
Colosseum, a spacious building, usually oval 
shaped, used by the Romans for gladiatorial 
contests, wild beast fights, and other spectacles. 
The largest of these structures was the Flavian, 
known as the Colosseum, which was begun by 
Vespasian and finished by Titus in the year 
80 a. d., ten years after the destruction of 
Jerusalem. This structure is now in a better 
state of preservation than any other. It covers 
five acres of ground, and had a capacity suffi¬ 
cient to seat 87,000 persons. The length is 612 
feet and the breadth is 515 feet. Titus dedi¬ 
cated it by a celebration lasting a hundred days, 
during which time 5,000 wild beasts were slain. 
Many of the amphitheaters were used as cas¬ 
tles and for fortifications in the Middle Ages. 
In modern times the name came to be applied 
to any oval or circular building with tiers of 
seats overlooking an arena or a central space. 

AMPUTATION (am-pu-ta'shun), in sur¬ 
gery, the removal of any part of the body or 
limbs on account of disease or injury. An 
operation of this kind is advisable in cases of 
serious accidents and diseases, in which life 
would be endangered if the part were allowed 
to remain, especially in such diseases as gan¬ 
grene and malignant growths. Amputations are 
either flap or circular with reference to the 
manner in which the flesh is cut. In the former 
the flesh is cut in a slanting direction to the 
bone so as to leave one or more flaps to 
cover amply the end of the stump, and in the 
latter the skin and superficial fascia are divided 
by the knife around the limb, loosening the 
skin about three inches, then dividing the mus¬ 
cles and using sufficient to cover the bone. The 
flesh is removed before the saw is applied. 
Most surgeons consider an amputation at the 
joints more serious than in the continuity of 
the limbs, while an operation at the hip joint 
and near the vital organs of the trunk need a 
skillful operator and are attended with con¬ 
siderable danger. Amputations were practiced 
by the ancient, but a great many deaths resulted 
because practitioners did not understand the 
methods of preventing infection, severe bleed¬ 
ing, and blood poisoning. 


AMRITSAR (um-rit'sur), a city of India, in 
the Punjab, 40 miles east of Lahore. It is 
the capital of a district of the same name and 
the center of/the Sikh religion and learning. 
An extensive commercial trade is carried on 
with Central Asia. The chief manufactures are 
shawls and silks. It is at the junction of sev¬ 
eral railroads and the seat of a number of 
schools, a dispensary, and the marble Darbar 
Sahib, the chief temple of the Sikh faith. Popu¬ 
lation, 1921, 162,548. 

AMSTERDAM (am'ster-dam), a city of 
New York, in Montgomery County, on the 
Mohawk River, thirty-two miles northwest of 
Albany. It is on the Erie Canal and on the 
West Shore and the New York Central rail¬ 
roads. It is surrounded by a fertile region, 
and has an extensive trade in general merchan¬ 
dise. The chief manufactures are carpets, 
paper, brooms, hardware, vehicles, cigars, and 
clothing. The streets are substantially paved 
with stone and macadam. It has electric street 
railways, waterworks, sewerage, a public library, 
and other facilities. It is the seat of a fine 
public school system, several private educa¬ 
tional institutions, and a number of excellent 
church buildings. The first settlement in its 
vicinity was made in 1778, when it became 
known as Veedersburg, and it was incor¬ 
porated under its present name in 1830. Popu¬ 
lation, 1905, 23,943; in 1920, 33,524. 

AMSTERDAM, one of the chief commer¬ 
cial cities of Europe, capital of Holland and 
of the province of North Holland, and the 
metropolis of the Netherlands. It is situated 
on an inlet of the Zuyder Zee, ten miles east 
of Haarlem, and is the converging center of 
many important railroads. Owing to the low 
and marshy condition of the site, the greater 
part of the city is built on piles driven deep 
into the ground. It is protected by dikes against 
the tides that rise higher than the level of the 
city. A system of canals divides it into about, 
ninety islands, which are connected by nearly 
300 bridges. 

The city has many excellent and sub¬ 
stantial structures, among them the govern¬ 
ment palace building, erected in 1648. It con¬ 
tains many fine churches, a majority belonging 
to the Dutch Reformed Church, but the in¬ 
habitants include a considerable number of 
Lutherans, Catholics, and Jews. It is a noted 
educational center, being the seat of a thorough¬ 
ly organized public school system, numerous 
colleges and academies, hospitals, and other 
public institutions. The chief manufactures are 
clothing, pottery, lumber products, sailing ves¬ 
sels, glassware, books and printed matter, en¬ 
gines, and machinery. A large majority of the 
inhabitants engage in manufacturing and com¬ 
mercial enterprises, and the domestic and for¬ 
eign commerce has long taken high rank. In¬ 
deed, it ranks among the leading commercial 
centers of Europe. 


AMU 


93 


ANAESTHETICS 


In the 13th century Amsterdam was a small 
village with a few hundred fishermen, but it 
rose rapidly with the extension of the Dutch 
colonial interests. Owing to wars and other 
causes it declined somewhat in the 18th cen¬ 
tury, but in the last century it again rose to im¬ 
portance, and now surpasses its former high 
mark of prosperity. All the modern conven¬ 
iences, such as telephones, electric lights, water¬ 
works, libraries, and boulevards, have been pro¬ 
vided for the convenience and enjoyment of 
its citizens. Intercommunication is facilitated 
by electric surface lines, by canals, and by a 
suburban system of steam railways. Popula¬ 
tion, 190G, 504,186; in 1920, 647,125. 

AMU, oi* Amu-Darya, See Oxus. 

AMUCK (a-muk'), or Amok, a custom 
practiced in Java and other islands of the 
Malay Archipeligo by natives who have become 
ferocious through the excessive use of opium. 
Maddened by the effect of the poison, the crazed 
victim of the opium habit rushes to the street 
with a dirk knife and seeks to stab those who 
may come in his way. On being seen in this 
condition, the cry of amuck causes the people to 
capture and kill the madman. 

AMUNDSEN, Roald. See Polar Exped. 

AMUR (a-moor'), or Amoor, an impor¬ 
tant river of Asia, one of the great streams 
of the world, formed by the junction of the 
Shilka and Argun rivers. Tt has a basin cov¬ 
ering an area of 796,000 square miles, and its 
estimated length is 2,739 miles. The Amur 
forms a part of the boundary between Siberia 
and China, penetrates the Khingan Mountains, 
and flows into the Sea of Okhotsk, through the 
Gulf of Amur. Among its chief tributaries are the 
Sungari, the Ussuri, the Seya, and the Bureya. 

ANABAPTISTS (an-a-bap'tists), a name 
sometimes applied to the denominations of 
Christians that deny the validity of infant bap¬ 
tism, but more properly used to designate a 
peculiar sect that laid claim to supernatural 
power. This sect was founded in 1517, under 
the leadership of Thomas Munzer, at Zwickau, 
Germany. They took part in the Peasants YY ar 
but were defeated near Muhlhausen in lo2o. 
Munster, in Westphalia, became their center 
of influence in 1533, where they were defeated 
by a military force sent against them on a 
charge alleging that they practiced gross im¬ 
moralities. This sect differed in many points 
of doctrine from the Baptists, but, like the 
latter, protested against infant baptism. 

ANABASIS (a-nab'a-sis), the title of two 
Greek historical works. The “Anabasis of 
Cyrus” was written by Xenophon in the 4th 
century b. c., and in it is an account of the 

expedition of the younger Cyrus against his 

brother, King Artaxerxes of Persia, and of 

the retreat of the 10,000 Greeks. The other, 
known as the “Anabasis of Alexander, is the 
account of the campaigns of Alexander the 

Great, written by Arrian in 168 a. d. 


ANACONDA (an-a-kon'da), a large ser¬ 
pent of the boa family, native to tropical 
America, but found chiefly in Brazil and 
Guiana. There are different well-known species, 
the typical form attaining a length of about 
thirty feet, but those usually seen in museums 
are not over twenty feet long. The eyes are 
small, the mouth is perfectly straight, the teeth 
are strong, and the color is blackish green 
above and yellowish below. These serpents feed 
on fish, small rodents, monkeys, and other 
animals, which they crush in their strong folds 
and usually swallow whole or only partly mas¬ 
ticated. They are found mostly along the shores 
of lakes and streams. Their skins are used for 
making bags and shoes by the natives, who 
utilize their flesh as food. 

ANACONDA, a city of Montana, in Deer 
Lodge county, about sixty miles southwest of 
Helena, on the Great Northern, the Northern 
Pacific, and other railways. It has a free 
library of 8,500 volumes, several fine school 
buildings, and good municipal improvements. 
The surrounding country contains valuable de¬ 
posits of gold and silver, a circumstance that 
occasioned the rapid growth of the city. The 
manufactures are machinery, earthenware, cloth¬ 
ing, brick, and smelter and machine shop pro¬ 
ducts. It has a growing trade in merchandise, 
produce, and minerals. Anaconda has had a 
rapid growth since 1884, when the copper re¬ 
duction works were established. Population, 
1900, 9,453; in 1910, 10,134; in 1920, 11,668. 

ANACREON (a-nak're-on), a Greek lyric 
poet, born at Teos, a seaport of Ionia, in 561 
b. c.; died in 476 b. c. He passed a number of 
years at the court of Polycrates of Samos, and 
after the death of the latter he resided at 
Athens. He was a prolific writer, though only 
two of his poems are known to exist in com¬ 
plete form. A statue was erected to his honor 
at Athens and the city of Teos placed his like¬ 
ness on its coin. 

ANAEMIA (a-ne'mi-a), the name applied to 
a morbid condition of the system produced by 
various causes, especially by a loss of blood 
and a deprivation of light and air in mines. 
A person afflicted with anaemia is character¬ 
ized by great paleness and usually the blood 
vessels are easily traceable. The patient should 
have fresh air and good nourishment, especially 
such materials as tend to restore the vigor of 
the blood, including iron and arsenic treat¬ 
ment. 

ANAESTHETICS (an-es-thet'iks), a class 
of medicines used as drugs or inhaled in the 
form of vapor, which destroy consciousness 
for a time and with it the sense of pain. The 
value of such agencies was known to the an¬ 
cients, but the scientific application dates from 
1800, when Sir Humphry Davy recommended 
them for use in surgery. Homer and Herodotus 
mentioned the effects of nepenthe when used 
in surgery, and it is spoken of in that 





ANAGRAM 


04 


ANARCHY 


respect by Pliny, while various Chinese manu¬ 
scripts allude to the use of a preparation of 
hemp for the same purpose. Faraday estab¬ 
lished the use of sulphuric acid in 1818, and 
Simpson in 1847 announced the value of chloro¬ 
form, which has since been used as the chief 
anaesthetic agent. A solution of cocaine is in¬ 
jected by some practitioners to secure anaesthe¬ 
sia in certain parts of the body, a practice 
originated by August Bier, of Kiel, Germany. 
By this method the patient may witness in a 
conscious state the operation performed, as the 
amputation of a leg or arm, but this is not 
possible when the operation is in the trunk. A 
new anaesthetic known as stovaine was dis¬ 
covered by M. Fourneau, a French surgeon, in 
1907, which is used in a similar way to produce 
paralysis of the body below the point of in¬ 
jection and removes all sensation from the 
limbs. With it properly administered it was 
found possible to amputate a limb while the 
patient retained- consciousness, and, had he 
been allowed to do so, could have even wit¬ 
nessed the operation. Stovaine is a compound 
in the nature of cocaine. 

ANAGRAM (an'a-gram), the transposition 
of the letters forming a word or sentence into 
a new word or sentence. The ancients con¬ 
structed anagrams of divers words, often apply¬ 
ing to the newly formed words a prophetic 
meaning. A true anagram is formed by trans¬ 
posing every letter in the original word and 
adding no new or different letter. For instance, 
the letters of Des Moines (Towa) have been 
transposed and the name Seni Om Sed origi¬ 
nated, which is applied to an autumnal festival 
given in that city. 

ANAKIM ( an'a-kim), a race of giants who 
lived in the southern part of Palestine at the 
time of the exodus of the Israelites. They are 
referred to as “the children of Anak,” and 
settlements were made by them in the moun¬ 
tains of Judah and Israel. Joshua conquered 
them and destroyed many of their cities, but a 
remnant of them survived in Gath, Gaza, and 
Ashdod. 

ANALOGY (a-nal'6-ji), a word used to ex¬ 
press relation or close resemblance. It is used 
in grammar to express conformity with the 
structure of a language; in biology, to denote 
parts which agree in functions; and in mathe¬ 
matics, to designate similitudes of ratio. 

ANALYSIS (a-nal'i-sis), the process of re¬ 
solving a whole into its parts, and opposed to 
synthesis, by which parts are combined to form 
wholes. The term analysis is applied in many 
branches of study, especially in chemistry, math¬ 
ematics, and physics. 

ANALYTICAL GEOMETRY. See 
Geometry. 

ANAM (&-nam'), or Annam, a country of 
Asia, situated south of China, east of Siam, and 
west of the South China Sea. Southwest of 
it is the Gulf of Siam. The drainage is chiefly 


by the Mekong River, which forms a part of 
the boundary between it and Siam, and flows 
through the southern portion. It embraces the 
once separated states of Tonquin and Cochin- 
China, and includes the ancient kingdom of 
Cambodia. At present it is divided into three 
parts: Tonquin in the north, the country of 
the Laos southwest of Tonquin, and nearly the 
whole of Cochin-China; a portion of the latter 
has belonged to France since 18G7. The area 
comprises 170,100 square miles. In the north 
and south are rich alluvial plains, while the 
interior is more or less diversified by mountain 
ranges, and the coastal regions are generally 
fertile. There are extensive deposits of iron, 
copper, silver, gold, manganese, and coal. The 
commercial products take rank among the best 
of Southern Asia, and include cereals, live stock, 
fruits, tobacco, and fish. Anam is governed as 
an absolute monarchy, though it is largely de¬ 
pendent on France. In 1872 it was recognized 
as independent of China by the French, on 
condition that the, king allow the free exercise 
of religion, open divers ports to foreign ves¬ 
sels, and grant special commercial advantage to 
France. The French claimed a violation of the 
treaty of 1872 and occupied Tonquin by a 
military force in 1883, which resulted in placing 
the country practically under a French protec¬ 
torate. Buddhism and Confucianism are the 
chief religions, but a number of the inhabitants 
profess Christianity. Hue and Saigon are the 
chief seaport cities. The population of Anam 
aggregates 18,125,000. 

ANARCHY (an'ar-chy), a theory of politi¬ 
cal science, which is based upon the principle 
that each individual is entitled to freedom from 
civil authority, and that he of right possesses 
liberty of action in social and economic matters. 
The theory of anarchism developed in the 19th 
century, having its most eminent advocate in 
Jean Proudhon, a distinguished French jurist. 
It seeks to abolish all systems of law and gov¬ 
ernment, and gives to the individual the largest 
freedom in society. While it may be considered 
as an ethical ideal of social relations, the ap¬ 
plication of its principles, though only individual 
or local, have resulted in harm and disaster. 
If the tendencies of men were pure and un¬ 
selfish, and there were a standard of right both 
correct in itself and accepted and practiced by 
all individuals, it might be possible to success¬ 
fully build a state or nation upon its tenets, but 
in practice it has led to revolution and terror¬ 
ism. Many adherents, though at first pure and 
sincere in the belief, became contaminated with 
thoughts of destruction and assassination that 
have placed anarchy in the category of law¬ 
lessness. 

No doubt the aristocratic and absolute gov¬ 
ernments of Europe have tended to increase the 
adherents of this political and social dogma, 
and as a natural result a large number of an¬ 
archists have emigrated to America. Paterson, 


ANATOMY 


95 


ANAXAGORAS 


N. J., has long been noted for the number 
of anarchists who settled in that city, and there 
are also many adherents in Chicago and New 
York. From these cities as centers of influ¬ 
ence, literature in the form of circulars and 
periodicals has been sent broadcast, and efforts 
to secure adherents have been made through 
personal solicitations and public meetings. In 
1896 disturbances occurred in Chicago in which 
a number of anarchists took part, and three 
assassinations in this country are charged to 
perpetrators who were supporters of anarchism 
—the assassination of Lincoln in 1865, Garfield 
in 1881, and McKinley in 1901. 

The most prominent agitators and advo¬ 
cates of anarchism in the United States were 
Johann Most and Emma Goldman, both of 
whom were convicted under the laws of New 
York for directly inciting crime. The assassi¬ 
nations of M. von Plehve of Finland and Grand 
Duke Sergius in Moscow, in 1905, are charge¬ 
able more or less directly to anarchists stimu¬ 
lated by the feeling of unrest and revolution 
in Russia. No doubt the evil results incident 
to a general spread of its supporters can be 
lessened by federal legislation, which would 
operate to limit writing and speechmaking de¬ 
signed to extend its influence. An anti-anarchist 
conference was held in Austria in 1898, owing 
to the assassination of the empress, and at this 
time there is a movement in the leading nations 
to curtail, if not eradicate, the spread of anarch¬ 
istic influences. 

ANATOMY (a-nat'6-my), the science that 
treats of the form and structure of organic 
bodies, and shows their distinct formation, and 
the relation of each part to the other parts of 
such bodies. It implies the cutting up or dis¬ 
secting, and is generally understood to apply to 
to the human body, while the anatomy of ani¬ 
mals is known as zootomy, and that of plants 
as phytotomy. Hippocrates is held to be the 
father of medicine, but, since his views of the 
structure of the human body were superficial, 
he is not regarded the father of anatomy. 
Aristotle based his views on the dissection of 
animals, and is regarded the founder of the 
science. Human bodies were not dissected until 
250 b. c., when it became common to dissect 
the bodies of criminals. Celsus wrote much on 
anatomy, and after his time many discoveries 
were made by the dissecting of apes and the 
bodies of other animals. For centuries a popu¬ 
lar prejudice existed against allowing the body 
of a relative or a corpse of any kind to be dis¬ 
sected, which long retarded the progress of this 
highly important and useful department, of 
knowledge. Many investigators were obliged 
to limit their dissections to the dead bodies of 
the lower animals, drawing analogies thence, to 
the human frame, instead of directly studying 

the corpses of mankind. 

Superstition retarded progress in the study of 
anatomy for many centuries, and scientists who 


announced new and valuable discoveries were 
either ruined in their attempts to develop use¬ 
ful results from them, or were burned at the 
stake. The circulation of the blood was not 
known to the ancients and was discovered by 
Harvey in 1619, who for years hesitated to an¬ 
nounce this valuable addition to human knowl¬ 
edge, but when he made his discovery known 
popular disapproval ruined his medical practice. 
Discoveries made in the 18th and 19th centuries 
are numerous, and have greatly extended knowl¬ 
edge in the practice of surgery and medicine. 
The adoption of improved methods of practice 
so revolutionized the external and internal treat¬ 
ment of the human body that the average of 
human life has been prolonged at least several 
years. 

Anatomy as a science has become so system¬ 
atized that it has been divided into several de¬ 
partments, which are studied with the view of 
fitting practitioners for special lines of prac¬ 
tice. The surgeon is required to understand the 
relation of the different organs to each other 
that he may know how and where to apply 
his instrument in operating on the living body, 
while the physician must necessarily understand 
the structure of all parts that he may success¬ 
fully administer medicines to affect the different 
organisms in the most beneficial way. The 
study of the bones of the skeleton, muscles, 
nerves, skin, digestive system, and other sys¬ 
tems of the body is called descriptive anatomy. 
Investigations of the special organs, as the coats 
of the stomach and the cells of the lungs, is 
termed general anatomy. Study relating to the 
tissue cells and atoms by the use of the micro¬ 
scope is known as microscopical anatomy. 

For convenience in the study of anatomy, 
the body is considered from the standpoint of 
its principal parts. These include the skeleton, 
constituted of the bones, joints, and cartilag¬ 
inous formations; the muscular system; the 
skin; the nervous system, including the ganglia, 
nerves, spinal cord, and brain; the throat and 
mouth; the vocal organs; and the organs con¬ 
stituting the seat of the senses—the ear, the 
eye, the nose, the mouth, and the papillae. To 
the digestive system, which includes the ali¬ 
mentary canal, the muscular membranous tube 
into which food is taken to be digested while 
undergoing its more or less complicated course 
through the body, and which is constituted 
of the mouth, aesophagus, stomach, and intes¬ 
tines, belong the accessory organs, including the 
salivary glands, the pancreas, and the liver. The 
organs of circulation include the capillaries, 
the arteries, the veins, and the heart, while 
to the organs of respiration belong the throat, 
the windpipe, and the lungs. Other principal 
parts include the kidneys, the organs of repro¬ 
duction, and the lymphatic system, with its 
vesicles and glands. See Heart, Ear, Eye, 
Skin, etc. 

ANAXAGORAS (an-aks-ag'o-ras), emi- 


ANAXIMANDER 


96 


ANDALUSIA 


nent Greek philosopher, born in Ionia about 
500 b. c.; died in 428. He was so highly im¬ 
bued with a love of meditation and philosophy 
that he rejected wealth and political honors, 
and spent much time in Athens with Pericles. 
Writers consider him the first Greek philosopher 
to conceive God as a divine mind. He an¬ 
nounced the theory of the minute constituents 
of things, which he assigned to the Supreme 
Intelligence that he thought exists in man, and 
by his teaching paved the way for the atomic 
theory. Though a diligent writer, only frag¬ 
ments of his works have come down to us. 

ANAXIMANDER (an-aks-i-man'der), 
Greek mathematician and philosopher, born at 
Miletus in 610 b. c.died about 547. Writers 
attribute many inventions to him, among them 
several relating to astronomy and geography, 
the most valuable of which were his geographi¬ 
cal maps. He was the discoverer of the as¬ 
tronomical fact that the ecliptic is oblique. Ac¬ 
cording to his view, the earth is the center of 
the universe and the sun is twenty-eight times 
as large as our planet. Some writers regard 
him the inventor of the sundial. 

ANAXIMENES (an-ax-im'e-nez), philoso¬ 
pher, born at Miletus, in Asia Minor, and 
flourished about 550 b. c. He taught that the 
air is the essence of all things, animated with 
a divine principle, and the origin of all beings. 
The sun and planets he supposed to be flat like 
a tablet and resting on air. 

ANCHOR (an'ker), in navigation, an im¬ 
plement for retaining a ship at a particular 
place by temporarily chaining it to the bed 

of the sea or river, 
which is called an an¬ 
chorage. In early times 
bags of sand, large 
stones or wooden an¬ 
chors weighted with 
lead were commonly 
employed for this pur¬ 
pose. Iron anchors 
were first used by the 
Greeks, and their 
manufacture was one 
of the most laborious 
industries, this being 
due to the fact that 
very large hammers 
are required to weld and shape the materials. 
In modern times the steam hammer came 
into almost exclusive use for this purpose. 
It is a powerful implement, having an 
enormous force, and is easily applied in 
comparison to the sledge hammers wielded by 
men. Anchor-making is now conducted on a 
large scale, and the occupation of an anchor- 
smith is considered an important one. Ships 
that have a tonnage of 1,000 tons usually re¬ 
quire anchors weighing thirty cwt.; those hav¬ 
ing a tonnage of 3,000 require an anchor 
weighing thirty-five cwt., and others in like 



ANCHOR. 


proportion. Most vessels carry from two to 
ten anchors, this depending on the size of 
the ships and the routes to be sailed. 

ANCHOVY (an-cho'vy), a small fish com¬ 
mon in the Mediterranean Sea and the At¬ 
lantic shores of Europe. It belongs to the 
herring family, but is somewhat thicker, has a 
pointed head, a projecting upper jaw, and is 
esteemed for its fine flavor. It is caught in 
seines and used extensively for sauces and 
pastes. Several species of anchovy are found 
off the coasts of Canada and the United States, 
both in the Atlantic and the Pacific. 

ANCIENT ORDER OF UNITED 
WORKMEN, a fraternal, mutual benefit asso¬ 
ciation organized in 1868 by John J. Upchurch 
at Meadville, Penn. There are limited restric¬ 
tions of occupation and its aims and purposes 
are purely benevolent. Three degrees are 
recognized in the order, each having its ap¬ 
propriate grips, signs, and symbols. The asso¬ 
ciation has forty grand or State lodges, about 
5,000 subordinate lodges, and a membership of 
360,000 in the United States. Since its organ¬ 
ization it has paid annually an average of about 
$2,000,000 as benefits to members, but the dis¬ 
bursements at present aggregate $7,500,000 per 
year. The supreme officers are elected annually 
in the supreme lodge, which is constituted of 
delegates sent by grand lodges, and the latter 
in turn are made up of delegates from subordi¬ 
nate lodges. 

ANCONA (an-ko'na), an important seaport 
city in Italy, capital of a province of the same 
name, about 130 miles northeast of Rome- It is 
built in the form of an amphitheater on the 
slope of two hills rising from the shores of the 
Adriatic, has railroad facilities, and carries con¬ 
siderable export and import trade. The manu¬ 
factures are paper, woolen and cotton textiles, 
musical instruments, silk hats, and machinery. 
The city abounds with fine statuary, among 
which is a colossal statue of Count Cavour. In 
the harbor is a mole 200 feet long built by Em¬ 
peror Trajan, on which is the famous trium¬ 
phal Arch of Trajan. Ancona was founded in 
the 4th century b. c., by refugees from Syra¬ 
cuse, but became a Roman colony in the 3d cen¬ 
tury b. c. It has belonged to Italy since 1860. 
Population, 1916, 64,452. 

ANDALUSIA (an-da-loo'shi-a), a region in 
the southern part of Spain. It was part of the 
Roman province of Baetica, is a fertile district, 
and comprises an area of 33,663 square miles. 
Along the northern border extend the Sierra 
Morina Mountains, and the southern part is 
traversed by the Sierra Nevada. The Guadal¬ 
quivir is the largest river and has a southwesterly 
course to the Atlantic. Fruit, grain, wool, 
cotton, and wine are the chief products. Copper 
and iron mining is carried on extensively. The 
Andalusian breed of horses has long been 
famous. For the purpose of government it is 
divided into the eight provinces of Almeria, 














ANDAMANS 


97 


ANDERSON 


Cadiz, Cordova, Granada, Hulelva, Jaen, 
Malaga, and Sevilla. The language spoken 
is Spanish with a slight mixture of Arabic. 
Population, 1921, 3,562,650. 

ANDAMANS (an-da-manz'), a group of 
small islands in the Bay of Bengal, politically 
attached to British India. These islands have 
an area of 2,508 square miles, are well timbered, 
and by the Duncan Passage are divided into the 
Great and Little Andamans. The natives are of 
small stature and engage chiefly in fishing and 
the manufacture of clothing and utensils. Since 
1858 the islands have been used as a penal set¬ 
tlement of India. The government is under a 
commissioner resident at Port Blair. Popula¬ 
tion, 1921, 18,190. 



HANS C. ANDERSEN. 


ANDERSEN (an'der-sen), Hans Christian, 

eminent author, born in Odense, Denmark, 
April 2, 1805; died in Copenhagen, Aug. G, 1875. 

His father was a shoe¬ 
maker in very moderate 
circumstances, but pos¬ 
sessed a literary taste. 
He learned the occupa¬ 
tion of his father in the 
shoe shop, attended a 
charity school, and made 
many personal friends by 
his skill and talent in 
singing. In 1819 he was 
permitted to go to 
Copenhagen to witness 
the performance of a 
play, where he secured an engagement as a 
theatrical singer, but was very soon discharged 
on account of a lack of education. Though he 
made heroic efforts to cultivate ability as a 
stage singer, he soon found himself unfitted 
on account of having neither a graceful face 
nor pleasing manners. Through the influence 
of a friend he was admitted to one of the 
government schools, which enabled him to ac¬ 
quire an education, and thus came the turning 
point of his life. In 1829 he published his 
first volume of poems, which was received 
with much enthusiasm, and a second volume 
appeared in 1831. These proved so popular 
that he was granted a traveling pension by the 
King of Denmark in 1833, and thereby obtained 
opportunities for mental development. Accord¬ 
ingly, he visited the historic places of Southern 
Europe, and at the same time wrote poetry 
and descriptive prose of the points of interest 
with which he came in contact. His works 
have been translated into the different lan¬ 
guages of Europe as well as many of the 
Asiatic languages, and are still extensively 
read in Eurasia and America. They are par¬ 
ticularly popular among the young on account 
of the pleasing manner and clear language in 
which they are written. Andersen was an 
admirable public reader of his own works. 
The most important of his writings embrace 
“Dying Child,” “Walk of Amak,” “Traveling 


7 


Sketches,” “Story of My Life,” “Tales from 
Jutland, “Travels in the Hartz Mountains,” 
“New Fairy Tales,” and “Tales for Children.” 
On his seventieth birthday he was presented 
with a book containing one of his fairy tales 
in fifteen different languages. 

ANDERSON (an'der-son), a city of Indi¬ 
ana, county seat of Madison County, thirty- 
five miles northeast of Indianapolis, on the 
Cleveland, Cincinnati, Chicago and Saint 
Louis and other railways. It occupies a fine 
site on the west fork of the White River. 
The surrounding country is rich in farm 
produce and deposits of coal and natural gas. 
It has electric street railways, pavements, 
waterworks, electric lights, and several libra¬ 
ries. Among its chief buildings are a num¬ 
ber of excellent schools, the county court¬ 
house, numerous churches, and many excellent 
business blocks. The manufactures -include 
machinery, clothing, cigars, earthenware, and 
farming implements. The first settlement at 
Anderson was made in 1823 and it was incor¬ 
porated in 1865. Population, 1920, 29,767. 

ANDERSON, a city of South Carolina, 
county seat of Anderson County, 125 miles 
northwest of Columbia, on the Southern, and 
other railroads. The surrounding country is 
fertile. It has manufactures of tobacco prod¬ 
ucts, machinery, and implements. The city 
has several fine public buildings and modern 
municipal facilities. Electric power it obtained 
from a station on the Senaca River, about ten 
miles distant. In 1827 the first settlement was 
made in the vicinity. Population, 1920, 10,535. 

ANDERSON, Mary. See Navarro. 

ANDERSON, Rasmus Bjorn, author and 
educator, born in Albion, Wis., Jan. 12, 1846. 
He descended from Scandinavian parents, 
studied at several institutions in Iowa, and 
was for some time professor of Scandinavian 
languages at the University of Wisconsin. 
His literary works include several histories 
and a treatise on the folklore of the Norse¬ 
men. President Cleveland appointed him 
United States minister to Denmark in 1885, 
in which position he served four years. His 
chief works include “Norse Mythology,” “The 
Younger Edda,” “Viking Tales of the North,” 
and “America Not Discovered by Columbus.” 

ANDERSON, Robert, soldier, born near 
Louisville, Ky., June 14, 1805; died Oct. 27, 
1871. He was a graduate from the United 
States Military Academy, served in the Black 
Hawk War, and later became instructor of 
artillery at West Point. In 1838 he was made 
general of the staff of Winfield Scott and 
served in the Mexican War, distinguishing 
himself in the Battle of Molino del Rey. He 
rendered valuable services in the Civil War, 
particularly at Forts Moultrie and Sumter, re¬ 
ceiving the thanks of Congress. He retired 
from active service in 1863 on account of poor 
health. In 1868 he went to Europe, where he 


ANDERSONVILLE 


98 


ANDORRA 


translated several military books from the 
French and adapted them to the American 
service. His death occurred in Nice, France. 

ANDERSONVILLE, a village in Sumter 
County, Georgia, sixty-two miles southwest of 
Macon. It is famous as the site of a Con¬ 
federate prison from 1864 to the close of the 
war. The total number of prisoners received 
at the place aggregated 49,485, of whom 
12,926 died from lack of food and sanitation. 
The superintendent, Henry Wirtz, was tried on 
a charge of mismanagement, found guilty, and 
hanged on Nov. 10, 1865. A national cemetery 
now occupies the site of the prison. In 1920 the 
village had a population of 174. 

ANDERSSON (an'ders-son), Nils Johan, 
botanist, born in Smaland, Sweden, Feb. 20, 
1821; died March 27, 1880. He studied in 
Stockholm and Upsala, and in 1851-53 accom¬ 
panied a Swedish expedition around the world. 
On returning to Sweden, he wrote a descrip¬ 
tion of the journey, entitled “A Voyage Round 
the World.’! In 1856 he was chosen professor 
of botany in the Academy of Sciences, Stock¬ 
holm, where he won many friends by close 
application to scientific research. 

ANDES (an'dez), the predominating moun¬ 
tain system of South America, extending from 
near the island of Trinidad across the north¬ 
ern part of the grand division, thence in a 
direction nearly parallel to the Pacific, and 
continuing almost to the Strait of Magellan. 
It is composed of two approximately parallel 
chains, between which are located wide and 
comparatively fertile valleys. On the north 
they are separated into three chains, in the 
center mainly into two, and in the south they 
unite into one. The chains are connected by 
transverse ridges, forming numerous mountain 
knots. The system forms a continuation of the 
Cordilleras of North America, from which it 
is separated by wide depressions at the Isth¬ 
mus of Panama. From this point the eleva¬ 
tions increase in height toward the south, 
reaching their highest point in Chile, where 
they culminate in the volcanic peak of Acon¬ 
cagua, 23,910 feet, which is the highest eleva¬ 
tion. The average height of the Andes is about 
12,000 feet, and the system is from forty to 
350 miles wide. The total area covered by the 
base of the system is more than a million 
square miles. 

The Andean mountain system includes 
numerous tablelands, the most important being 
the plateau of Quito, 9,543 feet; the plateau of 
Casco, in North Peru, 11,000 feet; and the 
plateau of Bolivia, 13,000 feet. From most of 
these higher plateaus rise volcanic peaks, 
which, together with the volcanoes located in 
the mountain ranges, include from forty to 
sixty still active the greater part of the year. 
The system is the most compact of the great 
mountain system's of the world, and hundreds 
of the peaks tower to immense heights; at 


least ten of them exceed a height of 20,000 
feet. The system contains the source of all 
the great rivers of South America, except the 
main source of the La Plata, the Tocantins, 
and the Sao Francisco, which rise in the high¬ 
lands of Brazil. In the northern portion the 
Orinoco dashes its waters toward the island 
of Trinidad, from the center flow a large 
number of the sources of the Amazon, which 
discharges great volumes of water into the 
Alantic Ocean under the equator, while farther 
south some of the sources of the La Plata and 
the Colorado carry their waters toward the 
south and east. In the center of the system, 
on the high elevation between Peru and 
Bolivia, is located the wonderful inland lake 
Titicaca, 12,847 feet above the level of the 
sea, which has no outlet to the ocean, and is 
perhaps the only inland fresh-water lake. Its 
surface area is 3,800 square miles. The coun¬ 
tries that include parts of the Andean moun¬ 
tain system are Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, 
Peru, Bolivia, Chile, and Argentina. Between 
their elevations are many fertile valleys and 
plains, notably among them the plain of Cuzco, 
which, under the burning sun of the tropics, 
has the climate and productions of the temp¬ 
erate zone. In the territory occupied largely 
by Peru reigned the ancient Incas, who at¬ 
tained a high state of semicivilization and whose 
works are still attested by gigantic ruins and 
wonderful cemeteries. Here were constructed 
great highways for travel, which crossed sum¬ 
mits of the lofty peaks or passed through them 
by tunnels and in their course they extended 
over canons and rivers by works of solid 
masonry. Peru and Chile still retain the 
highest conditions of civilization that have 
developed in South America. 

The plant and animal life of the Andean 
system differs widely from that of the east¬ 
ern portions of South America. Among the 
wild animal forms are the alpaca, llama, 
jaguar, puma, and the fleet deer. Bird life 
is especially rich with song and plumage, and 
includes the great condor, besides hundreds of 
varieties of smaller birds peculiar to the dif¬ 
ferent altitudes. This highland region has ex¬ 
tremely rich deposits of minerals, such as iron, 
lead, platinum, copper, coal, petroleum, silver, 
and gold. These yield large profits where the 
apparently indifferent inhabitants of the south¬ 
ern continent have put forth an effort to de¬ 
velop mining. Many cities located in the 
Andes are at a great elevation, and conse¬ 
quently enjoy a perpetual season of cool and 
bracing atmosphere. Chief among these are 
Cerre de Pasco, Potosi, and Quito, the historic 
capital of Ecuador. 

ANDORRA (an-dor'ra), a republic of 
Europe, Eastern Pyrenees, between the Spanish 
province of Lerida and the French department of 
Ariege. The area is 175 square miles, divided 
for the purpose of government into six parishes. 


ANDOVER 


99 


ANDREW 


It is surrounded by high mountains, is rich in 
iron and lead deposits, has some forests, and 
agriculture and manufacturing are the chief 
enterprises. Dairying and fruit culture re¬ 
ceive careful attention. Charlemagne made 
Andorra an independent state because its in¬ 
habitants had rendered services to him while 
he was conducting an expedition against the 
Moors, and its autonomy has been preserved 
until the present. It is governed by a council 
of twenty-four, elected for four years, and 
the laws are administered by two judges, one 
chosen by the Bishop of Urgel in Spain and 
the other by France. Andorra, the capital, has 
a population of 1,000 and is the chief town. 
The population of the republic is 5,231. 

ANDOVER (an'do-ver), a town of Essex 
County, Mass., on the Merrimac River, twenty 
miles north of Boston, on the Boston and 
Maine Railroad. It is the seat of the An¬ 
dover Theological Seminary, which was 
founded in 1808. This institution has a library 
of about 60,000 volumes, is under the direction 
of the Congregational Church, and has sent 
forth fully 3,250 ministers. Andover has ex¬ 
cellent public schools, is connected with other 
towns by electric car lines, and is substantially 
improved by modern facilities. The manu¬ 
factures include clothing, textiles, earthenware, 
and machinery. Andover was first settled in 
1643 and was incorporated three years later. 
Population, 1905, 6,632; in 1920, 7,489. 

ANDRASSY (on'dra-she), Julius, Count, 
born in Zemplin, Hungary, March 8, 1823; 
died Feb. 18, 1890. He descended from an 
ancient and noble family, who possessed vast 
estates in Hungary in the 16th century. His 
father, Charles Andrassy, was an influential 
member of the national diet. The son received 
a liberal education, became a leader in the 
Revolution of 1848, and was an exile in 
France and England until 1857, when he was 
pardoned by amnesty. On returning to Hun¬ 
gary, he immediately reentered the field of 
politics, and in 1866 was chosen prime minister 
of the parliament for Hungary. He became a 
foreign minister of the Austro-Hungarian Em¬ 
pire in 1871, in which position he took an 
active part in promoting the Drcikaiserbund, a 
treaty between Austria, Germany, and Russia. 
In 1878 he represented Austria in the confer¬ 
ence of Berlin. 

ANDRE (an'dra), John, soldier, born of 
Swiss parents in London, England, in 1751; 
executed at Tappan, N. Y., Oct. 2, 1780. He 
came to America in 1774, and, owing to his 
amiable disposition, became a favorite in so¬ 
ciety both in Philadelphia and New York, 
where he was stationed at different times for 
military duty as a British officer. Subsequently 
he became aid-de-camp to Sir Henry Clinton, 
and in 1779 was promoted to the rank of 
major. The following year he began to plot 
with Gen. Benedict Arnold, the object of which 


was the betrayal of the American cause to the 
British. Arnold was in command at West 
Point, then the best fortified and most im¬ 
portant position of the Americans. He agreed 
to give this position into the possession of the 
British in consideration of a monetary pay¬ 
ment and other advantages, and, to conclude 
his plan, desired a conference with Andre. 
Accordingly, Andre sailed up the Hudson and 
met Arnold in the woods below Stony Point. 
By some miscalculation Andre was left within 
the American lines, and, to escape, took a horse 
to carry him to Tarrytown, but while near 
that place was arrested by three men and 
searched, and papers containing the conditions 
of the betrayal of Arnold were taken from his 
person. He was brought to Tappan, tried as 
a spy, and promptly hanged. His remains 
were taken to England in 1821 and placed in 
Westminster Abbey, where a monument was 
erected to his memory. The sad incident of 
his death attracted general sympathy for him 
personally, since he was a universal favorite 
and believed to be a man of otherwise good 
parts. His captors were three Americans, 
named, respectively, Isaac Van Wart, David 
Williams, and John Paulding. Each received 
a pension of $200 per year, was voted a silver 
medal, and in 1853 a monument was erected 
to their memory on the spot where they 
captured Andre. 

ANDREE (an'dra), Solomon August, sci¬ 
entist and aeronaut, born at Grenna, Sweden, 
in 1854; died in 1897. He studied at Stock¬ 
holm and in 1882 joined the Swedish meteor¬ 
ological expedition. His successful experi¬ 
ments in aerial navigation induced him to at¬ 
tempt a flight to the North Pole, for which 
he devised a balloon capable of being directed 
by sails and guide ropes. In 1897 he made the 
start from Spitzbergen, accompanied by two 
friends, but all were lost. A reward was offered 
for information which would establish an in¬ 
telligent record of the distance traveled or 
lead to the recovery of relics, but nothing 
definite was learned aside from several dis¬ 
patches sent out by carrier pigeons a few days 
after the start had been made. 

ANDREW (an'dru), one of the 12 apostles, 
brother of Simon Peter, born in Bethsaida of 
Galilee. He was a fisherman and originally 
became a disciple of John the Baptist, but was 
among the first called by Christ, and as a 
disciple of Jesus is mentioned in connection 
with the feeding of the 5,000. No mention 
is made of him in the Acts of the Apostles. 
It is thought he preached in Greece and 
Scythia and that he suffered martyrdom at 
Patrae, in Achaia. He is the patron saint of 
Scotland. 

ANDREW, John Albion, statesman, born in 
Windham, Me., May 31, 1818; died in Boston, 
Oct. 30, 1867. He graduated from Bowdoin 
College, was admitted to the Boston bar, and 


) 

) 


) 

> ■> 

•> 


> ) ) 


ANDREWS 


100 


ANDROSCOGGIN 


entered upon a successful law practice. His 
sympathies were in favor of the abolition of 
slavery, and he was elected to the Legislature 
in 1858 by the Antislavery party. In 1860 he 
advocated the election of Abraham Lincoln, 
became Governor of the State, serving six 
years, and in that capacity rendered efficient 
services in organizing regiments to support 
the Union cause. He took high rank as a 
speaker, his most important orations relating 
to the nomination of Lincoln and the per¬ 
petuity of national union. 

ANDREWS, Elisha Benjamin, scholar and 
educator, born in Hinsdale, New Hampshire, 
Jan. 10, 1844. He enlisted as a Federal soldier 

in the Civil War, 
rose to the rank of 
second lieutenant, 
and lost an eye at 
Petersburg. In 1870 
he graduated from 
Brown University, 
and, after taking a 
course in the New-'' 
ton Theolog i c a 1 
Seminary, was or¬ 
dained a Baptist 
minister. Subse¬ 
quently he became 
professor at Deni¬ 
son University, then 
held the chair of 
economics in Brown University, later at Cor¬ 
nell College, and in 1889 became president of 
Brown University. In 1892 he served as United 
States delegate to the Brussels Bimetallic Con¬ 
ference, and soon after became superintendent 
of the Chicago schools. He was elected presi¬ 
dent of the University of Nebraska in 1900. 
His books include “Institutes of General His¬ 
tory,” “Institutes of Economics,” “An Honest 
Dollar,” “Wealth and Moral Law,” “History 
of the Last Quarter Century in the United 
States,” and “History of the United States in 
Our Own Times.” He died Oct. 30, 1917. 

ANDREWS, Lancelot, theologian, born in 
London, England, Sept. 25, 1555; died Nov. 23, 
1626. Queen Elizabeth appointed him dean of 
Westminster, and James I. selected him as one 
of the divines to translate the Bible. In 1605 
he was made bishop of Chichester and later 
was transferred to the see of Ely. He was 
considered the most learned English theologian 
of his time and an orator of high reputation, 
and is the author of several important religious 
works. His chief publication is “Manual of 
Private Devotion and Meditation for Every 
Day in the Week.” 

ANDRIA (an'dre-a), a city of Italy, in the 
province of Bari, thirty-two miles northwest 
of Bari. It is situated on a fertile plain, has 
railroad facilities, and is the center of large 
commercial interests. The city is the seat of 
several noted educational institutions, a Gothic 


palace, and a fine cathedral. Andria was 
founded by the Normans. Frederich II. built 
the noted Castello del Monte, located nine 
miles south of the city. Population, 1921, 
49 569. 

ANDROMACHE (an-drom'a-ke), the 
daughter of Eetion and wife of Hector. She 
was noted as the most beautiful woman of 
Troy, and belonged to a patriotic family. Her 
father and seven brothers were captured in the 
battle of Thebes, her husband fell in the de¬ 
fense of Troy, and her son met death in the 
Trojan War. After the fall of Troy, she be¬ 
came the wife of Pyrrhus and, after the death 
of the latter, married Helenus, brother of 
Hector and ruler of a part of Epirus. 

ANDRONICUS (an-dro-ni'kus), Cyrrhes- 
tes, Greek architect, born at Cyrrhus, in Syria. 
He is thought to have flourished in the 3d cen¬ 
tury b. c., though some assign him to the 1st 
century. His chief work was a tower con¬ 
structed at Athens, known as the Tower of the 
Winds, on different sides of which were sculp¬ 
tured images and on the summit was a revolv¬ 
ing Triton, having a wand in his right hand to 
indicate the point from which the wind was 
blowing. In the interior was a water clock, 
and on each of the eight sides, below the 
figures representing the principal winds, was 
a sundial. 

ANDROS (an'dros), an island in the Gre¬ 
cian Archipelago, the most northerly of the 
Cyclades. It is about twenty-five miles long, 
ten miles wide, and has a fertile though moun¬ 
tainous surface. Most of the inhabitants belong 
to the Greek Church. Andros, the capital, has 
a population of 2,160. It has a large trade in 
wine, fruits, and merchandise. The island has 
a population of 19,025. 

ANDROS, Sir Edmund, Colonial Governor, 
born in London, England, Dec. 6, 1637; died 
Feb. 24, 1714. His father was an officer of the 
royal household, where the son received a 
liberal education, and later became major of 
the dragoons under Prince Rupert. In 1674 he 
was commissioned Governor of New York, 
where he received the surrender of the Dutch, 
and in 1686 became Governor General of New 
England. His government is generally regarded 
harsh and intolerant, which caused him to be¬ 
come generally unpopular among the colonists. 
In 1687 he went to Hartford with a body of 
armed men to demand its charter, but that 
document was concealed in a hollow tree. The 
people of Boston imprisoned him and several 
officers in 1689, on receiving news of the 
revolution in England, and he was soon after 
sent to England by order of King William. 
In 1692 he was made Governor of Virginia, 
but was removed after six years’ service. 

ANDROSCOGGIN (an-dros-kog'gTn), a 
river of New Hampshire and Maine, rises in 
Lake Umbagog, which is situated on the 
border between the two states. It flows through 






ANEMOGRAPH 


101 


ANGELO 



a portion of Maine, and discharges into the 
Kennebec River near Bath. The total length is 
156 miles. 

ANEMOGRAPH (a-nem'6-graf), a device 
attached to an anemometer to make it 
self-recording. Most forms of this instru¬ 
ment have a cylinder covered by paper, which 
moves uniformly by clockwork, and an indica¬ 
tor registers at the proper time both the 
changes in the velocity and the direction of 
the wind. The paper is ruled properly before 
being adjusted on the cylinder. The anemo¬ 
graph is frequently called a wind register. 

ANEMOMETER (an-e-mom'e-ter), an in¬ 
strument for measuring the force and velocity 
of the wind. As ordinarily constructed, it con¬ 
sists of four hemi¬ 
spheres or cups 
mounted on the 
ends of crossed 
rods, on a horizon¬ 
tal plane, in such a 
manner that it may 
be rotated by the 
force of the wind. 
In a box below is 
a mechanism 
which records the 
revolutions made 
by a perpendicular 
shaft, and the in¬ 
dication is given 
by a hand moving 
round the dial. It 
has been found that the center of each cup 
moves with a velocity almost exactly one-third 
of that of the wind. Besides this contrivance, 
there are other instruments which serve the 
same purpose. 

ANEMONE (a-nem'6-ne), a genus of flow¬ 
ering plants having truncate leaf stems, calyx 
corollalike, and colored petals longer than the 

stamens. About sixty 
species are cultivated 
on account of their pro¬ 
fuse and beautiful 
flowers. The flowers 
are either double or 
single and variously 
colored, usually white, 
red, blue, yellow, or 
creamy violet. These 
flowers thrive best in a 
light, loamy soil. The 
plants are propagated 
by offsets, seeds, and 
cuttings. 

ANGEL (an'jel), a 
ministering spirit em¬ 
ployed by God to ad- 
anemone. minister comfort to 

men. While angels are mentioned frequently 
in the Bible, only two are designated by name, 
these being Michael and Gabriel. Tobit, a book 



ANEMOMETER. 



of the Apocrypha, mentions Raphael. We have 
scriptural evidence that angels ■ became visible 
to men (Gen. xviii. and xxxvii.), and that 
there were several orders of these beings, 
among them the seraphim, the cherubim, and 
the archangels. The popular belief that 
angels have wings is not a revealed truth, 
rather a poetical invention. 

ANGEL, Benjamin Franklin, lawyer and 
diplomatist, born in Burlington, New York, Nov. 
28, 1815; died in 1894. He attended public 
schools, was admitted to the bar, and estab¬ 
lished a successful law practice. In 1852 he was 
a delegate to the national Democratic conven¬ 
tion, became consul to the Hawaiian Islands in 
1853, and went on special commissions to China 
and Norway in 1855-56. He gave up politics in 
1862 and devoted himself to agriculture, serving 
as president of the New York State Agricul¬ 
tural Society in 1873-74. 

ANGELICO (an-jel'e-ko), Fra, eminent 
painter, born in Vicchio, Italy, in 1387; died 
in Rome about 1455. His real name was Fra 
Giovanni da Fiesole. He entered the monas¬ 
tery at San Domenico in 1407, and afterward 
became devoted to painting. His works are 
especially popular on account of rare harmony 
of color, and many were made models for art 
productions by subsequent painters. He painted 
frescoes in several monasteries and churches, 
and produced numerous easel pictures, his best- 
known specimen being “Coronation of the 
Virgin.” 

ANGELL (an'jel), James Burrill, educator, 
born in Scituate, Rhode Island, January 7, 
1829; died April 1, 1916. He graduated at 
Brown University 
in 1849, spent four 
years traveling i n 
Europe, and in 1860 
became editor of the 
Providence Daily 
Journal. In 1866 he 
was made president 
of the University of 
Vermont, and in 1871 
was chosen to a like 
position in the Uni¬ 
versity of Michigan. 

He received leave of 
absence in 1880 to 

TAMES B. ANGELL. 
serve as envoy ex- J 

traordinary to China, and in that capacity pro¬ 
cured a revision of the treaty between that 
country and the United States. President 
McKinley appointed him minister to Turkey 
in 1897. In 1909 he resigned as president. He 
is the author of “Progress in International Law” 
and “Manual of French Literature.” He con¬ 
tributed to many periodicals, including the 
North American Review. 

ANGELO (an'ja-lo), Michael (Michaelan- 
gelo Buonarroti), eminent painter, sculptor, 
and artist, born at the castle of Caprese in Tus- 


t 

















ANGELUS 


102 


ANGLESEY 


cany, Italy, March 6, 1474; died' Feb. 17, 1563. 
He descended from parents of noble birth, who 
were long connected with the Florentine Repub¬ 
lic. At school he 
neglected his studies 
for drawing, early 
learned the rudiments 
of painting, and at¬ 
tracted the attention of 
Lorenzo de Medici, a 
celebrated merchant 
prince, who opened a 
garden in Florence or¬ 
namented with statues. 
At this garden Angelo 
' spent much time in 

Michael angelo. drawing from statues 

and decorations, which 
served as fitting models for the young artist. 
The production that pleased the merchant most 
was a restoration of the mutilated head of a 
laughing faun, and which caused him to aid the 
young artist in developing his skill. He soon 
became distinguished in painting and sculptur¬ 
ing, and was commissioned to decorate the 
senate hall at Florence with historical designs, 
but before the work was completed he was 
called to Rome by Pope Julius II. There he 
painted the dome of the Sistine Chapel, his 
frescoes representing the principal events of 
sacred history, among them the creation. He 
sculptured seven statues for the monument of 
the pontiff, including one of Moses, and which 
are now in the church of Saint Pietro, in Vin- 
coli. When Charles V. of Spain led a campaign 
against Florence in 1530, Angelo was a strong 
factor in its defense. Soon after he began the 
work of painting “The Last Judgment,” at 
which he labored eight years. Other great 
works in painting include “The Conversion of 
Paul,” and “The Crucifixion of Saint Peter,” 
in the Pauline Chapel. Among his productions 
most noted in sculpture are'“Bacchus,” “David,” 
and “The Descent of Christ from the Cross.” 
In 1546 he undertook the rebuilding of Saint 
Peter’s and designed and built the dome, but 
the work was not completed until after his 
death. By his plans this Saracenic hall was 
converted into an excellent and imposing place 
of Christian worship. He died at Rome, but 
his remains were removed to Florence and 
placed in the church of Santa Croce. His de¬ 
votion to art, piety, benevolence, and liberality 
made him the beloved of the nation, and caused 
his name to shine in the history of arts with 
unsullied luster. 

ANGELUS (an'je-lus), a short Roman Cath¬ 
olic prayer, beginning with the words, “Angelus 
Domini nuntiavit Mariae,” and recited at the 
ringing of the Angelus bell. It is offered in 
devotion to the memory of the Annunciation, at 
six o’clock in the morning and evening and at 
noon. J. F. Millet made the sound of the 
Angelus bell reaching the ears of a man and 


woman working in a field the subject of his 
celebrated painting, which was purchased by 
M. Chauchard in 1890 for $150,000. 

ANGERS (an-zha'), a city in France, capital 
of the department of Maine-et-Loire, sixty 
miles southwest of Le Mans. It has a college, 
a cathedral, and a library of 40,000 volumes. In 
the vicinity are slate quarries. Leather, silks, 
chemicals, clothing, and machinery are among 
the manufactures. Statues of J. Bodin and 
Rene of Anjou, who were born here, are in the 
Place du Lorraine. Population, 1916, 82,935. 

ANGINA PECTORIS (an-ji'na pek'to-ris), 
or Heart Stroke, an intense pain which occurs 
in paroxysms in the region of the heart, or ex¬ 
tends from the lower end of the chest-bone to 
the left arm. It is accompanied by faintness and 
suffocation, and successive attacks weaken and 
ultimately cause death. Men are more sus¬ 
ceptible to it than women, especially after the 
age of fifty years. The disease is due to a 
cramp of the heart muscle, or a neuralgia of 
the cardiac nerves. 

ANGLE (an'g’l), a term ordinarily used to 
designate a figure of two straight lines emanat¬ 
ing from one point, the vertex, as a corner of 
a room. In general the term is used to ex¬ 
press the inclination of two lines to one another. 
Four kinds of angles are distinguished in geom¬ 
etry, the plane, spherical, dihedral, and poly¬ 
hedral. 

ANGLER (an'gler), a fish common to the 
coasts of North America and Europe, and 
known by the different names of monkfish, 
fishing frog, and goosefish. It is classed with 
the family of spiny-ray fishes, has a length of 
from three to five feet, and its mouth is very 
large and fringed with barbels. On the top 
of the head are spines which it throws out as 
bait to its prey, attracting the smaller fishes, on 
which it feeds. Several species abound on the 
American coast from Nova Scotia to Florida, 
most of which attain a length of three feet, and 
all have a large mouth and are very voracious. 

ANGLES (an'gl’z), or Angli, an ancient 
German tribe that occupied the country lying 
northeast of the Elbe, and subsequently settled 
in Schleswig, between the Saxons and Jutes. 
In the 5th century many Angles emigrated, and 
with large number of Saxons and Jutes colon¬ 
ized portions of England and Scotland. The 
Germanic portion of these immigrants founded 
the three kingdoms of Mercia, Northumbria, 
and East Anglia. 

ANGLESEY (an'g’l-se), or Anglesea, an 
island and county in the Irish Sea, belonging 
to Wales, from which it is separated by the 
Menai Strait. It is seventeen miles wide and 
twenty miles long, and is connected by railway 
with the mainland, which crosses the strait by 
the Britannia tubular bridge. The surface is 
quite level and the soil productive, and much of 
the land is in pasture. Copper is mined quite 
extensively, though agriculture and stock rais- 



ANGLICAN CHURCH 


103 


ANGORA 


ing are the chief enterprises. Wheat, oats, 
barley, and potatoes are grown. Anciently the 
island was inhabited by Druids, and at present 
the Welch language is spoken largely by the 
peasants. Holyhead, Beaumaris, and Amlwch 
are the chief towns. Population, 1921, 50,590. 

ANGLICAN CHURCH (an'gli-kan), the 
name applied generally to the Church of Eng¬ 
land,. and sometimes used in reference to all 
the societies embraced in the Protestant Episco¬ 
pal Church. In its strict application it refers 
only to the Church of England and the 
Protestant Episcopal Church in Scotland, Ire¬ 
land, and the British Colonies. The ritual is 
contained in the “Book of Common Prayer,” 
and in the Thirty-Nine Articles are laid down 
the doctrines of the church. As a body it is 
represented by its bishops from all parts of the 
world in the Lambeth Conference, which is 
held at Lambeth Palace, under the presidency 
of the Archbishop of Canterbury. This as¬ 
sembly meets at irregular intervals when called 
by the archbishop, usually about every ten years, 
and its value consists chiefly in the interchange 
of counsel. Its most important session was held 
in 1888, when it promulgated a basis for the 
establishment of Christian unity. 

ANGLING (an'glmg), the art of alluring 
and catching fish by means of a rod, line, and 
hook. The hook is furnished with a bait or 
lure, which is an object of prey, or the imi¬ 
tation of such an object. Usually the rod is 
about twelve to twenty feet long, the line being 
attached to the small end, and containing one 
or more hooks baited with the lure. The line 
is thrown into the water, in which it floats 
from a cork, the cork serving as an indicator 
of the nibbling or bite of the game. When 
the fish has been caught, it is drawn from the 
water and the line is thrown out for more 
game. The practice of catching fish by angling 
is of great antiquity. Mention is made of it 
by the prophet Isaiah, in Chap, xix, 8, in these 
words: “The fishers also shall mourn, and all 
those that cast angle into the brooks.” The 
practice has prevailed throughout all ages and 
in all countries, and is still a favorite means 
for pastime and profit. Juliana Berners, the 
prioress of Sopwell Nunnery, is the authoress 
of the oldest English work on angling. It was 
published by Wynkyn de Worde in 1496 under 
the title “A Treatyse of Fysshynge wyth an 
Angle.” 

ANGLO-SAXONS (an'glo-saks'uns), the 
name commonly applied to the people formed 
by an amalgamation of the Angles, Saxons, and 
other Germanic tribes, and who constitute the 
English, the Lowland Scotch, and a large por¬ 
tion of the present population of the United 
States and Canada. By far the greater num¬ 
ber of tribes from whom the English-speaking 
people descended had their seat in the northern 
part of Germany. The first of these came to 
Britain about the year 449. From a preponder¬ 


ance of the Angles the country came to be called 
England, and the language the Angles or Eng¬ 
lish. From Anglo-Saxon institutions have 
come many modern terms, such as earl, aider- 
man, sheriff, and town. The language spoken 
by them was largely the language of North 
Germany, called Plattdeutsch, or Low German. 
Later it was modified by the Danes, during the 
Danish supremacy from 1017 to 1042. Still 
later the Normans, a people of French- 
Germanic origin, conquered England and in¬ 
troduced a new element into the language, thus 
giving rise to a number of dialects. These mix¬ 
tures of tongues were modified largely by the 
writings of Chaucer in the 14th century, and 
by successive modifications the spoken tongue 
eventually developed into the modern English 
language. 

ANGOLA (an-go'la), or Portuguese West 
Africa, a Portuguese colony in Western Africa, 
in Lower Guinea, situated south of the Congo 
Free State, and north of German Southwest 
Africa. It includes an area of 490,000 square 
miles and has a population of 4,500,000. Along 
the Atlantic is a coast plain about fifty miles 
wide, and beyond that the surface rises rapidly 
and culminates in elevations about 7,000 feet 
high. The Coanza is the great water course 
of Angola. It rises in Lake Mossamba, is about 
700 miles long, and flows into the Atlantic 
Ocean. This stream is scenic and, besides other 
natural attractions, contains several gorges and 
a falls with a drop of seventy feet. The in¬ 
habitants include every shade of transition from 
the Negro to the Hamitic type, and every 
degree of culture from the absolute savage 
state to the almost semi-civilized condition 
common to Southwestern Africa. The products 
and exports consist largely of coffee, gum, wax, 
ivory, hides, tobacco, palm oil, and cereals. 
Saint Paul de Loanda is the principal city. It 
is a thriving seaport and the seat of the gov¬ 
ernment of the colony. Near it is the oldest 
Portuguese settlement south of the Equator. 
The city has a large export and import trade, 
and is provided with railway and other facilities. 
In 1918 the colony had about 1,200 miles of 
railways in operation, including a line that 
penetrates to the interior of Central Africa. 

ANGORA (an-go'ra), a species of goat na¬ 
tive to Angora, a division of the Turkish Em¬ 
pire, situated in the mountainous interior of 
Asia Minor. The goat is celebrated for its 
beautiful silky hair, which attains a length of 
about eight inches. This goat hair is used in 
the manufacture of yarn, known in the market 
as Turkish yarn or camel yarn. The skin 
of this animal is used in manufacturing oriental 
morocco leather. The climate seems to favor 
the growth of hair on dogs, rabbits, and other 
animals as well as on the goat. When these 
animals are transported, the vigorous growth 
of the hair soon disappears, or it loses much of 
its fineness. Angora goats are reared quite 


ANGOULEME 


104 


ANIMAL 


extensively in some parts of Canada and the 
United States. The town of Angora, situated 
about 220 miles southeast of Constantinople, 



ANGORA GOAT. 


is the capital of a vilayet of the same name. 
It has a large caravan trade and a population 
of 35,500. 

ANGOULEME (an-goo-lam'), a city in 
France, capital of the department of Charente, 
about sixty miles south of Poitiers. It is an 
ancient city, and in the old part the streets are 
crooked, but the newer section is platted regu¬ 
larly and has substantial buildings. It is the seat 
of a naval academy, a college, and a library of 
25,000 volumes. The cathedral of Saint Peter 
dates from 1101. Among the industries are pot¬ 
teries, paper mills, machine shops, and woolen 
mills. Its location on several railroad lines 
gives it commercial advantage. Population, 
1916, 37,507. 

ANGRA (an'gra), a seaport on the island 
of Terceira, one of the Azores, and capital of 
the Azore Islands, a colony of Portugal. It 
has a good harbor and is a station for ships 
between Portugal and the ports of South 
America. The place is strongly fortified, has 
a military college and arsenal, and is the seat 
of a Roman Catholic bishop. The trade is 
chiefly in honey, wine, flax, and fruit. Popula¬ 
tion, 11,500. 

ANGUILLA (an-gwfl'la), or Snake Island, 

an island of the Leeward group, in the British 
West Indies. The area is 34 square miles. It is 
low and has considerable forest, but some sec¬ 
tions are well grassed and furnish good pasture 
for stock raising. Salt is obtained from a lake 
in the center of the island. Maize, tobacco, 
sugar cane, and cotton are grown profitably. 
The inhabitants are mostly Negroes. Popula¬ 
tion, 3,950. 

ANGUS ( an'gus), Joseph, clergyman, born 
at Bolam, England, Jan. 16, 1816. He was or¬ 
dained as minister of the Baptist church after 
studying theology at Stepney College, and in 
1849 became president of the Baptist Regents’ 
Park College in London. He was one of the 
revisers of the English New Testament. His 
books include “Handbook of English Litera¬ 
ture,” “Bible Handbook,” and “Handbook of 
the English Tongue.” 


ANHALT (an'halt), a duchy in the central 
part of Germany, surrounded by the provinces 
of Saxony and Brandenburg, with an area of 
906 square miles. About 48 per cent, of the 
people engage in mining and manufacturing. 
The minerals include coal, granite, iron, and 
clays. Among the chief manufactures are 
sugar, soap, cement, leather, clothing, and 
chemicals. A large majority of the inhab¬ 
itants belong to the Protestant Church. Agri¬ 
culture is the principal occupation, in which 
industry a large diversity of products are ob¬ 
tained. The duchy has a network of railroads 
and is in a prosperous condition. The capital, 
Dessau, has a population of 55,134. Anhalt has 
been governed by the reigning family for sev¬ 
eral centuries, but its present autonomy dates 
from 1863. Population, 1920, 331,047. 

ANHYDRITE (an'hl'drite), a mineral com¬ 
posed of anhydrous sulphate of lime. It is 
harder and heavier than gypsum, takes a fine 
polish, and is used for sculpture. Large de¬ 
posits are found in Nova Scotia, at Lockport, 
N. Y., and in Lombardy, Italy. The Italian 
product is considered of the best grade. 

ANILINE (an'i-lm), one of the numerous 
products secured by the distillation of coal 
tar, but first obtained by distilling indigo with 
caustic potash. The article of commerce is 
secured largely from benzene. It is a color¬ 
less, oily liquid, but when exposed to air ab¬ 
sorbs oxygen and turns to a deep brown color. 
It has a vinous odor and a burning taste, and 
ignites readily. It is used to produce every 
shade and all tints of colors, and is employed 
in the industrial arts for numerous other pur¬ 
poses, besides its extensive use for dyeing ma¬ 
terials. Large quantities are employed in the 
manufacture of inks, for tinting pulps, and for 
the superficial staining of finished paper. Ani¬ 
line is also used for a large variety of purposes 
in manufacturing lithographic inks, perfumery, 
and fancy soaps. The discovery of aniline 
dates from 1826, but its larger manufacture 
for commercial purposes was introduced in 
1856 by Perkins of London, who discovered 
mauve aniline. 

ANIMAL ( an'i-mal), an organic being rising 
above the‘vegetable life, especially in possess¬ 
ing will, sensibility, and the power to move 
from place to place, although there are some 
animals that have not the power to move from 
the place occupied. While in general there is 
no difficulty in distinguishing an animal from 
a vegetable, yet some forms so closely resem¬ 
ble each other that it is difficult to say whether 
certain peculiar organisms belong to the vege¬ 
table or animal kingdom. All vegetable and 
animal life consists of various groupings of 
cells, in the form of jellylike matter called 
protoplasm. At its beginning all life consists 
of a minute cell, filled with more or less proto¬ 
plasm, in which is contained a darker opaque 
spot called the nucleus. Living bodies con* 




ANIMAL HEAT 


105 


ANIMAL INTELLIGENCE 


tain organs, and living matter is therefore 
called organic matter to distinguish it from 
nonliving or inorganic matter. Every kind of 
animal has peculiarities that adapt it to live 
best in some particular place and under partic¬ 
ular conditions. Those belonging to any one 
country are called its fauna. The faunae of 
regions having warm and moist climates are 
much more extensive than those common to 
the cold and arid zones, while the sea has a 
much greater diversity of animal life than the 
land. Most animals live in the light, but there 
are some forms that live in dark caves, and 
whose organs of sight are not fully developed. 

For convenience in study, Cuvier divided the 
animal kingdom into four great subdivisions; 
but others, among them Huxley, classified ani¬ 
mal life into a greater number of groups. The 
subdivisions made by Cuvier will answer the 
purpose of this article, and are the following: 
vertebrates, articulates, mollusks, and radiates; 
the last three are usually called invertebrates. 
Each of these divisions is again subdivided into 
classes; the classes are divided into orders, 
and the orders into families* Vertebrates 
are those animals that have an inside skele¬ 
ton, the backbone of which is called the 
vertebral or spinal column. To this subdivision 
belongs man, and it also includes the four- 
footed animals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, and 
fishes. Though the skeletons of these animal 
forms differ in many essentials, they are alike 
in having a backbone made up of numerous 
bones fitted together, each one of which is 
called a vertebra. Articulates include all ani¬ 
mals whose bodies are made up of rings joined 
together. They have no inside skeleton, but 
their outside shell answers a similar purpose, all 
the muscles being fastened to it. Mollusks are 
soft-bodied animals, most of which have shells 
that serve as a protection for the body. Radi¬ 
ates have a radiated or starlike formed body; 
they have no head, and many of them have not 
the power to move from the place where they 
grow, being fixed like plants to a common 
trunk. In former times many animals of this 
class were supposed to be plants on account of 
their resemblance to vegetables in some 
particulars, such as corals and sponges. 

Animals depend upon organic matter for 
food, which they derive from plants or from 
other animals. On the other hand, plants feed 
upon inorganic matter, and the food, with only 
a few exceptions, is in the gaseous or liquid 
state. Carbonic acid, which is generally poi¬ 
sonous to animals, is an essential constituent 
of the food of plants, while animals require 
free access to oxygen to sustain life. The food 
of animals is taken into the body to be digested 
and the nutritious parts are assimilated, but 
plants take food through their external sur¬ 
faces and assimilation is effected by the aid of 
sunlight. 

ANIMAL HEAT, in physiology, a term 


used to designate the heat produced in the in¬ 
terior of animal bodies, due to the nutritive 
changes taking place in the blood and the 
tissues. Living protoplasm being constantly at 
work disintegrating, the changes produced by 
it are accompanied by the evolution of heat. 
The temperature is dependent largely upon the 
degree of activity and the nature of liv¬ 
ing organisms. In general it varies from 
9G° to 100° Fahr., but sometimes falls as 
low as 90° and rises to 108°, though these ex¬ 
tremes are due to a diseased condition of the 
body. Cold-blooded animals and even plants 
evolve some heat, and thereby are rendered 
slightly warmer than the surrounding atmos¬ 
phere. Cold-blooded and warm-blooded ani¬ 
mals agree in the development of heat, but dif¬ 
fer in that the former possess greater means 
of losing heat by the skin and otherwise. In 
that class of animals the means of losing heat 
are considerable as compared to the amount of 
heat produced, while in the warm-blooded ani¬ 
mals the production and loss of heat are about 
equal. Some writers apply the term animal 
magnetism to certain phenomena connected with 
animal organisms, especially in relation to man, 
and attribute to persons an influence similar to 
that exercised by a magnet on iron. This prop¬ 
erty is generally known as mesmerism, hyp¬ 
notism, and clairvoyance. See Mesmerism. 

ANIMAL INTELLIGENCE, the capacity 
which some animals have to know or under¬ 
stand, which in many respects resembles some 
of the intellectual characteristics of man. Many 
animals possess in a more or less highly devel¬ 
oped form the senses of hearing, feeling, sight, 
smell, and touch, but in the lower forms some 
of these are not highly developed or are entire¬ 
ly wanting. Whether they possess the power 
to reason has been a subject for extended dis¬ 
cussion, and scientists have generally decided 
the proposition in the negative. Like John Bur¬ 
roughs, they assign the traits in animals that 
seem to indicate reasoning to animal instinct, or 
class it as simply physical. 

Insects and fishes possess a keen sense of 
smell, and it is thought that they depend to a 
large extent upon this sense in selecting their 
food. On the other hand, in birds and reptiles 
the sense of smell is not highly developed, 
though it is thought that the crow and other 
scavenger birds are attracted by carrion at a 
long distance. Birds are able to hear with re¬ 
markable accuracy, which is evident from the 
peculiar exactness with which some birds of 
song are able to reproduce notes uttered by 
other birds. Fishes are dull in respect to hear¬ 
ing, but the dog is keen both in hearing and 
smelling, as is seen from the ability with which 
pointers are able to locate game and blood¬ 
hounds trace footsteps. The sense of taste is 
not well developed in most animals, and they 
seem to prefer certain classes of food from the 
odor rather than from the taste, though there 


ANISE 


106 


ANNAPOLIS 


are notable exceptions. Birds possess a singular 
keenness of vision, which is evident from the 
fact that an eagle is able to distinguish a prey 
beyond the range of the human eye. The cat, 
the owl, and some other animals are peculiar 
for their ability to see more or l6ss in the 
dark, while the frogs and toads are able to dis¬ 
tinguish objects only at short range in daylight. 
Some peculiarities are found in the sense of 
touch among animals, especially in the loca¬ 
tion of the seat of greatest sensitiveness, which 
in the bat is in the wing and in the cat it is 
reached through the whiskers. The elephant 
and the alligator have a skin so thick that the 
sense of feeling is not easily excited through 
many portions of the surface. 

Some writers refer many acts of animals to 
their power to imitate human acts. This has 
reference to the tendency of a horse to turn 
into gates along the highway, which is especially 
noticeable in an old animal that has been driven 
until it has become tired. Cats and dogs wait 
outside during cold weather for the door of 
the house to open and in summer-time seek 
the cool shade, but they do so from habit and 
memory rather than the faculty of reasoning. 
The so-called educated hog and the trained 
horse frequently seen at exhibitions do not rea¬ 
son, but learn to act in conformity with the 
questions of the trainer. It is no more diffi¬ 
cult for the horse to select a particular color or 
object when requested to do so, than it is to 
follow the directions of gee and haw. Trixie, 
the famous trained horse that has been ex¬ 
hibited in Europe and America, is a marvel in 
this respect. Modern writers incline to the 
view that animals possess a high degree of af¬ 
fection and tenderness for their kind, especially 
the young, as is seen in the care given by some 
birds and the lion to their offspring. Ernest 
Thompson Seton, in his “Wild Animals I Have 
Known,” brings this trait out with unusual in¬ 
terest. 

ANISE (an'is), an annual plant native to 
Egypt and the Levant, and now cultivated in 
various parts of America and Europe. About 
seventy-five species have been described. The 
common anise is about two feet high, and the 
star anise, a native of China, is a small tree. 
The fruit is known as aniseed, which yields a 
volatile oil known as oil of anise. It is used 
in the manufacture of liquors, as an aromatic 
in medicine, and for carminative and flavoring 
purposes. 

ANJOU (an'joo), Rene, Duke of, second 
son of Duke Louis II., born at Angers, France, 
in 1408; died in Aix in 1480. He married Isa¬ 
bella, heiress of Lorraine, and in 1431 was made 
Duke of Lorraine. Soon after he became com¬ 
plicated in a war with the Count of Vandemont 
and was defeated and captured. His liberality 
won for him the name of Rene the Good. The 
former province of Anjou, now included mainly 
in the department of Maine-et-Loire, was an¬ 


nexed to the royal domain of France by Louis 
XI., in 1480. 

ANNA COMNENA (an'na kom-ne'a), By¬ 
zantine author, born Dec. 1, 1083; died about 
1148. She was a daughter of Alexis I., Em¬ 
peror of Constantinople, and was carefully edu¬ 
cated in poetry, science, and Greek philosophy. 
After the death of her father, in 1118, she con¬ 
spired to usurp the crown and place her hus¬ 
band, Nicephorus Briennius, on the throne in¬ 
stead of her brother John, but failed in the 
attempt. Subsequently she engaged in literary 
pursuits and wrote a work entitled “Alexiad,” 
which is a valuable historic production in fifteen 
volumes and covers the period of 1069-1118. 
She is mentioned by Sir Walter Scott in his 
“Count Robert of Paris.” 

ANNA IVANOVNA (l-va'nov-na), Em¬ 
press of Russia, born at Moscow, Jan 25, 1693; 
died Oct. 28, 1740. She was a daughter of Ivan, 
the elder brother of Peter the Great, and in 
1710 married the Duke of Courland. In 1730 
she succeeded Peter II. on the throne. Her 
power was limited at the beginning by the de¬ 
cree of a supreme council, but its limitations 
were broken and she ruled as an autocrat. 
Within the ten years of her reign fully 20,000 
persons were banished to Siberia. She was suc¬ 
ceeded by her grandnephew, Ivan VI., under the 
regency of Ernest John Biron, who had been 
the most influential statesman during her reign. 

ANNAM. See Anam. 

ANNAPOLIS (an-nap'6-lis), the capital of 
Maryland, county seat of Anne Arundel Coun¬ 
ty, twenty-eight miles southeast of Baltimore. 
It occupies a fine site on the Severn River, has 
a good harbor, and is on the Annapolis, Wash¬ 
ington and Baltimore and the Annapolis and 
Baltimore Short Line railroads. It has electric 
street railways and numerous public improve¬ 
ments, including waterworks, a sewerage sys¬ 
tem, and stone and brick pavements. Among 
the noteworthy buildings are the State capitol, 
the Governor’s mansion, the county courthouse, 
and several fine schools and churches. It is the 
seat of Saint John’s College and of the United 
States Naval Academy (q. v.). The manufac¬ 
tures include machinery, clothing, tobacco prod¬ 
ucts, and utensils. It has a considerable trade, 
is a port of entry, and has an important market 
for fruits and oysters. The city was founded 
in 1649 and received a charter in 1708. Con¬ 
gress held a session at Annapolis in 1783, at 
which Washington resigned as commander-in¬ 
chief. Population, 1900, 8,525; in 1920, 11,214. 

ANNAPOLIS, a seaport of Nova Scotia, 
100 miles west of Halifax. It is conveniently 
situated on the Annapolis River, near its en¬ 
trance into an inlet from the Bay of Fundy. 
The harbor is well protected, which, together 
with railway facilities, make it a convenient 
market for fish, fruit, and cereals. Formerly 
it was called Port Royal. It is the oldest 
European settlement in British America, and in 




ANN ARBOR 


107 


ANNUAL 


1604 it was made the capital of Arcadia. The 
English captured it in 1710, and soon after the 
name was changed to Annapolis in honor of 
Queen Anne. The seat of government was re¬ 
moved to Halifax in 1750. Population, 1921, 
1,019. 

ANN ARBOR (an ar'bor), a city of Michi¬ 
gan, county seat of Washtenaw County, on the 
Huron River, forty miles west of Detroit. It 
is on the Ann Arbor and the Michigan Central 
railroads, has substantially paved streets, elec¬ 
tric street railways, waterworks, and a number 
of parks and libraries. The leading manufac¬ 
tures are lumber products, musical instruments, 
ironware, tobacco products, clothing, and ma¬ 
chinery. It has a fine county courthouse and 
numerous public schools and churches, and is 
the seat of the University of Michigan. This 
institution was founded in 1837, and is one 
of the most liberally endowed and successful 
educational institutions of the United States. 
The first settlement was made at Ann Arbor in 
1824 and it was incorporated in 1851. Popula¬ 
tion, 1904, 14,509; in 1920, 19,516. 

ANNE (an). Queen of England, the last 
sovereign of the house of Stuart, born near 
London, Feb. 6, 1665; died, Aug. 1, 1714. She 

was the second daugh¬ 
ter of James II., then 
Duke of York. Her 
mother died when she 
was only seven years 
old, and with her fath¬ 
er’s permission she 
was educated accord¬ 
ing to the principles 
of the English church, 
to which she remain¬ 
ed attached all her 
life. She was married 
to Prince George, 
brother of the King 
queen anne. G f Denmark when 

she was twenty years of age. On March 8, 
1702, she became Queen of England, succeed¬ 
ing William, Mary having previously died with¬ 
out heirs. In her reign of about twelve years 
events of vast importance occurred, and her 
name became associated with a notable epoch 
in the history of English literature because of 
the many writers who lived in that period. 
' These include Dryden, Swift, Defoe, Addison, 
Pope, and the scientist Isaac Newton. Though 
deficient in mental vigor, she possessed con¬ 
siderable amiability. Queen Anne was the 
mother of seventeen children, all of whom died 
in infancy except one son, the Duke of Glou¬ 
cester, who died at the age of twelve years. 
While literature and science are not indebted 
to her for extensive encouragement, her reign 
covers a period in which her country made 

material progress in both. 

ANNEALING (an-nel'ing), the process by 
which glass, steel, iron, and other substances 


are heated and then cooled slowly to render 
them less brittle, or to increase their degree of 
ductility and malleability. When metals are 
given form in the process of manufacture, as 
in rolling them into plates or drawing them into 
wire, they become somewhat brittle and are 
made more serviceable by annealing. By this 
process also is diminished the elasticity of 
metals, as to impart to springs the precise meas¬ 
ure of elasticity deemed the most suitable. 

ANNE BOLEYN (bool'in), queen of Eng¬ 
land, one of the wives of Henry VIII., born 
about 1507; beheaded May 19, 1536. She was 
a daughter of Sir Thomas Boleyn, afterward 
Earl of Ormond and Wiltshire, and was se¬ 
lected to accompany Princess Mary to France 
in 1514 at the time of her marriage with Louis 
XII. In 1522 she was recalled to England and 
admitted to the household of Catharine of Ara¬ 
gon. Her beauty, wit, and accomplishments at¬ 
tracted Henry VIII., who declared his inten¬ 
tion to marry her in 1527, but, failing to obtain 
a divorce from Catharine, the marriage was 
postponed until in 1533. However, the cere¬ 
mony was performed before a divorce had been 
obtained and many legal complications resulted. 
She soon lost the favor of the king, who became 
attracted to Jane Seymour, her maid of honor, 
and was eventually imprisoned on a charge of 
infidelity and executed. Anne Boleyn was the 
mother of Queen Elizabeth. It is extremely 
questionable whether her death can be justified. 

ANNIHILATIONIST (an-ni-hi-la'shun- 
lst), the term applied to one who believes in the 
doctrine of man’s annihilation at death. This 
doctrine had its origin in England in the 18th 
century, when several prominent writers, in¬ 
cluding Archbishop Whately, wrote on subjects 
relating to eternal death, and from these writ¬ 
ings originated a widespread belief in literal de¬ 
struction. As now understood, annihilationism 
is a belief in the bodily and spiritual extinction 
of man’s being. 

ANNISTON (an'is-ton), a manufacturing 
city of Alabama, county seat of Calhoun Coun¬ 
ty, eighty-seven miles northeast of Birmingham. 
It is on the Louisville and Nashville, the South¬ 
ern, and other railroads, and in the vicinity 
are extensive iron mines. The manufactures 
include ironware, machinery, cotton goods, cloth¬ 
ing, and tobacco products. The city has elec¬ 
tric lights, pavements,' waterworks, and other 
municipal improvements. It has a number of 
fine public school buildings, about twenty-five 
churches, and several well-selected libraries. It 
is the seat of the Noble Institute, the Anniston 
College for Young Ladies, and the Barber Me¬ 
morial Seminary (for colored students). The 
city was founded in 1873 by the Woolstock Iron 
Company, under the management of Samuel 
Noble. Population, 1900, 9,695; in 1920, 17,734. 

ANNUAL (an'u-al), in botany, a plant whose 
whole course of development is completed in 
one season, during which it germinates, flowers, 



ANNUITY 


108 


ANT 


perfects its seeds, and perishes, never again to 
grow from the same roots. Some grains are 
the products of annuals, such as oats and corn. 
The cockscomb, phlox, and marigold are ex¬ 
amples of garden flowers belonging to the 
annuals. Some hardy annuals, like the morn¬ 
ing-glory, may be sown in autumn to germi¬ 
nate in the spring. 

ANNUITY (an-nu'i-ty), a fixed sum of 
money paid annually, or at intervals, either for 
a definite term of years or the continuation of 
a given life, or a combination of lives. The 
term is used largely by insurance companies, 
who stipulate the payment of definite amounts. 
The theory is an application of algebra to the 
fundamental idea of compound interest. Ac¬ 
cording to this idea, any sum of money invested 
at interest is increased at the end of interest- 
payment periods by the addition of accrued 
interest. The first addition is at the end of the 
first payment period. At the end of the second 
payment period a second addition of inter¬ 
est is added to the sum, and thus additions 
are made in the same way by interest accruing 
from time to time until a definite amount has 
been reached. Life annuities are based on a 
knowledge of the rate of mortality among 
mankind, or among the particular class of per¬ 
sons upon whose life the annuity depends. An¬ 
nuities are the reverse of life insurance. An 
annuitant is paid to live, while an insured, 
through his representative, is paid to die. 

ANNUNZIO (dan-ndbn'dze-o), Gabriele d’, 
novelist and poet, born at Pescara, Italy, in 
1864. He studied at Prato and in 1879 published 
his first volume of lyric poems. These poems 
became popular and were widely read. His 
style of writing resembles somewhat the Rus¬ 
sian, especially that of Tolstoy, and many of his 
works have been translated into the leading 
European languages. It may be said that he is 
one of the most influential Italian writers of 
the 20th century, and his publications have had 
a marked influence both at home and abroad. 
Among his books are “In Memoriam,” “The 
Child of Pleasure,” “The Intruder,” “The Tri¬ 
umph of Death,” “Virgins of the Rocks,” and 
“The Flame of Life.” 

ANODE (an'od), in electricity, the positive 
pole of an electric current, or that surface by 
which the current enters the body (electrolyte), 
undergoing decomposition. The negative pole, 
by which the current leaves the electrolyte, is 
called the cathode. 

ANSELM (an'selm), Archbishop of Can¬ 
terbury, born near Aosta, Italy, in 1033; died 
in Canterbury, England, April 21, 1109. His 
family was counted among the nobles of Italy 
and possessed considerable wealth. At the age 
of fifteen he devoted himself to the service of 
God by entering a convent. In 1090 he traveled 
to Burgundy and France, and finally settled at 
the monastery of Bee. Subsequently he was in¬ 
vited to England, where he was consecrated 


Archbishop of Canterbury in 1093. He is the 
author of several treatises on church discipline 
and doctrine. The Roman Catholic Church ob¬ 
serves the day of his death. 

ANSONIA (an-so'ni-a), a city of Connec¬ 
ticut, in New Haven County, on the Naugatuck 
River. It is on the New York, New Haven 
and Hartford Railroad, has a considerable trade 
in merchandise, and is important as a manufac¬ 
turing center. The products include carriages, 
clocks, iron and brass wares, machinery, elec¬ 
trical appliances, and textiles. It has a fine sys¬ 
tem of public schools, numerous churches, and 
a public library. Among the chief buildings are 
the opera house and the Y. M. C. A. building. 
The municipal improvements include electric 
street railways, waterworks, electric lights, and 
a sewer system. The first settlement was made 
on the site of Ansonia in 1840 and it was char¬ 
tered in 1893. Population, 1920, 17,643. 

ANT (ant), an insect belonging to the order 
of membranous-winged insects, of which there 
are several hundred species in different regions 
of the earth. They live in colonies or families, 


MALE. FEMALE. WORKER. 

sometimes many thousands in number, and are 
divided into three classes, females, males, and 
workers. The females and males have wings, 
but the workers, or neuters, are wingless. As 
to size, the females are the largest, the males 
are slightly smaller than the females, and the 
workers are the smallest. The ordinary work 
is done by the workers and the principal part 
in warfare, both defensive and offensive, is 
taken by the soldiers, which are made up of the 
workers. The males and females constitute but 
a small portion of each community. After the 
pairing season, the males wander away and soon 
die. The females lay little eggs, so small that 
they can hardly be seen by the naked eye, and 
the eggs are scattered about in the nest 
wherever the females happen to be at the time 
the eggs are deposited. They are taken by the 
workers and put in the sun in the morning, and 
at night are stored in the nest until they are 
hatched. The larvae or grubs, hatched from the 
eggs, are small, white worms, and are carried 
back and forth in the same way as the eggs by 
the workers, who nourish them with a liquid 
from the stomach until they reach the proper 
age to spin their own webs around themselves, 
which cover them like the cocoon of a silkworm. 
The cocoons are carried into the sunlight the 
same as the eggs and grubs were, and, when 
ripe, for their second birth, the workers cut 
them out of their inclosed cells and they soon 
become perfect ants. 





ANT 


ANTANANARIVO 


109 


The workers are the most intelligent and 
interesting of the three classes of ants. They 
not only take care of the eggs, grubs, and co¬ 
coons, but do the work of the society, which in¬ 
cludes the building of houses and streets and 
keeping them in repair. In their work they 
show wonderful ingenuity in carpentry, ma¬ 
sonry and mining. Most ants build their 
houses or nests in the ground, and many con¬ 
struct cones or hills over them, which are 
known as ant-hills. In them are many rooms, 
with galleries connecting the different apart¬ 
ments. Others construct large pillars, from 
which arches are extended, and are covered 
with loose straw and sticks. In tropical regions 
the ant-hills are frequently from twelve to 
eighteen feet high. A class of ants, known as 
mining ants, construct long galleries in clay, in 
which pillars support the roof and many rooms 
and stories are provided. Carpenter ants build 
their houses in growing trees by boring deep 
cells into the wood and constructing rooms and 
galleries by unique partitions. In Australasia 
several species of ants are found that build 
their houses of leaves fastened together with a 
kind of glue. Oftentimes several ants unite to 
carry particles for the construction of their 
houses, and in this way they are able to move 
material much larger and heavier than the ag¬ 
gregate of the ants employed in construction 
work. 

The chief substance used by ants for food 
is sugar taken from vegetables. Their sense of 
smell seems to be so acute that they can easily 
locate sugar substances in plants. Honeydew 
is a sugar fluid found in the aphis, a small in¬ 
sect, and is a favorite food of many kinds of 
ants. To obtain it they are often seen to touch 
the aphis with their antennae, and, after a drop 
has been obtained, they pass on to another aphis. 
The process has been likened to the milking of 
a cow or camel. Ants that feed upon animal 
food render important service in that they clear 
away carrion. The flesh of a small animal 
buried for a short time in an ant-hill will be en¬ 
tirely consumed, only the skeleton remaining. In 
tropical countries ants prey upon living animals 
and sometimes kill birds, reptiles, and small 
quadrupeds by attacking them in vast swarms. 
In some regions ants are so numerous that 
communities of them have been known to attack 
domestic animals when sick, and there are a 
number of instances in which man himself 
dreaded their ravages. On the island of Gre¬ 
nada, about one hundred years ago, vast num¬ 
bers of a particular kind of ants appeared. They 
descended from the hills like torrents and filled 
every path and road for miles, preying upon 
rats, mice, and reptiles, and were stopped in 
their onward progress only by streams of water. 
Every means to destroy them was unsuccessful 
until in 1780, when a hurricane exposed them 
to a deluge of rain and freed the island of them. 

Some ants carry on war against other species 


and take their young into slavery. The fighting 
ants are red, and are generally regarded too 
stupid to take care of themselves, and would die 
from starvation if they did not have in captivity 
others to provide for them. However, ants 
have many enemies, being consumed in large 
numbers as food by birds, while some quadru- 



ANT-HILL. 


peds, as the aard-vark and the ant-eater, dig 
into their habitations and consume great num¬ 
bers of them. Termites, or white ants, belong 
to a different order from the common ants, but 
are like them in their habits. They live in the 
tropics, in vast communities, and are regarded 
a very dangerous pest. In Africa they are 
found extensively, where several species burrow 
in wood or excavate dwellings underground, 
and some build mounds above the surface of 
the plain. These are very productive, a single 
female often laying over 80,000 eggs. They live 
mainly on dry and decaying woods. The na¬ 
tives use them as an article of food, for which 
purpose they are pressed or pounded into a jam, 
which they regard a delicacy. 

The intelligence of ants is recognized as a 
remarkable circumstance of nature. They are 
sensitive to changes in temperature and moist¬ 
ure, and exceed the human range of ability to 
observe sound waves. They remove the dead 
promptly, care for the injured, and observe 
cleanliness in caring for the young. Naturalists 
assert that ants communicate with each other 
and are able to recognize each individual of a 
community. 

ANTAEUS (an-te'us), in mythology, a giant 
of Libya, son of Neptune and Terra. He was 
mighty in combat and remained invincible as 
long as his feet touched the earth. Many mor¬ 
tals of great physical strength and skill went to 
Libya to engage him in combat, but he van¬ 
quished large numbers, and a temple was built 
to his father, Neptune, with the skulls of the 
vanquished. He was finally conquered by Her¬ 
cules, who lifted and strangled him while sus¬ 
pended in the air. 

ANTANANARIVO (an-ta-na-na-re'vo), or 
Tananarivo, the capital and chief city of Mada¬ 
gascar, situated near the center of the island, 

















ANTARCTIC 


110 


ANTELOPE 


165 miles southwest of Tamatave. It is in a 
mountainous region with an elevation of 4,500 
feet above the sea. The streets are irregular 
and crooked, most of the buildings are of wood, 
and the inhabitants are chiefly natives, includ¬ 
ing only about 200 French. Its commerce is not 
important, but it has manufactures of jewelry, 
silk stuff, clothing, and utensils. An improved 
highway extends to Tamatave, but the transpor¬ 
tation facilities are inadequate. Population, 
1920, 65,840. 

ANTARCTIC (ant-ark'tik), meaning oppo¬ 
site to the Arctic, and relating to the region 
surrounding the South Pole. The Antarctic 
Circle, a circle imagined drawn parallel to the 
equator, forms a small circle around the earth 
at a distance of 23° 28' from the South Pole. 
The Antarctic Ocean is that portion of the sea 
which surrounds the South Pole, and lies im¬ 
mediately south of the Atlantic, Pacific, and 
Indian oceans. It has been explored by naviga¬ 
tors, and is known more or less satisfactorily as 
far as 75° south latitude. Roald Amundsen 
(born in 1872) in 1912 discovered the 
South Pole, which lies in a region 10,200 feet 
above sea level. Owing to great dan¬ 
gers and difficulties in southern navigation, 
only a small portion of the Antarctic region is 
definitely known. The land masses of this 
region of the earth include Graham-s Land, En- 
derby Land, and Victoria Land. A part of 
these land areas are accessible, and the sea in 
their proximity has yielded valuable returns 
through the seal and whale fisheries. However, 
they contain cliffs of perpetual ice and their val¬ 
leys are covered with everlasting snow. A large 
part of the Antarctic Ocean is clouded with 
constant fogs. Baffling currents and numerous 
icebergs, together with extreme cold, make 
navigation difficult. The Antarctic Ocean is 
richer in life, especially deep-sea fauna, than the 
other oceans. On the coast of Victoria Land is 
Mount Erebus, a volcano 12,400 feet above the 
level of the sea. 

ANT-EATER (ant et'er), the popular name 
of a quadruped mammal native to South Amer- 



GREAT ANT-EATER. 


ica, and belonging to the order Edentata. The 
mouth is perfectly toothless, and the food con¬ 
sists of' insects, chiefly ants. It has small eyes, 


short and rounded ears, and powerful claws. 
The tongue is long and wormlike and coated 
with a sticky saliva, and is thrust out to catch 
the food. Though large and powerful, the ant- 
eaters are very stupid and inoffensive, and are 
an easy prey to animals weaker than themselves. 
The average length of the body is about four 
feet, not including the bushy tail, which is nearly 
as long as the body. The aard-vark, a species 
of ant-eater, is native to South Africa. It lives 
chiefly on the termites, whose nests it tears 
down in search of food. Other animals classed 
with this group include the manid, or scaly ant- 
eater, and the echidna, or porcupine ant-eater, 
of Australia. 

ANTECEDENT (an-te-sed'ent), a term 
used to express precedent in point of time. The 
term antecedent is applied in grammar to a 
word going before a relative pronoun, or a sub¬ 
stantive to which the pronoun relates. In logic 
the antecedent is that part of a constitutional 
proposition upon which the other depends, and in 
mathematics it implies that quantity which is con¬ 
sidered first in making comparison with another 
number. 

ANTELOPE (an'te-lop), a genus of rumi¬ 
nating mammals quite similar to the deer. The 



horns are hollow and encircled by rings at the 
base, but are not renewed annually. They are 
swift of foot, have large lustrous eyes, and 
when fleeing before a foe take enormous leaps. 
The smallest species are found in South Africa, 
such as the guevi, or bluebuck, which is about 
thirteen inches in height, while the largest 
species are from five to seven feet. Two repre¬ 
sentatives of the antelope family are native to 
North America, and allied species are found in 
Eurasia, particularly in India. The American 
antelopes include the prongbuck and the moun¬ 
tain goat. The latter possesses a coat of long 




ANTENNAE 


111 


ANTHROPOMETRY 


woolly hair, and in form is closely allied to the 
chamois of Europe. The eland and gazelle are 
species native to Africa, the latter being con¬ 
fined largely to the northern part of that grand 
division. A species of Northeastern Africa, 
the addax, has spirally twisted horns about 
four feet long. Most species are so fleet of 
foot that greyhounds cannot catch them, and are 
capable of leaping a height of from eight to 
twelve feet, while the length of their bounds 
is fully as great. The flesh is highly prized as 
food, for which they are hunted, and the skin 
is valuable in making gloves and other wearing 
apparel. 

ANTENNAE (an-ten'ne), the organs of 
insects located nearly in the same position as 
horns in some of the animals, and composed 
chiefly of minute articulate rings. They are 
two in number and are found in nearly all in¬ 
sects, only a very few excepted. In moths the 
antennae look like feathers, and those of but- . 
terflies have little knobs at the tip. Similar 
appendages are common to the lobster and 
other crustaceous animals. They serve the 
purpose of organs of touch and probably of 
hearing. With them the animal is enabled to 
feel its way and test surrounding objects. In 
some animals the antennae possess organs of 
taste, sound, and smell, and it is known that 
at least several species of the lobster are capa¬ 
ble of hearing by organs located at the extreme 
end. Deprived of this organ, this class of ani¬ 
mals becomes largely inactive, while the ant 
becomes helpless. 

ANTHER (an'ther), a part of the stamen 
of a flower, and generally attached to the apex 
of the filament. It is the male organ of the 
flower, and usually contains two cells, which 
are filled with the pollen. At shedding time 
the pollen escapes through a longitudinal fis¬ 
sure, which generally extends from the base 
to the apex. In some flowers the anther is a 
direct continuation of the filament, when it is 
said to be innate; in others it grows to the 
side or face of the filament, when it is desig¬ 
nated adnate; and it is versatile when it is 
attached to the middle of the anther. 

ANTHONY (an-to'm), Henry Bowen, 
journalist and legislator, born in Coventry, 
R. I., April 1, 1815; died Sept. 2, 1884. He 
attended Brown University and engaged in 
journalism. In 1849 he was elected Governor 
of Rhode Island on the Whig ticket and was 
reelected in 1850, and served as a Republican 
member of the United States Senate from 
1859 until his death. He was three times 
elected president pro tern of the Senate, and 
was popular as a member of numerous com¬ 
mittees. 

ANTHONY (an'td-m), Susan Brownell, 

born in South Adams, Mass., Feb. 15, 1820; 
died March 13, 1906. She was educated at a 
Friends’ boarding school in Philadelphia, and 
taught in New York for fifteen years. As a 



SUSAN B. ANTHONY. 


school teacher she was efficient and progressive, 
and in addition to her pedagogical work she 
developed influence as a contributor on literary 
and social topics to several magazines. Devoted 
as a teacher and 
earnest as' an advo¬ 
cate of educational 
progress, she made 
for herself a wide 
circle of friends. In 
1847 she began lec¬ 
turing on temperance, 
and became a promi¬ 
nent agitator for the 
abolition of slavery. 

She was instrumental 
in obtaining laws 
allowing women the 
right to speak, vote, and serve officially in edu¬ 
cational matters. In 1867 she canvassed the 
State of Kansas for the cause of female suf¬ 
frage, which proposition received about 9,000 
votes in an election. In 1872 she cast ballots at 
the State and Congressional election for the 
purpose of testing the 14th and 15th amend¬ 
ments to the United States Constitution. For 
this she was fined $100 on a charge of illegal 
voting, but she refused to pay the penalty and it 
was never collected. With others she wrote 
“History of Woman Suffrage,” and in 1892 
Governor Flower appointed her to an official 
position in the State Industrial School, Roch¬ 
ester, N. Y. An able orator and proficient 
writer, she wielded marked influence with voice 
and pen. 

ANTHRACITE (an'thra-sit), a variety of 
coal differing from the common, or bitumin¬ 
ous, in that it contains a larger proportion of 
carbon. It is distinguished by its compactness, 
bright luster, and high specific gravity. Though 
difficult to ignite, it is smokeless and gives an 
intense heat. The bituminous coal contains 
about eighty per cent, of carbon, while the an¬ 
thracite possesses from ninety to ninety-five 
per cent. It is most abundant in the Alleghany 
Mountains and in the province of Shansi, 
China, but is found in considerable quantities 
in Wyoming, New Mexico, British Columbia, 
France, and Russia. Anthracite coal, next to 
diamond, is the purest form of carbon. 

ANTHROPOLOGY (an-thro-pol'o-gy), the 
science devoted to the study of man and man¬ 
kind. It is the newest of the sciences and may 
be said to embrace the three departments of 
somapology, psychology, and ethnology. Som- 
apology, or the biology of man, places man¬ 
kind in the zoological system and treats man 
as an animal, while phychology is the science 
of the human soul and embraces comparative 
psychology, which investigates the mind of the 
lower animals. Biology is a study of man in 
relation to the arts of life. See Biology, Eth¬ 
nology, etc. 

ANTHROPOMETRY (an-thro-pom'e-try), 


ANTICHRIST 


112 


ANTIGO 


the measurement of the height and other di¬ 
mensions of the human body, especially at 
different ages and under the influence of vari¬ 
ous habits and occupations, to aid in classi¬ 
fication as to physical and mental characteris¬ 
tics. This subject has received growing at¬ 
tention in recent years, especially from the 
standpoint of education, medical treatment, 
physical culture, and in criminology. Since no 
two individuals are alike in all dimensions and 
are influenced variously by their environments, 
it has been found profitable to employ meas¬ 
urements when considering the treatment of 
individuals at different ages and for a variety 
of causes. Craniometry is a system of meas¬ 
urements of the skull, and some schools re¬ 
gard it the most important part of anthropol¬ 
ogy, while others do not look upon it as being 
of over-shadowing importance and think it 
expresses only trifling variations in individ¬ 
uals. The measurements regarded of primary 
importance in anthropometry are those taken 
while the body is at rest. They include facial 
angle (q. v.), position and size of ears, shape 
of head, position and attitude of eyes, size and 
form of nose, length of fingers, size of feet, 
length of thigh and forearm, circumference of 
waist and shoulders, length of limbs, sitting 
height, expansion and circumference of chest, 
stature, weight, age, etc. Considerable im¬ 
portance is attached to the color of the eyes 
and hair, beard and body hair, form and color 
of the mucous membrane and nails, and the 
peculiarities of features and movement of the 
visible organs. The habits of individuals are 
studied, especially in regard to the food eaten, 
clothing worn, and the character and amount 
of work done and rest taken. Some attach 
considerable prominence to the dynamic aspect 
of anthropology, and in consequence substitute ' 
largely the measurement of functions, such as 
the rate of pulsation and respiration. 

ANTICHRIST (an'ti-christ), a name em¬ 
ployed by Christian writers to designate a 
supposed powerful institution destined to stand 
in opposition to Christianity. It is referred 
to in I. John ii, 18-22; iv, 1-3, but the idea 
seems to have originated before the Christian 
era, at least some writers quote in favor of 
this view the prophecy of Ezekiel concerning 
Gog and Magog. A number of Protestant 
writers, both before and since the Protestant 
Reformation, have referred to the pope or the 
papacy as the antichrist, while both Protestant 
and Catholic writers have referred to Nero,. 
Diocletian, and other emperors who persecuted 
Christians as the antichrist. 

ANTICOSTI (an-ti-cos'ti), an island in the 
Gulf of Saint Lawrence, belonging to the 
Province of Quebec, near the mouth of the 
Saint Lawrence River. It is 40 miles wide and 
135 miles long, and has an area of 2,500 square 
miles. Fox Bay, in the northwest, and Ellis 
Bay, to the west, are the larger indentations 


and have good harbors. Much of the interior 
is wooded, though a considerable part fur¬ 
nishes pasture. In the northern section are 
mountains, and numerous swamps and rocky 
districts prevail. Cod, trout, salmon, and her¬ 
ring fisheries abound near the coast, hew set¬ 
tlements have been made, owing to the severe 
climate, and the population at present does not 
exceed 250. 

ANTIDOTE (an'ti-dote), a medicine em¬ 
ployed to neutralize the effect of a poison. The 
antidotes are classed as chemical and physio¬ 
logical. The chemical antidotes neutralize the 
poison by converting it into an insoluble or 
harmless substance, while the physiological an¬ 
tidotes produce action within the body, by 
which it is enabled to resist the injurious ef¬ 
fects of the poison. Acids and alkalis act upon 
each other as chemical antidotes, while mor¬ 
phine and atropine have opposite actions upon 
the body. Both opium and belladonna are poi¬ 
sonous, but act as antidotes to each other. Am¬ 
monia and alcohol are given in certain snake 
poisons, acting as physiological antidotes. See 
Poison. 

ANTIETAM (an-te'tam), a small stream 
of the United States, rises in Pennsylvania, 
thence flows into Maryland, and joins the Po¬ 
tomac about fifty miles from Washington. It 
is noted as the scene of an indecisive battle 
fought Sept. 17, 1862, between the Union 
army numbering 57,640 men under General 
McClellan, and the Confederates with 38,000 
men under General Lee. The battle continued 
with great slaughter the entire day. The 
Union loss aggregated over 11,000 and the Con¬ 
federates lost 10,000 men. Lee’s army retreated 
on the 18th, recrossing the Potomac soon after. 
While the result was indecisive, it tended to 
give great encouragement to the Union cause, 
and, on the strength of this battle, President 
Lincoln issued the Emanicipation Proclamation 
abolishing slavery 

ANTI-FEDERALISTS (an'ti-fed'er-al-ist), 
a political party in the United States, organized 
in opposition to the Federal party. Thomas 
Jefferson was the principal leader, and it stood 
in favor of strict construction of the Constitu¬ 
tion as against the centralizing tendencies in 
the administration of government. However, 
the ground originally occupied was at least in 
part abandoned after the election of Jefferson 
in 1800, since he favored the purchase of 
Louisiana and other measures possible only 
under a liberal construction. The name was 
changed to Republican in 1793, and soon after 
the organization became known as the Demo¬ 
crat party. 

ANTIGO (an'ti-go), a city of Wisconsin, 
county seat of Langlade County, about seventy- 
five miles west of Menominee, on the Chicago 
and Northwestern Railroad. It has a fine 
public school system, and is provided with 
modern municipal facilities, such as waterworks 


ANTIGONE 


113 


ANTIPODES 


and electric lights. The manufactures include 
furniture, flour, lumber products, broom 
handles, clothing, and machinery. It has a 
large trade in cereals, merchandise, and live 
stock. The first settlement was made in 1878 
and it was incorporated in 1884. Population, 
1905, 6,663; in 1920, 8,151. 

ANTIGONE (an-tTg'6-ne), a tragic char¬ 
acter in Greek legend, the daughter of Oedi¬ 
pus, and known for the faithfulness with which 
she attended her father after resigning his 
throne in Thebes. The story is told that he 
put his eyes out when told that the mother 
of his children was also his own mother, but 
Antigone attended him till his death. She is 
known for the burial of her brother, Polynices, 
in defiance of a decree of Creon that he should 
not be buried, for which she was sentenced to 
be buried alive in a vault. Sophocles made 
her the heroine of his “Oedipus at Colonus.” 

ANTIGUA (an-te'gwa), one of the Leeward 
Islands, twenty-two miles south of Barbuda. 
It belongs to the British West Indian Islands 
and has an area of 108 square miles. The 
coast is indented with .small inlets, the sur- 
face is rugged, the soil fertile, and the climate 
favorable to the cultivation of sugar cane and 
fruit. Barbuda and Redonda are depend¬ 
encies of Antigua and for government purposes 
are united to form one of the five presidencies 
of the Leeward Islands. Columbus discovered 
Antigua in 1493 and it was settled by the Eng¬ 
lish in 1632. Saint John, the capital, has a 
population of 10,000. English Harbor is the 
best port. Population, 1916, 34,970. 

ANTILLES ( an-tfl'lez), the name applied 
to the whole of the West Indies, except the 
Bahamas. They stretch eastward from the Gulf 
of Mexico and form a half circle. They are 
divided naturally into two sections : the Greater 
Antilles, lying to the north and west, and the 
Lesser, to the east and south. The Antilles in¬ 
clude about 360 islands, all of which are more 
or less fertile, have a tropical climate, and are 
frequently visited by hurricanes. The chief 
products are rice, tobacco, corn, cotton, sugar, 
rum, coffee, vegetables, and tropical fruits. 
The Greater Antilles include Cuba, Jamaica, 
Porto Rico, and Hayti, and the Lesser Antilles 
embrace nearly all the remainder of the islands. 
The area of the entire islands aggregates about 
94,398 square miles. See Cuba, Porto Rico, 
Jamaica, etc. 

ANTIMONY (an'ti-mo-ny), a metal of a 
bluish-white or silver color, and commonly 
found in nature alloyed with other metals. 
Large veins producing antimony occur in Cali¬ 
fornia, Sweden, Chile, Mexico, Australia, 
Borneo, and many other countries. It is brittle 
and is easily reduced to a powder. It is hard¬ 
ened by alloying with other metals. On ac¬ 
count of not tarnishing or rusting, it is valuable 
as an alloy in making type metal. It is used 
extensively as a medicine and in the arts, 

8 


especially for coloring and in the manufacture 
of lead pencils. A variety known as yellow 
antimony is well suited for painting porcelain 
and for enameling. 

ANTINOUS (an-tin'o-us), a beautiful 
youth of Bithynia, employed as a page to Em¬ 
peror Hadrian, whom he accompanied in all 
his travels. He was mysteriously drowned in 
the Nile in 132 a. d., and was greatly mourned 
by the Emperor. His memory was perpetuated 
in statues, busts, and reliefs, several of which 
are still in Rome. He was enrolled among the 
deities, and temples were built to his memory 
in Egypt and many parts of the Roman world. 

ANTIOCH (an'ti-ok), an ancient city of 
Syria, on the Orontes River, founded by 
Seleucus Nicator in 300 b. c., and long cel¬ 
ebrated as one of the finest cities of the East. 
It was one of sixteen cities of this name built 
in memory of Antiochus, father of the founder, 
who was one of the generals of Philip of 
Macedon. The people were noted for intel¬ 
ligence, wealth, and luxury, and it had a large 
commercial trade by caravans. In this city the 
name Christian was first applied to the disciples 
of Christ. Much human life and many of the 
chief buildings were destroyed by earthquakes 
in 526 and 587 a. d. In the ruins were found 
the remains of 250,000 people who had been 
killed by the great upheavals. It was con¬ 
quered alternately by the Saracens and the 
Crusaders, and was razed to the ground by the 
Mamalukes in 1269. Since 1516 it has been a 
possession of the Turks. The ancients spoke 
of it as “Antioch the Beautiful.” Its site is 
now occupied by Antakieh, or Antakiyeh, a 
market and residence town. Population, 
27,500. 

ANTIOCHUS (an-ti'o-kus), the name of 
several kings of Syria who reigned from 280 
to 64 b. c. They are noted for the conquest of 
India and other regions of Asia. Antiochus 
III. was the greatest of these kings. He 
reigned from 223 until 187 b. c., and in 212 
defeated Xerxes of Armenia in a great battle 
at Arsamosata. 

ANTIOQUIA (an-te-6'ke-a), a city of Co¬ 
lombia, in the state of Antioquia, on the Cauca 
River. It is situated on an elevation 1,890 
feet above the sea. The surrounding country 
contains productive mining and lumbering in¬ 
terests. It has considerable trade in maize, 
sugar, and tobacco. Population, 9,150. 

ANTIPODES (an-tip'6-dez), a word of 
Greek derivation, used to denote peoples or 
places on opposite sides of the earth, so situ¬ 
ated that a line drawn from one to the other 
would pass through the center of the earth 
and form a true diameter. Thus the south 
pole is exactly antipodal to the north pole, 
noon at one place is midnight at the other, 
the longest day corresponds to the shortest, 
and the midsummer to midwinter. A voy¬ 
ager sailing east anticipates the sun and his 


ANTIPODES ISLAND 


114 


ANT-LION 


dating at the opposite side will be twelve 
hours in advance, while one sailing westward 
will fall as much in arrear. At the point of 
meeting there will be a whole day, twenty- 
four hours, difference between them. This has 
been at least twice exemplified; the Russians 
sailing from the west to the northwest coast 
of North America were a day in advance of 
the British who sailed from the east; while 
the Spaniards coming from the east of the 
Philippines were a day behind the Portuguese 
in Macao, who came from the west. 

ANTIPODES ISLAND, a small island 
southeast of New Zealand. It has an area 
of eleven square miles and is uninhabited. It 
was so named because it is nearly the antipode 
of Greenwich. 

ANTIPOPE (an'ti-pop), a term applied to 
those persons who claimed an election to the 
Papacy by the suffrage of the cardinals, or 
otherwise, but whose claims were for some 
reasons not deemed valid by the church. Nova- 
tian, the first antipope and founder of the sect 
of Novatians, procured his election in 252 in op¬ 
position to Cornelius. According to some 
writers there were fourteen antipopes, but the 
number usually given is thirty-one, the appar¬ 
ent difference being due to the fact that a 
number of writers do not recognize the claims 
of all who are usually credited with some 
degree of right to recognition. The antipopes 
were elected by religious factions or set up by 
political parties. Felix V., the last antipope, 
was a Duke of Savoy and made claim to the 
See in 1431. See Pope. 

ANTIQUARIES ( an'ti-kwa-res), Society 
of, the name of an association established by 
learned men of America and Europe, whose 
object is the study of antiquity. Beginning 
with the Revival of Learning, much interest 
was aroused in a study of classical productions 
of Greece and Rome. Accordingly every ob¬ 
tainable relic was secured and preserved. 
Organizations for the study of this branch of 
learning were not generally established in 
Western Europe until about 1572. The present 
Antiquarian Society of London consists of a 
council of twenty-one and one hundred fellows. 
This society and several others of Europe and 
America have published some valuable works 
and have added largely to the literature treating 
of antiquities. 

ANTISEPTICS (an-ti-sep'tiks), the sub¬ 
stances that prevent or retard putrefaction of 
animal and vegetable matter. It has been 
demonstrated that putrefaction in fermentation 
generally depends upon the presence of 
miscroscopic vegetable organisms. Hence, to 
prevent it, an agent is necessary that will 
destroy these microorganisms, or exclude them 
entirely. Among the substances used are salt, 
alcohol, creosote, tannic acid, arsenic, aloes, 
camphor, benzene, chloroform, and many 
others. Salting is a common way of preserving 


herring, fish, and meats, or perishable com¬ 
modities of this kind may be packed in ice 
as a means of keeping the temperature too 
low to permit decay. Besides their use in the 
preservation of foods, many forms of antisep¬ 
tics are used in the treatment of wounds and 
in the prevention of infectious diseases, as 
carbolic acid and formaldehyde. The prop¬ 
erties of infectious matter commonly found in 
contagious diseases appear closely analogous to 
organisms that lead to putrefaction in fer¬ 
mentation. These can be rendered inert by 
exposure to a high temperature, or by the use 
of antiseptics, such as an application of 
chloride of zinc, carbolic acid, or other equally 
efficient agents. By a liberal application of 
these substances to the bedroom or house con¬ 
taining germs of contagious diseases, the infec¬ 
tion may be destroyed and prevented from 
spreading. Besides, antiseptics are used in sur¬ 
gery for the treatment of wounds, with the view 
of preventing harmful organisms from develop¬ 
ing. This is done largely by allowing air tc 
reach the wounds only through substances 
capable of destroying the germs in the atmos¬ 
phere, upon whose presence the generation of 
suppuration depends. The general term disin¬ 
fectant is applied to any agent that destroys 
microorganisms, and at the same time removes 
the harmful products of fermentation and 
putrefaction. 

ANTITOXIN (an-ti-toks'm), the name of 
a preparation of value in treating diphtheria, 
cholera, bubonic plague, and other diseases 
due to the development of bacteria in the blood. 
Diphtheria antitoxin is prepared by injecting 
diphtheria poison under the skin of some 
animal, usually a horse, the quantity being 
sufficient to give rise to a slight illness in a 
few days. The injection is repeated as soon 
as the animal regains its health, but the quantity 
of the poison is increased after repeated 
recovery. In the course of several months a 
condition is developed in the animal under 
which it can bear the injection of several 
hundred times as much poison as the minimum 
quantity that at first would have resulted in 
death. When in a proper state of develop¬ 
ment, several gallons of blood are withdrawn 
from the horse, the serum or w T atery part con¬ 
stituting the antitoxin. Persons afflicted with 
diphtheria are relieved by injecting it under 
the skin, and such treatment also gives im¬ 
munity to persons exposed to but not affected 
by the disease. Other antitoxins have been 
prepared and used successfully. 

ANT-LION (ant li'un), the larva of several 
species of insects, which, when fully developed, 
are similar in appearance to the dragon fly. 
These insects are common to the sandy regions 
of many countries, and about fifty species of 
North America have been described. They are 
most numerous in semiarid districts, such as 
Mexico and the part of the United States 


ANTOFOGASTA 


115 


ANTWERP 


lying north of the Rio Grande. The ant-lion 
is remarkable for the curious and ingenious 
method by which it catches the ants and other 
insects on which it feeds. A cavity in the 
form of a funnel is excavated in the sandy 
soil, the sides being smooth and sloping uni¬ 
formly, and at the bottom the ant-lion waits 
until an insect comes so near to the edge that 
it falls into the pit, where the juices are sucked 
out of its body. When ready for another prey, 
the skeleton of the dead insect is removed and 
the ant-lion awaits another insect. 

ANTOFAGASTA ( an-to-fa-gas'ta), a city 
of Chile, capita 1 of a province of the same 
name, situated on the Pacific coast. In its 
vicinity are extensive deposits of saltpeter and 
some distance inland are the rich silver mines 
of Caracoles. A railroad extends inland, mak¬ 
ing it an important market for domestic and 
foreign trade. Formerly both the city and 
province belonged to Bolivia, but in 1882 they 
were ceded as the result of a war between the 
two countries. Population, 1916, 26,445. 

ANTONELLI (an-to-nel'le), Giacomo, car¬ 
dinal and statesman, born at Sonnino, Italy, 
April 2, 1806; died Nov. 6, 1876. He studied 
in Rome and on account of intellectual ability 
gained the favor of Pope Gregory XVI., who 
attached him to his suite. In 1841 he became 
undersecretary of state to the ministry of the 
interior, and in 1844 was chosen minister of 
the apostolic chambers. Subsequently he was 
raised to the dignity of cardinal deacon, and 
in 1848 was president and minister of foreign 
affairs. He accompanied the Pope in his flight 
to Gaeta, but returned to Rome with the Pope 
when France exerted its friendly offices in sup¬ 
port of the papacy. 

ANTONINUS PIUS (an-to-ni'nus piTis), 
Titus Aurelius Fulvius, Emperor of Rome, 
born near Rome, Sept 19, 86 a. d. ; died in 
161, after a reign of twenty-three years. He 
was one of four persons of consular rank 
among whom the supreme administration of 
Italy was divided by Hadrian. His wise ad¬ 
ministration as proconsul of Asia greatly 
increased his reputation, on account of which 
he was adopted as the son of Emperor Hadrian, 
whom he succeeded as Emperor in 138. He 
made himself popular from the first by his 
wisdom and kind disposition and extensive 
experience in conducting the affairs of the 
government. Instead of plundering the pro\- 
inces, he aided them in building highways and 
fostering trade, abolished the persecution of 
Christians, extended Roman dominion in 
Britain, and stopped the invasion of the Scots 
and Piets. He was surnamed Pius by the 
Senate, which was done because of the building 
of a temple under his direction in memory of 
Hadrian. He was succeeded by his adopted 
son, Marcus Aurelius. 

ANTONIUS (an-to'nT-us), Marcus, Roman 
orator, grandfather of Mark Antony, born in 


143 b. c.; died in 87. He was appointed to 
the office of quaestor in 113, of praetor in 104, 
and of propraetor the following year, and the 
province of Cilicia was assigned to him. In 
102 he was awarded a naval triumph on ac¬ 
count of his great success against the pirates. 
As consul in 99 he opposed the agrarian laws 
of Titus, was censor in 97, and had a com¬ 
mand in the Marsic War in 90. His execution 
was ordered on account of belonging to the 
party of Sulla, at the time when Cinna and 
Marius triumphed. 

ANTONIUS, Marcus (Mark Antony), emi¬ 
nent Roman general, born in Rome in 83 
b. c.; suicided in Egypt in 30 b. c. He was the 
grandson of Antonius, the orator, and a son 
of Antonius Creticus, and had the advantages 
of a liberal education. He attained early suc¬ 
cess as a soldier in Syria and Egypt, and 
fought in Gaul under Caesar, who was his firm 
friend. Subsequently he returned to Rome, 
where he married Fulvia, the widow of 
Clodius, gave hearty support to Caesar against 
Pompey, and was appointed tribune. In the 
war between Caesar and Pompey, he com¬ 
manded reenforcements that were taken to 
Caesar, aided in the great victory of Pharsalia, 
and in 44 became Caesar’s colleague in the 
consulship. After the assassination of Caesar, 
he, with Octavianus, afterwards Augustus, and 
Lepidus formed a government called the 
triumvirate, which fortified itself and defeated 
the army of Brutus and Cassius at Philippi. 
The division of Rome was now agreed upon, 
and the three military leaders were to share 
in the division. Gaul was to fall to Antony, 
Spain to Lepidus, and Sicily and Africa to 
Octavianus. A general proscription was agreed 
upon, under which their enemies- were to be 
extinguished, among them Cicero, the great 
orator. Antony visited Athens and proceeded 
thence to Asia, where he met the beautiful 
Cleopatra, Queen of Egypt, with whom he fell 
in love, and neglected the government of his 
provinces, as well as his wife Octavia (q. v.). 
In 32 b. c., war was declared at Rome against 
the Queen of Egypt, and Antony was deprived 
of his consulship and government. In the Battle 
at Actium, in 31 b. c., Antony was aided by 
Cleopatra, but was utterly defeated. Being dis¬ 
appointed in his hope that the troops of Libya 
would remain faithful, he returned to Egypt, 
and there Octavianus again defeated him. 
Discouraged in battle and deceived by a false 
report regarding the safety of Cleopatra, he 
committed suicide by falling upon his sword. 

ANTWERP (ant'werp), the principal sea¬ 
port of Belgium, capital of the province of 
Antwerp, on the Scheldt River, about fifty 
miles from the sea. It it strongly fortified, 
being encircled by outer fortifications and 
inner lines of defenses, and is the converging 
center of many important railroad lines that 
connect it with commercial cities of Belgium, 


ANUBIS 


116 


APELLES 


Holland, France, and Germany. The surround¬ 
ing country is a fertile and well cultivated 
region. It has extensive manufactures of 
machinery, cotton and woolen textiles, silks, 
chemicals, leather, pottery, furniture, and 
canned and cured meats and fish. The city 
has important commercial relations with the 
leading ports of Europe, and is a point of 
departure for emigrants to Africa and America. 
Few cities of Europe rival it in the point of 
architectural beauty. Among its public build¬ 
ings is a fine Gothic cathedral with a spire 
400 feet high. This building contains the 
famous paintings of Rubens, entitled “The 
Descent from the Cross,” “The Elevation of 
the Cross,” and “The Assumption.” The city 
has many hospitals, educational institutions, and 
public buildings, and supports a well-organized 
public school system. Gas and electric lights, 
numerous libraries, several fine parks and 
boulevards, and an extensive system of electric 
street railways are among the many improve¬ 
ments. Antwerp was a place of importance as 
early as the 11th century, and in the 16th cen¬ 
tury attained to large commercial trade rela¬ 
tions, when it had a population of 200,000. Its 
commerce was greatly injured by wars between 
Spain and the Netherlands. In the last cen¬ 
tury it made wonderful growth, and is now a 
center of wealth, intelligence, and industrial 
activity. German with the Flemish dialect is 
spoken generally. It was captured after a siege 
by the Germans on Oct. 9, 1914. Population, 
1921, 322,980. 

ANUBIS (a-nu'bis), or Anepu, a deity of 
of the Egyptians, the son of Osiris and Isis. 
It was supposed that he opened the paths 
which lead to Heaven, hence was the god of 
embalming and of funeral rites. He is repre¬ 
sented in human form with the head of a 
jackal, which the Greeks mistook for the head 
of a dog. In later times his worship spread to 
Greece and Italy, and in the latter country he 
was confounded with Hermes. 

ANVIL (an'vil), an iron block with a steel 
surface on which metals are hammered and 
shaped. The common blacksmith’s anvil is 



ANVIL. 


usually built of six pieces, which are welded 
to a central core or body, and has four corner 
pieces, a projecting end, and a conical end, or 
beak, for hammering curved pieces of metal. 
The projecting end has a square hole for the 
reception of a chisel, thus serving to facilitate 
punching holes in iron plates. The anvil is 


usually placed on a large wooden block. Heavy 
anvils for forging shafting and large portions 
of implements are placed on piles of masonry. 

AORTA (a-or'ta), in anatomy, the great 
arterial trunk from which branches proceed 
to penetrate the whole system. It rises from 
the left ventricle of the heart, where it is called 
the ascending aorta, then makes a curve called 
the arch of the aorta, from which branches 
pass to the head and other upper extremities. It 
then passes toward the lower extremities, where 
it is called the descending aorta. From this part 
and farther down innumerable branches pro¬ 
ceed to the trunk and lower extremities, where, 
as elsewhere, minute branchlets ramify the dif¬ 
ferent parts of the body. 

APACHES ( a-pa'chaz), ‘a warlike tribe of 
North American Indians now principally resi¬ 
dent in Arizona, New Mexico, and parts of 
Mexico, where they settled many years ago, 
after emigrating from the vicinity of Great 
Slave Lake in Canada. They harassed the 
pioneer settlers and government troops for 
many years, but civilization is steadily benefit¬ 
ing them, and large numbers have taken ad¬ 
vantage of educational facilities provided by 
the government. Antonio Apache, a highly 
educated Apache Indian, held an official posi¬ 
tion in the department of anthropology at the 
World’s Columbia Exposition in Chicago in 
1893. The total number of Apaches, in 1920, 
was 5,150. 

APATITE (ap'a-tit), a mineral found in the 
older crystalline rocks, consisting of phosphate 
mixed with fluoride and chloride of calcium. 
Deposits are found in many parts of the world, 
being abundant in Canada, the United States, 
and Europe. This mineral is important as a 
source of fertilizer. 

APE (ap), an animal closely allied to the 
monkey, and in structure nearly approaching 
the human race. The word ape was formerly 
applied to all monkeys, but is now limited to the 
species that possess a manlike form and appear¬ 
ance. The principal kinds of apes are the 
orang-outang, chimpanzee, gorilla, and gibbon. 
These are classed as anthropoid apes, owing to 
their manlike structure. Their toes and fingers 
are very similar and much like human hands, 
by the aid of which they can swing from trees 
with much ease, but they are quite helpless 
when on the ground. The brain structure is 
similar to that of man, but it is only half as 
large. The food consists chiefly of fruits and 
the tender part of plants. They are native to 
Africa, Borneo, and the warmer parts of Asia. 

APELLES (a-pel'ez), a famous painter 
of ancient Greece who lived at Colophon in 
the 4th century b. c. He probably was born 
at Colophon, and was the son of Pytheas, also 
a painter. His first instruction was received 
at Ephesus, in Asia Minor, then a rival of 
the Grecian school at Sicyon. Later he 
studied at Sicyon under renowned teachers, 






























































APENNINES 


117 


APOCALYPTIC NUMBER 


ami thus united the fine coloring of the Ionians 
with the accuracy in drawing taught under the 
Sicyonic teachers. He accompanied Alexander 
the Great on his expedition to Asia as far 
as Ephesus, where he settled. It is said that 
he drew inspiration from the beauty of Lais, 
as she drew water from the fountain of 
Peirene, and from the notorious Phryne, bath¬ 
ing in the Eleusis. His most noted production 
was “Venus Rising from the Sea.” A paint¬ 
ing made by him, in which Alexander was 
represented holding a thunderbolt, was valued 
at $200,000. It is said that a cobbler adversely 
criticised one of his paintings because a shoe 
drawn by him contained some error, upon 
which he corrected it. Soon after the cobbler 
found fault with the drawing of a leg, to which 
the artist replied, “Let not the shoemaker go 
beyond his shoe.” From this remark the well- 
known adage came into general use. 

APENNINES (ap'en-ninz), an extensive 
range of mountains in the Italian peninsula, 
extending from the Maritime Alps to the Strait 
of Messina. They form the principle water¬ 
shed of Italy. The Apennines are considered 
the southern branch of the great Alpine system 
of Europe, and are separated from other ranges 
in the vicinity of Genoa. Their length is about 
800 miles, the average height is about 4,000 
feet, and the highest peak, Monte Corno, near 
Aquila, is 9,580 feet above sea level. This range 
does not reach the limits of perpetual snow, 
owing to the mild climate of that section of 

Europe. The geo¬ 
logical formations 
include immense 
limestone rock, 
and they are ex¬ 
ceeding rich in the 
finest marbles and 
metal ores. Sev¬ 
eral of the moun¬ 
tains are volcanic, 
including Mount 
Vesuvius, which is 
the most active 
and noted of Eu¬ 
rope. The slopes, 
even to a compar¬ 
atively high alti¬ 
tude, are covered 
with abundant 
vegetation, while 
the summits are 
sterile. 

APHIS (a'fis), 
an insect common¬ 
ly known as the 
plant louse. Many 
widely different 
species have been described. They propagate 
in large numbers, are soft, round-bodied, and 
carry a long beak coming from between the 
fore legs, from under the head, which is used 


to suck the juice of plants. The aphides are 
taken as food by the larvae of the ladybird. 
Some species are pursued by ants for a sac¬ 
charine liquid that contains a large portion of 
sugar, and of which they are very fond. This 
liquid is called honeydew and is secreted at the 
posterior end of the abdomen, from which it 
exudes a drop at a time. Its purpose is to 
supply food for its young. Tobacco is used as 
a means to protect plants against the ravages 
of these insects. 

APIA (a-pe'a), a town in the Samoan Is¬ 
lands, on the island of Upolu, which is a pos¬ 
session of Germany. It has a good harbor and 
is the most important commercial center of the 
Samoan group. The chief buildings include 
several schools, a Roman Catholic church, and 
the government house. It has a good trade 
in cotton, copra, tobacco, and fruits. Popula¬ 
tion, 1916, 3,750. 

APIARY (a'pi-a-ry), a shed or stand for 
keeping bees, commonly constructed to pro¬ 
tect bees from extremes of weather and tem¬ 
perature. In cold regions the apiaries are built 
so as to face toward the south or southwest, 
for the purpose of utilizing to the best ad¬ 
vantage the warmth of the sun during the 
winter season. In the summer months the 
hives are set out in the open air near good 
feeding ground, as clover fields, gardens, or 
flowering heaths. Apiaries are not generally 
maintained in regions having a warm climate, 
but they are quite necessary to bee-keeping in 
the colder sections. See Bee. 

APIS (a'pTs), the bull regarded sacred by 
the ancient Egyptains, and long worshiped as 
a symbol of Osiris, the husband of Isis. The 
day of his birth was kept as an annual festival, 
and his death was a season of public mourning. 
This animal was not allowed to live to exceed 
twenty-five years, and on attaining that age 
was killed and embalmed. The type by which 
Apis was represented is that of a human 
mummy containing the head of an ape. Figures 
in bronze, stone, and porcelain were common 
in all cities, and many made of the first two 
mentioned materials are still abundant. 

APOCALYPSE (a-poc'a-lips), a name ap¬ 
plied frequently to the last book of the New 
Testament. In the English and most languages 
it is called the “Revelations of Saint John 
the Divine,” and it is supposed to have been 
written by John the Apostle, but its author¬ 
ship is much disputed. Those who assign it 
to the Apostle John think it was written while 
he was on the Isle of Patmos, about 95-97. A 
large part of it is devoted to predictions re¬ 
specting the future of Christianity. 

APOCALYPTIC NUMBER (a-pok-a-lip'- 
tik), the number 666, based on Rev. xiii, 18: 
“Let him that hath understanding count the 
number of the beast: for it is the number of a 
man; and his number is Six hundred 
threescore and six.” In the 2d century it was 











APOCRYPHA 


118 


APOPLEXY 


discovered that the name antichrist was con¬ 
tained in the Greek characters expressive of 
this number, while it was held by some to 
express a date. The Roman nation was the most 
powerful pagan government, was the most 
mighty representative of antichrist, and its 
name is spelled in Greek by characters in which 
the number 666 appears. Some Protestants 
apply the prophecy to papal Rome, while it is 
applied by others to reformers of other denomi¬ 
nations for, perhaps, no better reasons. 

APOCRYPHA (a-pok'ri-fa), the term ap¬ 
plied to professedly inspired writings, and 
sometimes to those whose public use was not 
thought advisable. It is used especially to 
designate books written in the two centuries 
preceding the birth of Christ, and which are 
omitted from the majority of Bibles now in 
use. These books include a total of fourteen, 
and, when published at all, usually appear in 
the Bible in the following order: I Esdras; II 
Esdras; Tobit; Judith; the Additions to the 
Book of Esther; the Wisdom of Solomon; the 
Wisdom of Jesus, the son of Sirach, or Ec- 
clesiasticus; Baruch; the Song of the Three 
Holy Children; the History of Susanna; the 
History of Bel and the Dragon; the Prayer 
of Manasses, king of Judah; the First Book 
of the Maccabees; and the Second Book of 
the Maccabees. 

APOGEE (ap'6-je), a term used in astron¬ 
omy to denote the point occupied by the moon 
at which, in its course of revolution, it is at 
the greatest distance from the earth. The 
ancients regarded the earth as the cen- 
ter of the solar system, and used the 
term apogee to designate the point most remote 
from the sun. When the sun became 

recognized as the 
center, the ex¬ 
pression for this 
relation was 
changed, and the 
term aphelion is 
used instead. 
Apogee is now 
used to express 
the greatest dis¬ 
tance of the 
moon and the 
planets from the 
earth, and peri¬ 
gee the nearest. 
Aphelion ex- 
presses the 
phoebus APOLLO. greatest distance 

of any heavenly 
body from the sun, and perihelion the near¬ 
est. 

APOLLO (a-pol'lo), son of Zeus and Leto, 
twin brothers of Diana, one of the principal 
gods of the Greeks, and mentioned by Homer 
and Hesiod as Phoebus Apollo. His birthplace 
was the romantic island of Delos, in the Aegean 


Sea. He was regarded the god of the sun and 
of song, the revealer of the future, the god of 
the flocks, the archer of vengeance, and the 
protector of the muses. In song and statu¬ 
ary he was represented as a youth of 
purity, spiritual light, and poetical excel¬ 
lence. His long hair was entwined with 
the leaves of the sacred baytree, and he 
bore the lyre or the bow. His worship was 
commenced at Rome in the time of the Tar- 
quins, and temples, in which games were given 
in his honor, were built. The most remark¬ 
able ancient statue of Apollo that has come 
down to us is now in the Vatican at Rome, 
and is called the Apollo Belvedere , so named 
from the Belvedere Gallery. 

APOLLONIUS OF TYANA (ap-61-lo'nT- 
us of ty'a-na), philosopher, born at Tyana, in 
Cappadocia, and lived about 30-90 a. d. He 
traveled entensively and went to India to 
study the doctrines o.f the Brahmans, and on 
returning to his native town acquired a high 
reputation as a sage and philosopher. Philo- 
stratus wrote his biography, and Hierocles, an 
opponent of Christianity, is author of a work 
on the life and doctrines of Apollonius. 

APOLLONIUS OF TYRE, the hero of a 
romance of Greek origin. The original writ¬ 
ing is lost, but a Latin version made the 
romance popular in the Middle Ages. Apollo¬ 
nius, a Syrian prince, it is related, had romantic 
adventures before his marriage with the 
daughter of King Alcistrates, of Cyrene, and 
later with his wife and daughter Tarsia. The 
romance depicts these adventures in an in¬ 
teresting manner. It is said that he became 
separated from his wife, who was parted from 
him by apparent death, and that his daughter 
was carried to Mytilene by pirates. The story 
closes with an interesting chapter on the happy 
reunion of the family. Shakespeare secured 
from it the plot for his “Pericles, Prince of 
Tyre.” 

APOPLEXY (ap'6-pleks-y), a serious mal¬ 
ady that comes on suddenly, causing a loss of 
sensation and voluntary motion. A stroke of 
apoplexy suspends the functions of the cere¬ 
brum by a pressure on the brain, caused by a 
rupture of blood vessels or a congestion of the 
blood. It is accompanied by loss of the intel¬ 
lect or thought, while respiration and the action 
of the heart and of the general vascular sys¬ 
tem continues. In a severe stroke the person 
falls suddenly and gives no proof of conscious¬ 
ness. Persons at the age of from fifty to sixty 
are the most subject to it. Among the causes 
leading to apoplexy are continued anxiety, 
frequent indulgence of temper and passion, in¬ 
toxication, luxurious living, and intense thought. 
Out of a large number of patients, carefully 
examined, only six per cent, were corpulent, 
thirty per cent, were thin, and the others were 
of ordinary form. Recovery after one or two 
attacks is quite common, but persons afflicted 












































APOSTLES 


119 


APPALACHIAN MOUNTAINS 


more than twice are almost certain to fail of 
recovery. 

APOSTLES (a-pos's’lz), meaning a person 
sent, a term applied to the twelve men whom 
Jesus selected to aid Him during His ministry 
and to preach the gospel. They were chosen 
by Him promiscuously from among fishermen 
and others engaged in the more common oc¬ 
cupations. The twelve were as follows: Simon 
Peter; James; John; Andrew; Philip; Thomas; 
Bartholomew; Matthew; James, the son of 
Alpheus; Lebbeus, or Thaddeus; Simon; and 
Judas Iscariot. On account of Judas Iscariot’s 
betraying Christ, Matthias was chosen in his 
place, and later Paul and Barnabas are spoken 
of as apostles of Jesus. These apostles were 
commended by Jesus to preach the gospel, at 
first to the Jews, but a short time before his 
ascension they were instructed to preach to all 
nations. The day of Pentecost was the oc¬ 
casion when they received miraculous gifts for 
the public ministry. The chief events in the 
lives of the apostles are recorded in the Epis¬ 
tles and Acts of the Apostles. In a wider sense, 
the early Christian preachers sent to heathen 
countries are termed apostles, but usually, when 
speaking of the apostles, those named above 
are implied. 

APOSTLES’ ISLANDS, a number of small 
islands in Lake Superior, near the western end, 
first settled by the French in 1680. They con¬ 
sist of twenty-seven islets and islands, and have 
an area of 200 square miles. Mandeline Island 
is the largest of the group and on it is the 
town of La Ponte. The islands have deposits 
of a fine quality of brownstone, which is quar¬ 
ried and shipped. For governmental purposes 
they belong to the State of Wisconsin. 

APOSTOLIC FATHERS (ap-os-tol'ic), 
the name given to the disciples and fellow- 
laborers of the apostles, especially those who 
are supposed to have left writings. These 
writings are looked upon as a continuation of 
the epistles written by the apostles, but in form 
and contents are quite inferior to their predeces¬ 
sors. The essence and main purpose is to 
exhort to faith and holiness. The list of 
apostolic fathers include Barnabas; Clement of 
Rome; the Shepherd of Hermas; Ignatius, 
Bishop of Antioch; Papias of Hierapolis; and 
Polycarp, Bishop of Smyrna. Diognetus is 
sometimes included with the above list. 

APOSTOLIC SUCCESSION, the uninter¬ 
rupted succession of bishops, priests, and 
deacons from the time of Christ to the 
present day. It is considered essential and is 
observed strictly by the Anglican, Greek 
Catholic, and Roman Catholic churches, who 
do not consider the ordination of ministers or 
priests legitimate unless it is by a bishop. 

APOTHECARIES’ WEIGHT (a-poth'e- 
ka-riz), the system of measurement used in 
dispensing drugs. The pound contains twelve 
ounces, the ounce eight drams, the dram three 


scruples, and the scruple twenty grains. The 
grain is equivalent to that used in avoirdupois 
weight.—Apothecary, one .who keeps a store 
or laboratory for preparing, compounding, 
and selling medicines, and for compounding 
prescriptions. In early times, even as late as 
the 17th century, apothecaries ranked with the 
grocers, but in the 18th century they were 
placed on a higher standard. In most coun¬ 
tries laws have been enacted for the purpose 
of regulating the practice of compounding 
medicines. A person who engages in this line 
is called a pharmacist. He is usually required 
to hold a certificate showing that he is duly 
authorized by law to make up prescriptions and 
is qualified for such duties. The name drug¬ 
gist is usually applied to one who keeps a drug 
store. 

APPALACHIAN MOUNTAINS (ap-pa- 
la'chi-an), a vast system of elevations in the 
eastern part of North America, located partly 
in Canada, but mostly in the United States. The 
system consists of a number of nearly parallel 
chains extending from the Saint Lawrence 
River to Alabama and Georgia. It is highest 
in the north and south and slopes gradually to¬ 
ward the middle. Its length is about 1,300 
miles and its breadth varies greatly in the dif¬ 
ferent portions. Between the mountain system 
and the Atlantic Ocean stretches a fertile slope, 
known as the Atlantic Coast Plain, which is 
from fifty miles in breadth in New England 
to two hundred miles in the South. In the 
North are the Adirondacks, the Green Moun¬ 
tains, the White Mountains, and others; in the 
central portion, the ranges of the Blue Ridge, 
and the Alleghanies; in the southern, 
the ranges of the Blue Ridge, Black 
Mountains, Smoky Mountains, and others. 
The elevation of the system is from a 
few hundred to 6,500 feet above the level 
of the sea, though none of the higher peaks 
reaches the snow line, and the average height 
is about 2,500 feet. 

The Appalachians are the source of a large 
number of rivers, and form the divide between 
those that discharge into the Atlantic Ocean 
and the eastern tributaries of the Mississippi 
River system. These highlands contain but one 
large body of water, Lake Champlain, which is 
located between the northern part of New York 
and Vermont, and has its outlet into the Saint 
Lawrence River. The mountains are covered 
entirely with vegetable growth and contain 
many fertile valleys. Near them have developed 
many of the large manufacturing cities and 
commcrciaLcenters of North America, due part¬ 
ly to their closeness to the sea coast, and partly 
to the large variety of rich minerals which 
these mountains contain. They yield, perhaps, 
the best anthracite coal in the world, and supply 
vast quantities of petroleum, gas, and iron. Be¬ 
sides, there are extensive deposits of other 
minerals, including lead, copper, marble, gyp- 


APPALACHICOLA 


120 


APPLE 


sum, salt, gold, silver, and bituminous coal. The 
forests yield many varieties and large quantities 
of valuable timber, consisting chiefly of white 
birch, beech, ash, sugar maple, walnut, cherry, 
and yellow pine. The timber product, of course, 
depends upon the altitude and latitude. In the 
northern part are the hardy varieties common 
to colder regions, while in the South abound 
magnificent forests of trees common to a south¬ 
ern climate, both sections yielding enormous 
quantities for manufacturing purposes. The 
wild animals have been largely extinguished, 
but in some localities the bear, panther, wild 
cat, and wolf still haunt the forests. 

APPALACHICOLA (ap-a-lach-i-co'la), or 
Apalachicola, a river in the United States 
formed in Georgia by the junction of the Flint 
and Chattahoochie rivers. It flows southward 
through Florida and discharges into Appalachi- 
cola Bay, an inlet from the Gulf of Mexico. 
The entire course of ninety miles is navigable 
for steamboats. Near the mouth is the city of 
Appalachicola, the county seat of Franklin 
County. 

APPALACHICOLA, a city in Florida, 
county seat of Franklin County, 85 miles south¬ 
west of Tallahassee. It is located near the 
mouth of the Appalachicola, on Saint George 
Sound, and is important as a port of entry. 
The chief exports are lumber, fruit, and naval 
stores. Population, 1900, 3,077; 1920, 3,066. 

APPEAL (ap-pel'), in law, the removal of a 
cause from an inferior court for the purpose of 
obtaining a review of the suit or a reversal of 
the decision. A writ of error and a certiorari 
differ from an appeal in that they merely bring 
up for review the questions of law involved in 
the proceedings of the lower court, while both 
questions of law and fact may be reexamined by 
an appeal. The rules under which appeals may 
be granted differ in the system of courts in dif¬ 
ferent countries, but usually require that error 
be shown in the conduct of the trial, or that 
additional material evidence be presented. 

APPENDICITIS (ap-pend-T-si'tis), a term 
used to denote inflammation of the vermiform 
appendix, a wormlike pouch or cavity project¬ 
ing from the first part of the colon. In man it 
is small. It attains its largest size in such herb¬ 
eating animals as the horse, in which it is twice 
the size of the stomach. In man it has no defi¬ 
nite function, and may be removed without 
any harm to the system. Appendicitis frequently 
results from cherry stones and round objects 
stopping in it, often causing death, if the pa¬ 
tient is not operated upon by a skillful physi¬ 
cian. 

APPERCEPTION (ap-per-sep'shun), a 
term employed in the study of mental science, 
and first used by Herbart, Kant, Liebnitz, and 
others. It is now a familiar term among teach¬ 
ers, and denotes a perception obtained by re¬ 
flecting upon new elements of knowledge and 
comparing them with others previously ob¬ 


tained. In other words, the action of the mind 
upon a new idea is influenced by the masses of 
ideas the mind already has, and from this 
spring new ideas. Such action has come to 
be called apperception. 

APPETITE (ap'pe-tit), a term used to 
denote the natural desire for something, mainly 
the desire for eating and drinking. It is stimu¬ 
lated by exercise, work, cheerfulness, and plain 
living. A defective appetite is due generally 
to vicious habits, diseased action of the stom¬ 
ach, impaired nervous system or circulation, and 
general debility. A depraved appetite results 
from unnatural food, excessive eating, and 
other causes. The technical meaning of appe¬ 
tite is, I desire. It is attended by two condi¬ 
tions : a desire of the stomach relieved by tak¬ 
ing food, and state of the body changed as 
soon as the blood begins to take up the prod¬ 
ucts of digestion. These are not yet accurately 
understood. 

APPIAN WAY (ap'pT-an), a famous road 
that connects Rome with the southern part of 
Italy. It was constructed mainly during the 
censorship of Appius Claudius Caecus, between 
the years 312 and 307 b. c. The course from 
Rome to Terracina is nearly straight, although 
the Pontine Marshes and the Alban Mountains 
made construction difficult. It was paved with 
large square stone and adorned with numerous 
magnificent sepulchers, the most noted of which 
were those of the Scipios and of Caecilia Me- 
tella. Pius IV. partially restored it, and in 1852 
it was excavated as far as the eleventh mile¬ 
stone from Rome by Pius IX., near which it is 
now crossed by a railroad. 

APPIUS CLAUDIUS CRASSUS (ap'pi-us 
cla'di-us cras'sus), a Roman decemvir of the 5th 
century b. c. He formed a compact with several 
colleagues to maintain their authority in Rome 
by force and strategy, but the people soon be¬ 
came incensed against them. Appius Claudius 
had formed a passion for Virginia, the daugh¬ 
ter of Lucius Virginius, who was absent with 
an army in the war with the Sabines. The young 
Virginia was forcibly detained under a claim 
that she was the daughter of one of the clients 
of Appius Claudius. Her father was hastily 
summoned from the army to rescue his daugh¬ 
ter, and, being unable to do so and to save her 
from disgrace, stabbed her to the heart. Appius 
Claudius was deposed by the people in the year 
449 B: c. and died in prison. 

APPLE (ap'p’l), a tree of the rose family 
of plants, native to the temperate region of Asia 
and Europe. It has been grown for its fruit 
since prehistoric times, and brought to America 
by settlers from England in the early history of 
this country. The tree has spreading branches, 
and attains a moderate height, seldom exceed¬ 
ing thirty feet. The wild crab apple of Europe 
is the parent of all the varieties now grown. 
Jhese have been largely improved by ingraft¬ 
ing and naturalization. There are three general 



(Opp. 120) 

Moncelt Plum. 
Lowry Apple. 


EDIBLE FRUITS. 


Laire Plum. 
Peter’s Mango. 


Notice the seed and the interior structure 















APPLE 


121 


APPLE-TREE BORER 


classes, summer, autumn, and winter apples, and 
in each class are many varieties, perhaps 200. 
Many of the best known varieties are desig¬ 
nated by names, as winesaps, Danvers winter- 
sweet, pippins, Ben Davis, willow twigs, Duch¬ 
ess of Oldenburg, etc. Apples are cultivated 
extensively in Southern Canada and in nearly 
every section of the United States. They are 



APPLE. 


especially productive in the middle Atlantic sec¬ 
tion, though fine orchards are common to the 
Mississippi Valley and the Pacific Coast. 

The wood of the apple tree is hard, durable, 
and fine-grained. Some varieties of crabs are 
planted both for ornamental purposes and for 
the production of fruit. Besides being a whole¬ 
some food when ripe, the apple is used for 
many purposes in cooking, baking, preserving, 
and for jelly. From it is made a fermented 
liquor, called cider, and a fine quality of vinegar. 
By distillation a kind of spirits is manufactured. 
It is used for preparing compounds that have 
good medicinal qualities. Apples are important 
articles of commerce, great quantities being pro¬ 
duced and exported to domestic and foreign 
markets in cases and barrels. 

The seedless apple was evolved by propaga¬ 
tion at Grand Junction, Colo., by John F. Spen¬ 
cer, who conducted experimental researches for 
several years and succeeded in producing five 
trees that bore seedless, coreless, and wormless 
apples, and from this little group there were 
budded two thousand more trees, which, in 1905, 
constituted the entire seedless apple stock of 
the world. This variety of apple trees has 
many peculiarities. While there is a stamen 
and a small quantity of pollen, exactly as in 
the blossom of the ordinary apple tree, yet the 
flower itself is missing, and several small green 
leaves grow around the apple to shelter it. The 
meat of the new apple, like that of the seed¬ 
less orange, is quite solid, and at the navel end 
is a slightly hardened substance. In size these 
apples are of the usual average, of good flavor, 
and will keep well. The fact that the tree is 
flowerless renders it more hardy at the time 
of late frosts, and overcomes, to a large extent, 
injury by insects, since there is no place for the 
codling moth to lay its eggs. 


APPLE OF DISCORD, in Greek mythol¬ 
ogy, the golden apple thrown by Eris into the 
midst of an assembly of the gods, at the mar¬ 
riage of Peleus and Thetis. It was intended 
“For the most beautiful,” and was claimed by 
Juno, Venus, and Minerva, and Paris was 
chosen to decide the dispute. The award was 
given to Venus, which caused Juno to become 
inflamed with jealousy and hatred toward the 
Trojans. 

APPLETON (ap'p’l-tun), a city of Wiscon¬ 
sin, county seat of Outagamie County, on the 
Fox River, about 120 miles northwest of Mil¬ 
waukee. It is on the Chicago and Northwestern 
and the Chicago, Milwaukee and Saint Paul 
railways, has a growing trade in merchandise, 
and is surrounded by a fertile farming and 
dairying region. The manufactures include 
paper, boots and shoes, furniture, machinery, • 
clothing, tobacco products, and farming imple¬ 
ments. Water power for manufacturing purposes 
is obtained from the Grand Chute Falls of the 
Fox River. The city has an excellent system of 
public schools, numerous churches, and is pro¬ 
vided with extensive lines of street railways. It 
has modern conveniences, such as gas and elec¬ 
tric lights, pavements, public parks, several 
libraries, and an extensive system of water¬ 
works. It is the seat of Appleton Collegiate In¬ 
stitute and Lawrence University. The first 
settlement was made in 1840 and it was incor¬ 
porated in 1857. Population, 1920, 19,501. 

APPLETON, Daniel, publisher, born in 
Haverhill, Mass., Dec. 10, 1785; died in New 
York City, March 27, 1849. His first publication 
consisted of a collection of religious tracts, en¬ 
titled “Daily Crumbs from the Master’s Table.” 
This met with favorable reception, and other 
publications followed in rapid succession. He 
retired from the establishment, the publishing 
house of D. Appleton & Co., in 1848, leaving 
the business to four sons and their descendants. 
This institution has produced a large number of 
valuable and extensive works, has several 
branch establishments, and is one of the best 
known publishing houses in America. Daniel 
Sidney Appleton (1824-1890), son of Daniel 
Appleton, was long a successful member of the 
firm. He graduated at Yale College in 1843, 
and for many years had charge of the London 
branch office. 

APPLE-TREE BORER, an insect native to 
America, and a common plague to apple and 
crab apple trees. It also attacks the mountain 
ash, pear, and quince trees, and does consider¬ 
able damage to orchards. The larva of the in¬ 
sect is the borer, and when full grown is an 
inch long. It has a light yellow color and 
chestnut-brown head, and the jaws are a deep 
black. The best preventive is an alkaline wash, 
though soft soap mixed with lye made from 
wood ashes, applied to the base of the tree, 
serves practically the same purpose. This pest 
should be early exterminated from orchards so 
as to prevent its spread. 


APPOMATTOX COURTHOUSE 


122 


AQUARIUM 


APPOMATTOX COURTHOUSE (ap-po- 
mat'toks), formerly a village of Virginia, in 
Appomattox County, now called West Appo¬ 
mattox. It is situated twenty-three miles east 
of Lynchburg, on the Norfolk and Western 
Railroad, and is the county seat of Appomattox 
County. At this place was fought the final 
battle between the Confederates under Lee and 
the Federals under General Grant. Lee’s army 
was retreating as rapidly as possible, but was 
met by General Custer, who fought the wearied 
Confederates till dark. On the following day, 
April 9, 1865, as Sheridan was preparing for a 
charge, a white flag was raised, and General Lee 
surrendered his army, numbering 27,805, to 
General Grant. This was the close of the 
Civil War, and the terms of the surrender ac¬ 
cepted by General Grant included that Lee’s 
officers and men should be released on parole 
and retain their horses, for, said he, “They will 
need them for spring plowing and farm work.” 
The old courthouse building was destroyed by 
fire in 1892. In 1920 West Appomattox had a 
population of 498 ; Courthouse district, 1920, 4,314. 

APRICOT (a'pri-kot), a fruit of the plum 
order, though resembling the peach. It was 
first brought to Greece in the time of Alexander 
the Great from countries farther east, probably 
from Armenia, where it is native. It is now ex¬ 
tensively cultivated in the warmer parts of the 
temperate zone and in subtropical countries. 
The tree is of low and crooked growth, usually 
attaining a height of twenty or thirty feet. Its 
habit of blooming early renders it liable to 
damage by frosts in the spring, but it is fully as 
hardy as the peach. It can be propagated by 
budding and grafting on peach, plum, and wild 
cherry stocks. The fruit is an important article 
of commerce. It is preserved in cans or dried 
and shipped in boxes. The Pacific coastal region 
supplies a large portion of the markets of 
America with this fruit, its culture being an 
extensive industry in that section, both in Can¬ 
ada and the United States. 

APRIL. See Month. 

APRIL FOOLS’ DAY, the name used 
to designate the 1st day of April. Custom has es¬ 
tablished this day as a time to send a person on 
a bootless errand, such as for horse milk, for 
the saddle of a nightmare, or to inform him 
there is a spot of mud on his face. When the 
person investigates he is laughed at and called 
an April fool. This practice is known in all 
civilized countries, but all do not observe the 
same day. In Hindustan the 31st day of March 
is set apart for this practice, at which time the 
Hindus celebrate the Kuli festival. 

APSE (aps), a term used by the Greeks and 
Romans to designate the projecting semicircular 
part of a building, or to describe a domical 
chamber and other vaulted structures. The in¬ 
terior was richly decorated and the most sacred 
subjects were placed on its walls and in the 
semidome. In temples the apse contained the 


cult image of the god, and in the basilica was 
the tribunal of the praetor, who sat in the cen¬ 
ter and was surrounded by his assessors. In 
later times the apse entered into the architec¬ 
ture of Byzantium and was adopted as a part 
of the architectural structure of Christian 
churches. The exterior of the Byzantium apse 
was polygonal in form, but the interior re¬ 
mained semicircular. In Christian churches it 
was modified both in size and structure, and in 
many cases the central apse was surrounded by 
smaller ones called apsidoles , and sometimes the 
church was provided with a double apse, one 
at each end of the building. 

APSIDES (ap'si-dez), the ends of the long¬ 
est diameter of a heavenly body, applied chiefly 
to a planet, but frequently to a comet or a sat¬ 
ellite. v The apsides are the two extreme points 
in the orbit of a planet, one the nearest to and 
the other the farthest from its primary; a line 
drawn between the points is the major axis of 
the orbit, or the line of apsides. These points 
move slowly forward in the same direction in 
which the revolving body moves. 

APTERYX (ap'te-riks), a running bird of 
New Zealand, belonging to the family which 
includes the emu, cassowary, and ostrich, but 
distinguished from the last mentioned by hav¬ 
ing three toes instead of only two. It is wing¬ 



less and tailless, and possesses a hairlike plum¬ 
age. The nests are built in a hollow tree, or in 
deep holes in the ground, and it feeds on worms, 
insects, and seeds. From its cry, kiwi-kiwi, it is 
given that name by the natives. It is fast de¬ 
creasing in number and probably will be extinct 
ere long. 

AQUARIUM (a-kwa'ri-um), a tank or ves¬ 
sel in which marine or fresh-water plants and 
animals are kept in a living state. The fresh¬ 
water aquarium may be provided with a foun¬ 
tain to supply a change of water, or plants and 
animals may be kept in the proper proportion 
and the life of both sustained. It was long 
thought necessary to change the water frequently 
so as to sustain the life of the fish and other 








AQUARIUM 


water animals, because when water animals 
breathe they give out carbonic acid and use up 
oxygen, just as land animals do, which ren¬ 
ders water impure in a short time. But in 1836 
M. Charles des Moulins, a Frenchman, discov¬ 
ered that if water plants are put into the same 
tank with animals they will take up the car¬ 
bonic acid and give up the oxygen which the 
animals need. In this way the water may be 
kept pure and no change is needed. It has been 



FRESH-WATER AQUARIUM. 


found that salt-water plants can be kept as suc¬ 
cessfully and in the same way. As a result 
large aquariums have been established in cities 
for ornamentation and the study of both plants 
and animals. Many governments maintain 
aquariums as a source to study fish and other 
animal life, and through these means numerous 
streams and lakes have been populated with fish 
and other animals valuable for food and com¬ 
merce. At the Columbian Exposition at Chi¬ 
cago in 1893, the Louisiana Purchase Exposi¬ 
tion at Saint Louis in 1904, and other expositions 
held in the United States, the government made 
exhibits by demonstrating the practical propa¬ 
gation of many kinds of fishes. At these expo¬ 
sitions were eggs of fish in different stages of 
hatching, and young fish from one day to sev¬ 
eral months old could be examined and studied 
by those in attendance. 

Aquariums on a large scale are maintained 
in many public parks for amusement and profit, 
and the animals treated quite the same as those 
kept in small tanks for ornament and study in 
the homes. The Battery, in New York City, 
formerly known as Castle Garden, has one of 
the largest aquariums in the world. It contains 
about 150 tanks, in which are small and large 
fish, turtles, alligators, and other aquatic ani¬ 
mals. Many of the tanks are lighted from 
above and in the rear by electricity. Brighton, 
Paris, and Hamburg have large aquariums. In 
the one at Brighton are 125,000 gallons of water 
confined in a tank 125 feet long and 100 feet 
wide, which is covered by a plate glass, through 
which may be studied the form and habits of 
very large fish. Other great aquariums are lo¬ 
cated at Saint Petersburg, and in many natural 
parks in the United States. The aquarium at 


123 AQUEDUCT 

Saint Petersburg has been maintained over 150 
years. 

AQUARIUS (a-kwa'ri-us), or Water- 
Bearer, the eleventh sign of the zodiac, into 
which the sun enters about the 20th of January. 
The same name is applied to a constellation 
which was in the sign Aquarius at the time 
when the signs were named, but which, by the 
precession of the equinoxes, now occupies the 
sign Pisces. 

AQUATIC ANIMALS (a-kwat'ic), a term 
applied to the animals that live in water, or fre¬ 
quent the water in quest of food. This class 
of animals is very numerous, including the 
fishes, whales, and dolphins, which live entirely 
in the water; many birds, reptiles, and mam¬ 
mals, such as the otter and the beaver, which 
frequent the water for subsistance; most of the 
mollusca; and many tribes of the articulata and 
radiata. The animals that live in and habitually 
frequent water are more numerous than those 
of the land. The structure and character of 
animals a're influenced by their environments, 
and in this respect are quite analogous to plants. 

AQUATIC PLANTS, the plants which live 
either entirely or partially immersed in water, 
or which require a preponderating quantity of 
water as the condition of their existence. 
Flowerless aquatic plants are more numerous 
than those that have flowers, and species of the 
lower types of organism are more abundant than 
the forms classed with the higher vegetable or¬ 
ganisms. Some are entirely in water, as the algae 
(q. v.), and perform all their functions when 
submerged, while others are rooted to the 
ground and have their flowers and part of their 
foliage above the surface of the water. Some of 
the seaweeds and plants common to inland 
waters are provided with air bladders which 
serve to brace the stem and hold the leaves 
above the surface, while others, if torn up by 
the roots, or even if parts of the plant are sev¬ 
ered from the main body, continue to grow and 
multiply. The cat-tail, or bulrush (q. v.), is a 
notable example of aquatic plants. Others are 
the water lily, the American lotus, the arrow¬ 
head, and the water hyacinth. 

AQUEDUCT (ak'we-dukt), an artificial 
course or channel by which water is conveyed 
from one place to another by the force of grav¬ 
ity. Popular usage has limited the name to 
conduits built of masonry, such as are used in 
conveying water to supply large cities, and it 
does not include the pipes and ditches common¬ 
ly utilized in mining and in irrigation. The 
practice of conveying water by aqueducts was in 
use in times far remote, and was well estab¬ 
lished in Judaea, Babylon, Persia, and many 
other countries of Asia. In Peru the Incas con¬ 
structed aqueducts similar in many respects to 
those of modern times. In Rome such works 
were maintained in many parts of the dominion. 
The city of Rome secured a water supply by 
means of twenty-four aqueducts, extending 









































AQUEDUCT 


124 


ARABIA 


many miles, and having a capacity sufficient to 
supply the entire city. Their construction was 
usually on a regular descent, winding through 
hills, crossing valleys by means of great arches, 
and in many places even passing by tunnels 
through mountains. 

Modern cities utilize aqueducts, but their con¬ 
struction is changing to a somewhat different 
plan. Instead of building them on a regular 
descent so the water may flow entirely by 
gravity, they are built in part of pipes through 
which large volumes of water are forced by 
steam or electric power. In New York City 
the Croton aqueduct, which supplies the greater 
part of the city with water, is about forty 
miles long. The water is conveyed through 
sixteen tunnels, many of them cut through solid 
rock. The Harlem River is crossed by a gran¬ 
ite arched bridge 1,400 feet long, across which 
the water is conveyed in three large pipes. The 
water is carried into reservoirs in Central Park, 
and is piped from there through many parts of 
the city. At Boston the Cochituate aqueduct, 
which is fifteen miles long, supplies a large 
quantity of water, but the city has additional 
sources. San Diego, Cal., has an aqueduct or 
conduit built of redwood, thirty-five miles long, 
by which the water is conveyed from the moun¬ 
tains. 

In recent years the development and applica¬ 
tion of pipes for conveying water under pres¬ 
sure, buried beneath the soil, have displaced to 
some extent the building of massive structures 
of masonry for that purpose. Some very ex¬ 
tensive pipe lines, from twenty to fifty miles 
long, are used in many cities. Rochester, N. Y., 
is supplied in this way. Saint Louis has conduits 
that convey water to Bissell’s Point, from which 
the city secures its supply. In many localities 
conduits of masonry are carried through hills 
and the valleys are crossed by iron pipe lines. 
Chicago and many cities secure their supply of 
water from the Great Lakes by means of tun¬ 
nels. In most cases a large iron shaft is con¬ 
structed several miles into the lake, and the 
water is pumped into a central well, from which 
it is forced through pipes to all parts of the 
city. Aqueducts are used in hydraulic mining. 



AQUEDUCT AT NIMES, FRANCE. 


The water is conveyed from reservoirs far up 
a river or smaller stream, or from a high point 
in the mountains, so as to obtain a working 
head of several hundred feet. The expense of 
these enterprises is marvelous. The Croton 
aqueduct of New York cost over $20,000,000, 
and many others cost as much. 


AQUEOUS HUMOR (a'kwe-us hu'mer), 
a waterlike fluid that occupies the space between 
the cornea and the crystalline lens of the eye. 
The iris partially divides it into an anterior and 
posterior chamber, of which the former is the 
larger. The aqueous humor is almost pure 
water; only about one-fiftieth part of the whole 
consists of other constituents, of which fully 
one-half is chloride of sodium. 

AQUILA (a'kwe-la), a city of Italy, cap¬ 
ital of the province of Abruzzo Ulteriore, sit¬ 
uated about fifty miles northeast of Rome. It 
was founded by Emperor Frederick II. in 1240, 
and is noted for ancient ruins found in its vi¬ 
cinity. It has railroad connections with seaport 
cities on the Adriatic. The chief manufactures 
are wine, textiles, and earthenware. A destruc¬ 
tive earthquake in 1703 caused the death of 
about 2,000 persons. Aquila is noted as the 
birthplace of Sallust, the historian. Population, 
1916, 21,188. 

AQUINAS (a-kwi'nas), Saint Thomas, 

theologian, born near Aquino, Italy, in 1227; 
died March 7, 1274. He joined the order of 
Dominican monks about 1243, and taught and 
preached at Paris, Pisa, and Rome. The most 
important of his works is entitled “Sum of 
Theology,” and is regarded as one of the most 
complete cotnpendiums of scholastic divinity. 
He was the founder of a sect of Catholics that 
came to be known as Thomists. John XXII. 
canonized him in 1323. 

ARABESQUE (ar-a-besk'), an Arabian 
style of architecture employed by the Arabs and 
by the Moors in Spain. Decorations in this 
style were used extensively in the Alhambra 
(q. v.) and by Raphael in the Vatican. The 
decorations consist mainly of scrolls and geo¬ 
metric devices, and in many of the buildings 
fruit, flowers, and leaves are mingled with the 
genii and animals. 

ARABIA (a-ra'bi-a), the name of an ex¬ 
tensive peninsula in the southwestern part of 
Asia. It is about 1,500 miles long and 750 miles 
wide, and has an area of about 1,150.000 square 
miles. This vast region is not well known to 
geographers and the area is variously estimated. 
The population is usually placed at 5,500,000. 

Description. The surface features resemble 
those of the Sahara, of which it is considered 
an extension. It resembles the desert region of 
North Africa in that it contains many oases al¬ 
ternated by sandy and rocky wastes. Much of 
the interior is a vast tableland, with an altitude 
of about 8,000 feet, interspersed by mountains 
and arid deserts, and the whole surrounded by 
a coast plain near the adjacent waters. The 
northern and eastern boundaries are formed by 
Turkey, the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of 
Oman, and the southern and western by the 
Arabian Sea, the Gulf of Aden, and the Red 
Sea. On the northwest it is connected with 
Africa by the Isthmus of Suez. Anciently the 
peninsula was divided into three sections, known 








ARABIA 


125 


ARABIA 


as Arabia Petraea, Deserta, and Felix. At pres¬ 
ent it is divided into seven districts whose- 
boundaries are not fixed with any degree of 
accuracy. These include Madian, Hejaz, Assir, 
Yemen, Nejd, Hadramaut, and Oman. The Eu¬ 
phrates River drains a portion of the northern 
section. Besides this stream there are no im¬ 
portant rivers and no interior lakes, and the 
coasts are comparatively regular. As a whole 
the climate is healthful. The coastal plains have 
a scorching summer heat, while the more ele¬ 
vated interior is quite pleasant at most seasons 
of the year, though sand storms prevail period¬ 
ically. Rain seldom falls in the interior, where 
the climate is excessively dry, and in most parts 
vegetation is very scant. 

Industries. Stock raising is the chief in¬ 
dustry, and embraces the rearing of horses, 
camels, sheep, cattle, and mules. The mule is 
used largely as a beast of burden. Mining is 
not carried on extensively, but it is known that 
there are valuable deposits of salt rock, salt¬ 
petre, petroleum, coal, mineral pitch, and various 
kinds of building stone. Fruits are grown 
extensively on the coastal plains, especially the 
date palm. Other products include wheat, 
maize, tobacco, barley, millet, aloes, balsam, and 
gum arabic. The ostrich is grown for its plum¬ 
age. In some sections this animal is found in a 
wild state, especially in the oases of the desert 
region. Among the wild animals still abundant 
are the panther, hyena, lion, jackal, gazelle, and 
many varieties of aquatic birds and birds of 
song. 

Inhabitants. The inhabitants of Arabia be¬ 
long to the Semitic branch of the Caucasian 
family, but the tribes show marked differences 
in descent and tribal relations. Only a portion 
have fixed homes, the greater number leading 
a nomadic life. The wandering tribes consist 
mostly of Bedouins, who have allotted winter 
and summer camping grounds, entertain notions 
of the right of property, possess a strong home 
feeling, and are governed by a traditional code 
of law and honor. On the other hand, the Fel¬ 
lahs and Hadesi constitute the located tribes. 
In stature they are of medium height. They 
are muscular and strong, and have a brown 
complexioii. The typical Arab is sharp-witted 
and quick by natUx^e. He possesses a lofty 
pride and is fond of poetry. Most Arabs take 
much interest in rearing swift horses, and look 
upon a fleet animal as a most valuable posses¬ 
sion. Education is at low ebb, and is largely in 
the care of the wife, whose duty it is to keep 
the house and educate the children. Moham¬ 
medanism of the Shiite sect is the chief religion, 
but the Sunnites and Wahabis are represented 
to some extent. 

Government. The government is divided 
among numerous independent chiefs, who bear 
the title of sheik, emir, or imam. The Sinai 
Peninsula is a dependency of Egypt; and Ye- 
man, Hedjaz, and the region of El-Hasa are 


semi-independent regions. Oman, in the south¬ 
eastern part, is administered by an independent 
imam. A number of the chief cities are held by 
European powers, including Aden, which is a 
strongly fortified garrison on the Gulf of Aden 
and belongs to Great Britain. Other cities in¬ 
clude Bagdad, Mecca, Medina, Mocha, Sana, 
Muscat, Basara, and Hodeida. 

History. The history of the Arabs before 
the time of Mohammed is obscure, but under 
the teachings of that prophet, about 600 a. d., 
the different tribes became united and powerful. 
When his doctrines secured a strong foothold 
and Mecca was conquered, he brought nearly 
the whole peninsula into submission. He was 
succeeded in turn by Abu-Bekr, Omar, Othman, 
and Ali, who assumed the title of caliph, but 
the period was marked by struggles for suprem¬ 
acy among different tribal interests. Walid I., a 
sovereign of this line, abolished the Greek lan¬ 
guage and written characters and substituted the 
Arabic. Subsequently the capital was trans¬ 
ferred from Cufah to Bagdad, where the Arab 
rulers held sway over a large part of the Mo¬ 
hammedan world from the 8th to the 18th cen¬ 
tury. At that time they possessed great mili¬ 
tary strength, conquered Northern Africa and 
Western Asia, and founded a kingdom in Spain. 
In the East they were generally known as Sara¬ 
cens, and in the West as Moors. They con¬ 
structed fortifications, temples, and public high¬ 
ways, traces of which remain in the East and 
in Spain, especially in the latter country, where 
the Moorish temples are still sources of won¬ 
der. The British occupied Aden in 1839, and 
the following year most of Arabia became sub¬ 
ject to Turkey. 

Language. The Arabic language is classed 
with the southern branch of the Semitic family 
of tongues, and next to the Hebrew ranks as 
the most important. It was generally spoken in 
Southwestern Asia, Northern Africa, Sicily, 
Malta, and a part of Spain at the time the re¬ 
ligion of Islam spread over those regions, and 
is still used as the learned and sacred language 
of the Mohammedans. About one-third of 
the Turkish and Persian vocabularies consists 
of Arabic words. The alphabet consists of 
twenty-eight characters, but eleven of these are 
distinguished by placing diacritical points above 
or beneath, hence only seventeen distinct char¬ 
acters are used. The writing is from right to 
left. As a whole, the vocabulary is extensive 
and the grammatical forms are complicated. 

Literature. The literature had its beginning 
in the time of the Queen of Sheba, who is 
the accredited author of several enigmas and 
poems. However, the rise of Arabic litera¬ 
ture dates largely from the time of Mohammed, 
who gave it new direction and life. Abu- 
Bekr collected the precepts of faith and life 
laid down by the prophet, and these collec¬ 
tions were afterward published by Othman, 
the third caliph, and constitute the Koran, the 


ARABIAN NIGHTS’ ENTERT’NM’NT 126 


ARAFAT 


sacred book of the Mohammedans. The period 
in which literature, art, and science reached 
its zenith was in the time of the caliphs who 
ruled in 750-1258 a. d. Harun al Rashid (786- 
808) was a patron of learning, and by his in¬ 
terest and ability gave impulse to Arabic litera¬ 
ture in his own country and many regions under 
Saracen and Moorish dominion. 

The Moors in Spain wrote treatises of value 
on medicine, history, mathematics, geography, 
geometry, astronomy, and civics. Their writers 
in geography were the most noted of those who 
flourished in the Middle Ages, and their his¬ 
torians and philosophers also took high rank. 
Their philosophy was largely of Greek origin, 
chiefly after the teachings of Aristotle, and 
their most celebrated philosopher was Alfarabi, 
who flourished in the 10th century. Other phil¬ 
osophical writers included Ibn Sina, Alghazzali, 
and Ibn Roshd, who flourished in the 11th and 
12th centuries. The Arabs excelled all other 
nations in medicine during the Middle Ages, 
the medical work of Avicenna, entitled “Canon 
of Medicine,” being long an authoritative guide. 

In mathematics and astronomy the Arabs pat¬ 
terned after the Greek writers, but they simpli¬ 
fied and enlarged both sciences considerably. 
Algebra was introduced directly by them to 
the people of Europe. Their romances and 
legends are enriched by such familiar works as 
“The Exploits of Antar,” “The Arabian Nights’ 
Entertainments,” “The Exploits of Bibars,” and 
“The Exploits of the Champions.” From these 
many European writers have drawn inspiration, 
and some of the tales drawn from “The Ara¬ 
bian Nights’ Entertainments” are familiar to 
school children in America and Europe. The 
Arabians were devoted especially to astronomy, 
which they cultivated in observatories at Bag¬ 
dad, Cordova, and other cities. Their chief text¬ 
books in this branch of learning consisted of 
the “Almagest” of Ptolemy, which they trans¬ 
lated into the Arabic. The literature of modern 
times is somewhat limited in scope, but they 
have several recent treatises on grammar, juris¬ 
prudence, and the Koran, and a number of 
newspapers and other periodicals are published. 
The Arabian writing, like all in the Semitic, is 
written from right to left, and is essentially con¬ 
sonantal. 

ARABIAN NIGHTS’ ENTERTAIN¬ 
MENTS (a-ra'bi-an), a collection of Oriental 
tales first made known to Europeans by Antony 
Galland, a Frenchman, who published them in 
1704-17. The origin of the work is still in 
doubt, and it is not known by whom or where 
it was written, but it is supposed to have been 
secured by the Arabs from India, and by the 
Hindus from Persia. The story assigned as 
the origin of these fables is both interesting and 
remarkable. It is said that Sultan Shahriyar 
had a faithless bride, which induced him to 
make a law that all his future wives should be 
executed the first morning after their marriage. 


This custom prevailed until Shahrazad, the gen- 
. erous daughter of the grand vizier, became his 
wife. She was so skilled in story-telling that 
she interested the Sultan with a tale every day, 
and broke off at a point which would lead to 
an interesting conclusion the next day. In this 
way the execution was deferred from day to 
day until the Sultan became reconciled. These 
stories of Shahrazad now constitute “The Ara¬ 
bian Nights’ Entertainments,” or “The One 
Thousand and One Nights,” as they are often 
called. 

ARABIAN SEA, a large extension of the 
Indian Ocean, whose northern and eastern 
coasts are formed by Persia, Baluchistan, and 
India, and its western by the Arabian peninsula. 
Its northwestern extension forms the Gulf of 
Oman, which is connected by Ormuz Strait 
with the Persian Gulf. On its eastern shore are 
the Gulfs of Cutch and Cambay. 

ARABI PASHA (a-ra'bee pa-sha'), Ahmed, 
soldier and revolutionist, born in Lower Egypt, 
in 1837. He descended from fellah parentage, 
joined the army at an early age, and in 1881 
headed the popular military movement to free 
Egypt from the dominion of other nations. In 
1882 he became chief dictator, resisting success¬ 
fully the French and English forces, but was 
finally expelled from Alexandria. Later he was 
defeated at Tel-el-Kebir and taken prisoner. 
After a trial, he was sentenced to exile in Cey¬ 
lon. In 1901 he was pardoned and permitted to 
return to Egypt. He died Sept. 21, 1911. 

ARACHNIDA (a-rak'm-da), a class of 
arthropods, variously limited by naturalists, but 
usually extended to include the mites, ticks, spi¬ 
ders, and scorpions. Most of the animals of 
this class have simple eyes, but they vary in 
number from two to twelve. The abdomen pos¬ 
sesses no true legs, although these animals have 
four pairs of legs. Some species secrete poi¬ 
sons, and nearly all prey on other animals. 
Breathing is effected either by lungs or by 
means of tracheae, but some breathe by both 
these means. The history of the Arachnida has - 
been traced to the Palaeozoic times. 

ARAD ( or'od), a city in Hungary, capital of 
the County of Arad, thirty-seven miles north 
of Temesvar. It is the seat of a bishopric and 
has a number of modern buildings, including 
the townhall and a Greek theological seminary. 
The manufactures include leather, tobacco, 
alcohol, and machinery. It is important as a 
grain and cattle market. Population, 1915, 
56,260. 

ARAFAT (a-ra-fat'), Mount, a granite hill 
in Arabia, fifteen miles east of Mecca, elevated 
about two hundred feet above the plain. The 
summit is reached by steps cut in the rock or 
built of solid masonry. A great multitude of 
Mohammedans visit this place annually, owing 
to the belief that Adam and Eve met upon this 
hill after being expelled from Paradise. It is 
thought that Adam was cast upon Ceylon and 


ARAGO 


127 


ARAUCANIA 


Eve on Mount Arafat, and that after wan¬ 
dering 120 years Adam finally joined Eve on 
this hill. On the summit is a chapel, in which 
a sermon is delivered for the benefit of the 
visitor, who is afterward known as a Hadji, or 
pilgrim. 

ARAGO (ar'a-go), Dominique Frangois, 

physicist and statesman, born at Estagel, France, 
Feb. 26, 1786; died in Paris, Oct. 2, 1853. He 
studied at the College of Perpignan and the 
Polytechnic School, graduating from the latter 
in 1805. Napoleon commissioned him in 1806 
to take measurements, in company with an as¬ 
tronomer, for the purpose of securing a longi¬ 
tudinal basis for a metric system, and on his 
works is based the metric system now used in 
France. W hen war broke out between France 
and Spain, while he was making these measure¬ 
ments, he was arrested by the Spaniards and 
imprisoned as a spy. He escaped at two dif¬ 
ferent times, but the ship on which he sailed 
was wrecked by a storm on the shores of Al¬ 
geria, where he was captured and made a slave. 
In 1809 he was set free and returned to Paris, 
where he was at once elected a member of the 
institute. Later he became a professor at the 
Polytechnic School, and in 1830 was made sec¬ 
retary of the Academy of Science. His valuable 
services to sciences caused the London Royal 
Society to award him the Copley medal. 1 He 
was invited by Napoleon to accompany him to 
the Island of Saint Helena, which he refused 
to do in order that he might support the Revo¬ 
lution of 1830. After the establishment of the 
Republic, he became a member of the chamber 
of deputies, and won distinction as an advocate 
of education and advancement in the sciences. 
He opposed Louis Philippe in 1848, and con¬ 
tended against the election of Louis Napoleon 
to the presidency. Arago is the author of a 
number of works on sciences, and wrote nu¬ 
merous political and biographical memoirs. 

ARAGON . (ar'a-gon), formerly a kingdom 
of Europe, but now a government in the north¬ 
eastern part of Spain. It was united with 
Spain on the marriage of Ferdinand and Isa¬ 
bella, in 1469, but a complete union did not take 
place until ten years later. It is divided into 
the provinces of Huesca, Teruel, and Sargossa. 
The area is 14,984 square miles. Sargossa is 
the capital. In 1917 the province had a popula¬ 
tion of 975,580. 

ARAGUAY (a -ra-gwi'), or Grande, an im¬ 
portant river of Brazil, rises by several branches 
in the southern highlands of that country, and 
after a course of 1,350 miles joins the Tocantins 
River, which carries its water into the Para 
estuary. It incloses Santa Anna, an island 200 
miles long, and is navigable for 1,000 miles. 
The Das Mortes is its chief tributary. 

ARAL (ar'al), an inland salt-water lake of 
Asia, including a surface of 26,650 square miles, 
and forming the outlet of the historic Oxus, or 
Amu River, and of the Kizil Kum. It has no 


outlet to the sea, but there are evidences that 
it was formerly connected with the Caspian Sea. 
The lake has valuable sturgeon and other fish¬ 
eries. It is located wholly in Russian territory. 
At a remote period of history the lake bed was 
dry, and the waters of the rivers that now dis¬ 
charge into it flowed into the Caspian Sea. 

ARAM ( a'ram), Eugene, author, born at 
Ramsgill, England, in 1704; executed Aug. 6, 
1759. He descended from a gardener in humble 
circumstances, received only a limited early 
education, but later acquired a knowledge of 
Latin and Greek. His reputation is based on 
excellent success in school teaching and pro¬ 
found ability as a writer. In 1745 a man named 
Daniel Clark disappeared, and Aram was ac¬ 
cused of having killed him. Being thought im¬ 
plicated on account of circumstantial evidence, 
he was arrested and convicted, and subsequently 
was hanged. The story of Eugene Aram is 
told in a ballad by Hood, entitled “The Dream 
of Eugene Aram, the Murderer,” and in a ro¬ 
mance by Bulwer Lytton, entitled “Eugene 
Aram.” 

ARAMAIC (ar-a-ma'ic), a language spoken 
in the country between the Mediterranean Sea 
and the boundaries of Persia and Media on 
the one side and Asia Minor on the other. 
This section of Asia contained Mesopotamia, 
Chaldaea, and Assyria, and in ancient Hebrew 
histories the language is assigned to what is 
now known as Syria. There were two dialects, 
known as East Aramaic or Chaldee and West 
Aramaic or Syrian. The books of Ezra and 
Daniel and the Babylonian Talmud were written 
in Aramaic, and it was the official language in 
Palestine until Hebrew supplanted it. 

ARAPAHOES (a-rap'a-hos), an Indian 
tribe of North America, formerly resident 
near the sources of the Arkansas and Platte 
rivers. Their . survivors were transported to 
reservations now included in Oklahoma, where 
they were allotted land, and became prosperous 
as farmers and stock raisers. This tribe of 
Indians was generally friendly to the whites. 

ARARAT (ar'a-rat), a mountain of West¬ 
ern Asia, in Armenia, on the boundary between 
Persia, Turkey, and the Russian possessions. 
Its summit is covered perpetually with snow 
and rises 17,325 feet above sea level. Vegeta¬ 
tion extends to the snow line, about 14,000 
feet. It is volcanic, but is now thought to be 
extinct, the last eruption taking place in 1840. 
This mountain is historic on account of being 
the landing place of Noah’s ark after the del¬ 
uge, an account of which is contained in the 
Bible, in Gen. viii., 4. 

ARAUCANIA (a-rou-ka'ne-a), a district in 
the southern part of Chile, inhabited by the 
Araucanians, a native race of South America. 
The district includes the larger part of the 
province of Arauco and its boundaries are 
not well defined. The inhabitants were the last 
native tribe to become subject to the Spaniards. 


ARAUCARIA 


128 


ARBITRATION 


From 1537 to 1773 they maintained their in¬ 
dependence by force of arms, but in the latter 
year Spain recognized them as an independent 
people, and they did not submit until 1872, when 
their territory was made a part of Chile. 

ARAUCARIA (ar-a-ka'ri-a), a genus of 
large cone-bearing trees of the pine family, 
native tq Australia, South America, and the 
islands of the Pacific. The branches spread 
greatly and are covered with flat sharp-pointed 
leaves. Several species furnish timber of value 
for building, especially the Chile pine of the 
Andes and the Moreton Bay pine of New 
South Wales. 

ARBELA (arbe'la), an ancient town of As¬ 
syria, in the province of Bagdad, now the 
Turkish town of Erbil or Arbil. The modern 
town is built mostly with sun-dried brick, but 
has a number of large mosques and bazaars. 
It is famous on account of the last of the 
great battles fought between Alexander and 
Darius, in 331 b. c., though the battle took 
place at Gaugamela, about twenty miles distant. 
The present population is about 6,000, mostly 
Kurds. 

ARBITRATION (ar-bT-tra'shun), the set¬ 
tlement of disputes by submitting them to the 
decision of a private person or persons, instead 
of litigating in a court of justice. It is not 
permitted to arbitrate criminal cases, and ad¬ 
justments and settlements in civil cases by this 
means are not necessarily binding upon the 
parties thereto, even though an agreement to 
arbitrate be made in writing, since the con¬ 
tracting parties would in that case have no 
recourse to the jurisdiction of the courts. 

It has been a direct object of trades unions 
to avoid strikes and lockouts through the 
medium of arbitration. A number of govern¬ 
ments have laws authorizing arbitration, and 
in sixteen states of the United States boards of 
arbitration are specially provided by law. In 
some of the states the decision of a board 
of arbitration is binding on both parties for 
six months, or either party may give sixty 
days’ notice to have the decision set aside, 
while in the other states proceedings of this 
kind may be enforced by judgment, or the party 
objecting may be punished for contempt. New 
Zealand has a compulsory arbitration law, 
which was brought about to set aside the 
injurious effect of strikes. It is claimed that 
the law has not closed a factory, that strikes 
and lockouts have been few, and that wages 
and conditions under which workingmen have 
labored have been vastly improved. There 
men working on a salary as well as wage- 
earners may take advantage of arbitration. 
The last decade is notable for the growing 
tendency among legislators and the people to 
favor the principles of arbitration and grad¬ 
ually extend its benefits in personal cases as 
well as those affecting railways and other com¬ 
mon carriers. 


International arbitration refers to the settle¬ 
ment of disputes between states by judges 
chosen under an agreement, and the tribunals 
so constituted are governed by articles specify¬ 
ing the matters to be considered. In practice 
the judges or conference are special or gen¬ 
eral and are more or less restricted by agree¬ 
ment, and the relief granted may be temporary 
or permanent. Czar Nicholas II. recommended 
a peace conference, which met at The Hague, 
July 29, 1899, for the avowed purpose of effect¬ 
ing an understanding whereby a large part of 
the standing army might be disarmed and the 
general peace of nations preserved. While the 
object sought has not been attained, it has 
caused thought to turn toward means whereby 
prolonged wars may be avoided through peace¬ 
ful means, and as a result several questions of 
international importance have been referred to 
arbitrators. The most important instance of 
this kind in 1905 was the arbitration of the 
case between Russia and Great Britain on 
account of Admiral Rojestvensky firing upon 
English fishermen in the North Sea. The result 
of this adjustment was that Great Britain was 
awarded damages amounting to $325,000, which 
sum was paid, and further difficulties were 
avoided. 

Important among the list of arbitrations in 
which the United States was a party are the 
following: 

I. Settlement of the northeastern boundary, 
under the Jay Treaty of 1794, in which the 
United States and Great Britain were interested. 

II. The Treaty of Ghent in 1814, between 
the United States and Great Britain, which 
provided for determining the northeast bound¬ 
ary of the United States from the Saint 
Lawrence to the Saint Croix River, ownership 
of certain islands in the Bay of Fundy and the 
Passamaquoddy Bay, and to fix the boundary 
between the United States and Canada along 
the middle of the Great Lakes and to the Lake 
of the Woods. 

III. Arbitration between the United States 
and Great Britain in 1818, relative to the owner¬ 
ship of slaves who had been taken possession 
of by the British, with the result that the 
United States accepted $1,240,960 in full set¬ 
tlement. 

IV. An adjustment between the United 
States and Spain in 1819, which had reference 
to the claims of the Americans against Spain 
that arose during the occupation of Florida by 
the latter country. 

V. Adjustment of disputes regarding the 
northeastern boundary, in 1827, in which the 
case between the United States and Great 
Britain was referred to the King of the Nether¬ 
lands, and subsequently the matter was com¬ 
promised in the Webster-Ashburton Treaty. 

VI. Settlement between the United States and 
France of claims on account of damage done 
at sea by the French in the wars of Napoleon. 


ARBOR DAY 


129 


ARCADIA 


It was adjusted in 1831 by awarding $5,558,108 
indemnity to the United States. The claims 
were paid five years later, Great Britain acting 
as mediator. 

VII. Settlement of the northwestern bound¬ 
ary, between the United States and Great 
Britain, in 1846, having reference to the San 
Juan de Fuca Straits and the Haro Canal. 

VIII. Adjustment of fisheries rights, in 1855, 
along the shore of Canada, which was formally 
adjusted in 1866. 

IX. Settlement of disputes between the 
United States and Venezuela, in 1866, on ac¬ 
count of claims of American citizens against 
the latter country. An adjustment was reached 
under which more than a million dollars was 
to be paid, but a second commission reduced the 
award to $980,750, which was paid to the 
United States. 

X. Arbitration between the United States 
and France on account of injury growing out 
of the Mexican War of 1862-67, the Civil War, 
and the war between France and Germany, in 
which $612,000 was awarded to France. 

XI. Arbitration of rights in Samoa affect¬ 
ing the United States, Germany, and Great 
Britain, in 1889, which was submitted to the 
King of Sweden and an agreement was signed 
at Washington in 1899. 

XII. Arbitration of the United States and 
Great Britain, in 1892, regarding fisheries of 
the Bering Sea, in which an agreement was 
reached in 1896, and the United States 
paid $471,151 to Canadian sealers. 

XIII. Settlement of the boundary between 
Alaska and the British possessions, in 1897, 
which resulted in a final agreement in 1899. 

ARBOR DAY (ar'ber), a day designated by 
legislative enactment for the planting of trees, 
and which has come to be a day regularly 
observed in many states of the United States 
by the pupils of the public schools. Most states 
of the central west publish annually a manual 
compiled by the State department of public in¬ 
struction. This is sent to all the schools, and 
serves as a guide and program in conducting 
appropriate exercises. In some localities Bird 
Day is now associated with Arbor Day, the 
purpose being to stimulate interest in the study 
and protection of birds. The day came to be 
observed largely by the need of planting trees 
in the states of the Mississippi Valley. It was 
first inaugurated in Nebraska in 1874 by the 
State Board of Agriculture, at the suggestion 
of J. Sterling Morton, who afterward served 
as Secretary of Agriculture during President 
Cleveland’s second administration. Besides 
planting trees for shade and ornamental pur¬ 
poses, it is customary to plant them in memory 
of authors, statesmen, and war heroes. The day 
is looked forward to with as much pleasure as 
Washington’s Birthday or Thanksgiving Day, 
and is quite as appropriate. All other great 
days celebrate the past, but this day speaks for 
the future. 


ARBOR VITAE (ar’ber vl'te), a class of 
plants and shrubs allied to the cypress. They 
are evergreen, have flattened or compressed 
branchlets, and give off a pleasant balsamic 
smell. The arbor vitae common to North Amer¬ 
ica is prolific and grows to a height of forty to 
fifty feet. Chinese arbor vitae is a species valu¬ 
able for its resin, which yields a medicine use¬ 
ful in rheumatism. 

ARBUTUS (ar'bu-tus), a genus of trees 
and shrubs belonging 
to the heath order. The 
strawberry tree , which 
is a species of arbutus, 
yields a fleshy fruit 
useful for food and in 
the manufacture of 
beverages, especially al¬ 
coholic spirits. It is 
native to large parts of 
Southern Europe, and 
has been introduced to 
North America, espe¬ 
cially California. The 
trailing arbutus, or may- 
flower, is an American 
species of this genus 
of plants. The leaves 
are opposite in most 
species, and the foliage 
is quite beautiful. 

ARCADE ( iir-kad'), in architecture, a cov¬ 
ered passage, either open at the side with a 
range of pillars, or completely covered with 
woodwork or masonry. The term is applied in 
Gothic architecture to a range of arches, sup¬ 
ported on columns or tiers, either open or at¬ 
tached to a wall. In many structures of the 
mediaeval period they form the principal decora¬ 
tions both on the inside and outside, sometimes 
as real, and other times as blind, galleries. At 
present the finest arcades are in Paris, where 
they are convenient thoroughfares as well as 
decorations, and many are lined with elegant 
shops. 

ARCADIA ( ar-ka'di-a), an inland and 
mountainous country of ancient Greece, next to 
Laconia the largest ancient division of the Pel¬ 
oponnesus. The most important mountain is 
Cyllene, the birthplace of Hermes. In the east¬ 
ern portion are several lakes, whose waters 
form the great waterfall of the Styx, which 
was thought by the Greeks to be the principal 
river or the infernal regions. The inhabitants 
from times far remote possessed marks of sim¬ 
plicity and inertness, due largely to the condi¬ 
tion of their rural life and their employment, 
which was principally pastoral. They conducted 
a number of wars against the Spartans and 
later joined the Achaean league, and still later 
their territory was merged into the Roman 
province of Achaia. At present Arcadia forms 
a province of the kingdom of Greece. The 
area is 2,030 square miles and its population, 
147,650. 



ARBUTUS. 


9 


ARC DE TRIOMPHE DE L’ ETOILE 130 


ARCHAEOPTERYX 


ARC DE TRIOMPHE DE L’ ETOILE 

(ark de tre-onf' de la-twal'), a triumphal arch 
located in Paris, at the head of Champs Elysees. 
It was begun by Napoleon I. in 1806 and com¬ 
pleted 30 years later by Louis Philippe. The 
structure was designed by Chalgrin, is 150 feet 
long by 160 feet high, and is ornamented with 
reliefs representing the victories of Napoleon. 
It is the largest structure of the kind in the 
world. 

ARCH (arch), in building, a portion of ma¬ 
sonry in the shape of an arc or bow, constructed 
in the form of truncated wedges, and arranged 
in a curved line in order to support weight by 
mutual pressure. It is usually constructed to 
support the building over an open space, as a 
doorway, in which a single stone often forms 
the entire arch. When constructed of a num¬ 
ber of stones, it contains a middle wedge-shaped 
stone, called the keystone, its purpose being to 
lock the whole together. The exterior or upper 
curve is the extrados; the inner curve, the intra- 
dos; the highest part, the crown; and the lowest 
stone on either side, the springer. In construct- 


the Great Lakes, and in extensive regions of 
the Appalachian and Rocky Mountains. It 
abounds in Eastern Asia, Central Africa, and 
Northern Europe, extending in the last-men¬ 
tioned continent from the Arctic Ocean through 
the Scandinavian Peninsula to the Alps. 

ARCHAEOLOGY (ar-ke-ol'o-jy), the name 
given to the study formerly known as that of 
antiquities. In its wider sense it includes a 
knowledge of the origin of the language, law, 
religion, institutions, literature, manners, arts, 
science, customs, in fact everything that can 
be learned of the habits and life of a people. 
In a narrower signification it is understood to 
mean and include all the material from which a 
knowledge of the ancient conditions are to be 
attained, but usually comprehends more or less 
of several branches of knowledge that are rec¬ 
ognized as distinct lines of study. Archaeology 
divides the primitive stages of human life and 
occupation into various periods, such as the 
stone, bronze, and iron ages. These names are 
used to designate periods of time on account of 
the materials employed during the different 




ing an arch a temporary frame of wood is first 
put up, the top of which is shaped like the arch; 
then the stones are laid up to it until they con¬ 
nect at the top, and the keystone is put in, when 
the temporary structure is taken down. In 
Moorish architecture the arch is in the form of 
a horseshoe, while the Gothic is pointed at the 
top. The longest stone arch ever made is in the 
bridge over the Adda River, in Italy. ‘It is 251 
feet long and was completed in the 14th cen¬ 
tury. 

ARCHAEAN (ar-ke'an), the earliest period 
in geological history, extending up to the 
Lower Silurian. It includes two ages, the Azoic 
and Eozoic, the former embracing the time pre¬ 
vious to the appearance of life, and the latter 
including the earliest forms of life. American 
writers frequently refer to the Archaean period 
or system as the Primitive, Laurentian, and 
Huronian. The rocks of this period consist 
largely of granite, gneiss, and schist, mixed 
more or less with igneous formations, and they 
are characterized by volcanic disturbances in 
periods far remote. In America this system 
abounds in British America from the Arctic to 


ages for implements and weapons. The word 
age designates the stage at which a people ar¬ 
rived, hence stone age means the period of time 
before the use of bronze, and the phrase bronze 
age, the time before iron was employed by any 
particular people. These ages are again divided 
and subdivided until all times, conditions, and 
phases of human life become classified for con¬ 
venience in study. In the 19th century more 
was learned of the antiquity of man than in all 
previous centuries. 

ARCHAEOPTERYX (ar-ke-op'te-riks), a 
fossil bird of which traces are found in the 
rocks of the Jurassic system. Fossil remains 
are more numerous in Bavaria than in any other 
region. This animal was about the size of a 
crow and had thirteen teeth in the upper man¬ 
dible and six in the lower, each tooth set in a 
separate socket. The tail was long and the 
wings were large, and that it was able to fly is 
not doubted, since its feet indicate that it had 
arboreal habits. Some naturalists have traced 
through this animal a possible relationship be¬ 
tween the birds and the reptiles. See illustra¬ 
tion on following page. 



















































































ARCHANGEL 


131 


ARCHIMEDES 


ARCHANGEL (ark-an'jel), or Arkhan¬ 
gelsk, a city in Russia, capital of a province of 
the same name, on the Dwina River, 740 miles 
northeast of Petrograd. It has good rail¬ 
road and steamboat facilities, and an exten¬ 



sive trade with Russian and other port cities by 
the White Sea. Being in a cold region, the port 
is closed for six months by ice. It was founded 
in 1584, and was long the only seaport of Rus¬ 
sia. The shortest day at Archangel is about 
three hours, while the longest is twenty-one 
hours. Archangel province has an area of 331,- 
490 square miles and a population of 350,675. 

.The population of the city is 38,648. 

ARCHANGEL, a term used to denote an 
angel superior in power and glory to other 
angels, but some think it has direct reference 
to Christ. In I. Thess. iv, 16, is given an ac¬ 
count of the coming of the Lord on the last 
day, which is to be: “With the voice of the 
archangel, and with the trump of God.”—Arch¬ 
bishop, a chief bishop, or one who superin¬ 
tends the conduct of other bishops. This posi¬ 
tion was established in the early period of 
Christianity, and is continued by the Roman 
and Greek Catholic and several Protestant 
churches. 

ARCHBALD (arch'bald), a borough of 
Pennsylvania, in Lackawanna County, 10 miles 
northeast of Scranton, on the Lackawanna 
River. It is conveniently located on the Dela¬ 
ware and Hudson and the New York, Ontario 
and Western railroads. Coal mining is carried 
on extensively in the surrounding country. Silk 
textiles, clothing, and machinery are manufac¬ 
tured. Population, 1920, 8,603. 

ARCHELAUS (ar-ke-la'us), eminent Greek 
general, a native of Cappadocia, and associated 
with Mithridates the Great. In 87 b. c. he 
sought to expel an invasion of Greece by the 
Romans, but was compelled to retreat to Ath¬ 
ens, where he was attacked and besieged by 
Sulla, who defeated him at Chaeronea and Or- 
chomenus. He deserted and joined the Romans 
in 81 b. c., after signing a treaty of peace with 
Sulla, and commanded a Roman army in the 
second Mithridatic war. 

ARCHER FISH (arch'er), a small fish 
common to the East Indies. A species native 
of Java is about six inches long, has an elon¬ 
gated lower jaw, and its body is covered with 


small scales extending to the lower part of the 
dorsal fins. This fish is remarkable for the 
manner in which it ejects drops of water at 
insects, causing them to fall from the air into 
the water, where they are caught and devoured. 
The projectile force with which water is thrown 
is so forceful that it will strike a fly at a dis¬ 
tance of three to four feet. 

ARCHERY (arch'er-y), the art or prac¬ 
tice of shooting with the bow and arrow. The 
use of this weapon in war and for hunting dates 
from early antiquity. The ancients most skilled 
in archery were the Cretans, Thracians, Nu- 
midians, and Parthians, and in later years the 
Arabs, Saracens, and Germans. Long after the 
discovery of gunpowder we find the bow and 
arrow still used, even as late as 1572, when 
Queen Elizabeth promised to place at the dis¬ 
posal of Charles IX. 3,000 archers. In the 18th 
century societies were formed in England to 
preserve archery for the purpose of enjoyment 
and healthful exercise, and it is still popular 
as a recreation in the United States and Europe. 
The American Indians, at the time of the dis¬ 
covery of America, used the bow and arrow ex¬ 
clusively for defensive and offensive warfare, 
and they still practice the art for amusement. 

In recent years archery, as a recreation and 
healthful exercise, has grown in popularity, and 
clubs to promote the amusement are quite com¬ 
mon in the United States and Canada. The 
practice is confined chiefly to shooting at tar¬ 
gets. The Potomac Archery Association and a 
number of others hold annual contests, the 
rounds consisting of ninety-six arrows at sixty 
yards. It is common to have team competitions 
as well as tests for the longest flight, and in 
amateur contests the rounds usually consist of 
sixty arrows at forty yards. 

ARCHIMEDES (ar-ki-me'deez), the most 
celebrated of ancient mathematicians, born in 
Syracuse, Sicily, about 287 b. c. He is reputed 
to have been a kinsman of King Hiero, though 
he took no part in public affairs, and devoted 
his entire time to scientific research. Consid¬ 
ering the condition of mathematics in his time, 
the discoveries of utility he made, and the many 
useful rules he formulated, his works may be 
regarded both important and wonderful. On 
his discoveries are based modern methods of 
measuring curved surfaces and solids. He dem¬ 
onstrated that the area of a segment of a parab¬ 
ola is two-thirds of the inclosed parallelogram. 
He also made higher investigations and wrote 
a treatise on spirals. The principle of hydro¬ 
statics to which his name is attached is, “That 
a body immersed in a fluid loses as much in 
weight as the weight of an equal volume of 
fluid.” It is said that this caused him so much 
joy that he exclaimed, Eureka! Eureka! mean¬ 
ing thereby, “I have found it! I have found it!” 
He was the inventor of the Archimedes screw, 
the compound pulley, and other useful imple¬ 
ments. It is said that he originated an appli- 




ARCHIMEDES’ SCREW 


132 


ARCHITECTURE 


ance by which he concentrated the rays of the 
sun through the agency of concave mirrors, and 
thereby set the Roman ships on fire in an en¬ 
gagement. Several of his works on mathe¬ 
matics are still extant. He was slain at the 
time of the Roman invasion, in 212 b. c., while 
sitting in the market place engaged in the solu¬ 
tion of some mathematical problem. 

ARCHIMEDES’ SCREW, a machine for 
lifting water, thought to have been invented by 
Archimedes while in Egypt for draining and 
irrigating land. It is constructed of a tube fas¬ 
tened around a solid shaft or cylinder, and so 
framed that it may be turned around its axis. 
The cylinder is hollowed out to form a double 
or triple threaded screw. The machine is placed 
in position with one end in the water and the 
other resting on a perpendicular pillar. When 
in this position, the lower end fills with water, 



ARCHIMEDES’ SCREW. 


and, when the shaft or cylinder is turned, the 
revolution carries the water upward to the per¬ 
pendicular post and causes it to fall at its base. 
Similar machines are now built and largely in 
use in Holland for draining the lowlands. 

ARCHIPELAGO (ar-ki-pel'a-go), the name 
applied to a group of islands, such as the Car¬ 
ibbean, Patagonian, Aleutian, and others. How¬ 
ever, the term was originally used to designate 
the archipelago located in the Mediterranean 
Sea, commonly called the Grecian archipelago. 

ARCHITECTURE (ar'ki-tek-tur), the art 
of building. The term is used more specifically 
to denote the art of building human habitations, 
temples, or edifices of any kind, either humble 
or splendid. It is limited generally to the art of 
constructing edifices to gratify the mind, please 
the eye, and answer primary purposes of utility. 
It is often classed as a science, because it draws 
upon geometry and carries out the principles 
of various sciences. The architecture of a peo¬ 
ple indicates their mental and moral qualities, 
and is an index of the state of civilization to 
which they have attained. As a whole it is 
commonly divided into three classes: military, 
naval, and civil. Military architecture embraces 
the construction of fortifications for defensive 
purposes, as a means of subduing insurrections 
or repelling an invasion by foreign enemies. 
Naval architecture comprises the art of ship¬ 
building and includes the construction of ves¬ 


sels for commerce and offensive and defensive 
action in war. Civil architecture comprises all 
other lines not included in the two former, and 
is generally studied from an artistic, scientific, 
and utilitarian point of view. 

Remote Ancient Architecture. Numerous 
styles of architecture have been known from 
times far remote. Their characteristics were 
determined largely by the social development 
and moral aptitude of the nations. The oldest 
architectural structures that still remain are 
those of the Egyptians. They are of immense 
size, simple in design, and of regular outline, 
and indicate that the builders took into account 
few rules that render a building artistic. Im¬ 
mense blocks of stone were raised to great 
heights, and used to complete plain, rough struc¬ 
tures. Most of the larger buildings of Egypt 
were destroyed fully 500 years b. c. Those 
that do remain contain great walls and pillars 
ornamented with hieroglyphics and drawings on 
stone. They are rather inelegant, but service¬ 
able in preserving the history of the builders. 
The most interesting structures that still re¬ 
main are the pyramids, once the tombs of 
Egyptian kings, built of immense blocks of 
stone, and gradually narrowing from a broad 
base to a narrow apex. The largest still in 
existence is 498 feet high and 693 feet square 
at the base. The Grecian historian, Herodotus, 
in giving an account of these ancient wonders, 
ascribes their building to Cheops, who kept 100,- 
000 men at work on the largest one for a period 
of twenty years. The obelisks were placed at 
the entrance of palaces and temples, and on 
their surface were descriptive hieroglyphics and 
symbols illustrating the successes achieved in 
war by the great kings and heroes. They were 
usually four-cornered shafts of immense height, 
cut from the quarry in single blocks, and used 
as ornaments in public places. Ruins of great 
palaces are found in Persia and Assyria, the 
oldest and most noted among them being the 
palace of Nimrod, probably built in the year 
884 b. c. Others are found at Susa in Persia, 
and still others in Babylonia, where once reigned 
the great Nebuchadnezzar, a Chaldean King of 
Babylon, in the 6th century b. c. The brick 
found in these ruins bear the imprint of this 
famous sovereign of ancient history, and indi¬ 
cate that the architecture of his time was won¬ 
derful in its massive design and durable 
strength. 

Greek Architecture. In Grecian architec¬ 
ture three styles are recognized, the Doric, the 
Ionic, and the Corinthian; the important differ¬ 
ences in these styles consist rather in the finish¬ 
ing than in other respects. The most beautiful 
Grecian structures were erected in the period 
included between 650 and 324 b. c. In general, 
the Greek buildings were adorned with paint¬ 
ings and sculptures, and the details were en¬ 
riched by magnificent colors. The most remarka¬ 
ble edifices of the Greeks were temples dedi- 


i 















ARCHITECTURE 


133 


ARCHITECTURE 


cated to the cause of patriotism, of which class 
the Parthenon at Athens, which still remains, is 
the most famous. They built large theaters 
capable of seating 20,000 spectators and pro¬ 
vided them with general conveniences for the 



COLOGNE CATHEDRAL, GERMANY. 


assemblage of large numbers. Ruins of many 
Grecian structures are still found in Sicily, 
Greece, and Asia Minor. With the death of 
Alexander the Great, Grecian architecture rap¬ 
idly declined. 

Roman Architecture. The Romans patterned 
largely from the Greeks, and built after their 
style in the construction of theaters, temples, 
bridges, aqueducts, baths, triumphal arches, and 
private residences. Their orders included also 
the Tuscan and Composite styles. The Titus 
arch at Rome is one of their finest structures. 
In the reign of Augustus the architecture of 
Rome attained its greatest perfection, which is 
evidenced by the fact that many magnificent 
edifices of his period are still intact. In the 
construction of aqueducts and sewers, the 
Romans were especially skillful, in which they 
made extensive use of the arch. They built vast 
baths, or thermae, suitable for use by a multitude 
of people at the same time. Their architecture 


was not only utilitarian, but combined with that 
essential feature an imposing and costly appear¬ 
ance. Roman architecture began to decline 
soon after the death of Hadrian, in 138 a. d. 

Byzantine Architecture. At the time of 
Constantine the Christians were permitted to 
build places of worship. Their architecture still 
marks by its peculiarities many of the churches 
of Eastern Europe and Asia Minor. The style 
of architecture adopted by these Christians is 
known as the Byzantine, from Byzantium, once 
the capital of Rome. Saint Sophia, at Constan¬ 
tinople, is one of the finest churches built in this 
style, but it has been converted into a Turkish 
mosque. It was constructed by Justinian, and 
to it were applied the fundamental principles 
of the Roman arch. Its magnificent dome is 
the most striking feature of the building. With 
the fall of Rome the most beautiful and val¬ 
uable works of ancient architecture were de¬ 
stroyed by the Vandals, Goths, and other bar¬ 
barians of Europe and Western Asia. Soon 
after other styles of architecture were intro¬ 
duced by the Normans and Lombards. The 
former flourished in England in the 13th cen¬ 
tury, while the latter originated in South Ger¬ 
many as early as the 8th century. With the 
conquest of Spain by the Moors in the 8th cen¬ 
tury, Moorish or Saracenic forms of architec¬ 
ture were introduced into Europe. The most 
noted Moorish building still remaining is the 
Alhambra, near the city of Granada, Spain. The 
early Germans were unskilled in architecture 
and did not make any progress in this line until 
the 8th century, when Charlemagne introduced 
the Roman and Byzantine styles. Later Roman¬ 
esque architecture, in which the semicircular 
arch is prominent, became popular both in 
France and Germany. 

Gothic Architecture. Later the people of 
Germany and France began to develop the mod¬ 
ern Gothic style, with its pointed arches, clus¬ 
tered pillars, vaulted roof, and profusion of 
ornaments. The best forms of architecture in 
England and Scotland are built after the styles 
introduced by the Normans, after their con¬ 
quest of Britain. The finest specimen of Gothic 
architecture in Europe is the Cathedral of Co¬ 
logne, Germany, and the best representative of 
this style in England is Westminster Abbey, 
London. At a later date the windows were 
divided into small panes, the doorways were 
constructed with square tops over pointed 
arches, and other departures from former styles 
were made, as, for instance, by tracery in 
straight lines instead of waving lines. In the 
17th century England adopted largely what was 
known as the Elizabethan style, divers charac¬ 
teristics of which are still found in many build¬ 
ings in that country. The Gothic style was su¬ 
perseded in Italy by the Renaissance style, 
which was in fact a revival of the classic style 
and aimed rather to make ornamental than 
useful. 


















































































































































































































































































































ARCHITECTURE 


134 


ARCOLE 


Recent Architecture. Modern architecture 
is a term used to designate all varieties of 
styles in building since the Renaissance. Though 
not always, it is quite generally in imitation of 
older forms. Private dwellings are of the Re¬ 
naissance style, while churches are constructed 
more or less after the Gothic. However, mod¬ 
ern architecture employs different materials 
more largely than were employed in former 
times, especially iron and steel. Besides, in 
cities many buildings are of considerable ffeight, 
largely on account of the enormous rise of val¬ 
ues in real estate in the business centers and 
advantages gained by location in close proxim¬ 
ity to the great avenues of business. However, 
a building with twenty to fifty stories is no 
disadvantage so far as convenience is con¬ 
cerned, for the reason that the general use of 
elevators has made access to the upper stories 
a matter of only a few moments. In some of 
the great cities of the United States and Can¬ 
ada structures have been erected in which more 
business is transacted in a year, and in many 
more lines, than in whole cities containing a 
population of 10,000 people. Such vast build¬ 
ings are used for department stores and the 
jobbing trade, and in many cases for a large 
combination of interests. 

Modern architecture is so diversified and par¬ 
takes of such a large variety of forms that it 
has become difficult to classify all the different 
styles. The most modern structures erected in 
large cities, and which are designed for much 
capacity on a small foundation, contain a frame¬ 
work entirely of steel. In these buildings the 
steel frame carries the whole building. Among 



modern residence. 

the advantages accruing from such architec¬ 
tural styles are rapidity in construction, large 
capacity, great durability, and entire safety from 
fire. Some of the most wonderful and finest 
buildings of recent design are the Masonic Tem¬ 
ple, Chicago; the Union Trust Company’s office, 
St. Louis; and the Singer Building and the 
Woolworth Building, New York City. The 
last mentioned is 51 stories high and is the 
tallest office structure in the world. Other 
buildings quite as substantial and serviceable 
have been constructed in manv of the large 
cities of Canada and the United States. A 


personal inspection of any of these will inspire 
feelings of awe and admiration. What a won¬ 
derful transition from the Indian hut of prime- 



MASONIC TEMPLE, CHICAGO. 


val America to the colossal structures witnessed 
in the 20th century! 

ARCH TRIUMPHAL, a decorated arch 
built by the Romans to celebrate a victory, and 
through which a victorious general and his 
army passed in triumph. This custom grew 
and caused permanent structures, richly sculp¬ 
tured in bronze and stone, to be built after the 
pattern of a city gate. Among the most re¬ 
markable of these arches still remaining in good 
condition are the arch of Trajan at Beneven- 
tum, the arches of Titus and Constantine at 
Rome, and. that of Augustus at Armini. See 
Arc de Triompe de 1* Etoile. 

ARC LIGHT, a kind of electric light pro¬ 
duced by current of high electro-motive force 
passing between a pair of carbon rods, kept a 
short distance apart, one being in contact with 
the positive and the other with the negative 
terminal of a dynamo. It is unsteady because 
the arc leaps from side to side as the carbon 
wears away, the carbon rods being kept at the 
proper distance by an automatic regulator. The 
arc light is the most brilliant artificial light 
known, and is used for lighting halls, streets, 
and other public places. 

ARCOLE (ar'ko-la), a village in Italy, on 
the Alpone River, a tributary of the Adige, 15 
miles southeast of Verona. It is celebrated’ for 
a decisive battle between the French under Na¬ 
poleon and the Austrians under Aldinczv, on 
Nov. 17, 1796, in which the Austrians were de¬ 
feated. The battle commenced on the 14th of 
November, and in the series of engagements 
the Austrians lost 18,000 men and were com- 





























































(Opp. 134) MODERN AND PRIMITIVE BUILDINGS. 

Upper View—Modern home. Notice the lawn and cement walk. 
Central View—Rude primitive dwellings in the lake. 

Lower View—Dwellings built of bamboo, mud and grass. 


















' 







■ 

' * 







. 

'■ 

” 




































ARCOS DE LA FRONTERA 


135 


ARCTIC OCEAN 


pelled to abandon the relief of Mantua, which 
was besieged by a French army. At present 
the population of Arcole is 5,259. 

ARCOS DE LA FRONTERA (ar'kos da 
la fron-ta'ra), a town of Spain, in the province 
of Cadiz, on the Gaudalete River, about 30 
miles northeast of Cadiz. It is the seat of seven 
monasteries, a Gothic church, and a public 
library. Considerable trade is carried on in wine, 
fruit, and tanned leather. Magelhaens started 
from this place in 1569 on his first trip to cir¬ 
cumnavigate the globe. Population, 1920, 14,393. 

ARCTIC (ark'tik), the term which implies 
the opposite to Antarctic and has reference to 
the region surrounding the North Pole. The 
North Pole was so named from its proximity 
to the constellation of the bear, called Arktos 
by the Greeks.—Arctic Circle, a circle imagined 
drawn parallel to the Equator, at a distance of 
23° 28' from the North Pole. It includes the 
North Frigid Zone, and is of equal extent to 
the South Frigid Zone, which surrounds the 
South Pole. These are called the two polar 
circles. Within each of these circles occurs a 
period of the year when the sun does not set, 
and another when it is not seen. Each of these 
periods is longest at the poles, at which the days 
and nights are of six months’ duration. 

ARCTIC EXPEDITIONS, the designa¬ 
tion applied to the expeditions designed to pen¬ 
etrate and explore the vast regions surrounding 
the North Pole. Formerly the prime object of 
Arctic explorations was to seek and establish 
a passage by way of the polar regions to Asia, 
but it was also thought for many years, and 
this view is still held by some, that an open sea 
lies near the North Pole. To explore this sup¬ 
posed open expanse and establish a passage by 
it were undoubtedly the objects that first led 
to these expeditions. When it became known 
that passage through these regions is impossi¬ 
ble, expeditions were still sent for the purpose 
of scientific discovery, and to experiment in 
endeavoring to get to or nearest to the pole. 
Up to 190G the farthest point north was reached 
by the Duke of Abruzzi, but he was exceeded by 
Peary in 1907, by Cook in 1908, and again by 
Peary in 1909, both reaching the North Pole. The 
following are among the points farthest north 
reached by famous explorers, including those of 
Peary and Cook, both these explorers sailing 
from the United States: 


YEAR. 

EXPLORERS. 

N. LATITUDE. 

1 AD7 


80° 

23' 

0 " 

lOU/ 

1771 


80° 

48' 

0 " 

i on/C 


81° 

12' 

42" 

* louo 

1827 

1 Q7/1 

Parry. 

82° 

82° 

50' 

0 ' 

0" 

0" 

Ao/ » 

1875 

Markham and Parr (Nares expe- 

83° 

20' 

26" 

1Q7£ 


83° 

07 ' 

0 " 

IQQJ. 


83° 

24' 

0 " 

loo^t 
i on/c 


86° 

14' 

0 " 

loVO 

ionn 


86° 

33' 

0" 



87° 

6' 

0" 

iyuo 

1 OAQ 

KODert XV. i edi .. 

0° 

0 ' 

0" 

1909 

Robert E. Peary . 

0° 

0' 

0" 


See Polar Expeditions. 


ARCTIC OCEAN, the ocean which sur¬ 
rounds the North Pole. It is bounded on the 
south mainly by the grand divisions of North 
America, Europe, and Asia, and is wholly in¬ 
cluded within the Arctic Circle. A wide ex¬ 
panse of the sea between Norway and Green¬ 
land connects it with the Atlantic, and it com¬ 
municates with the Pacific by the narrow chan¬ 
nel of Bering Strait. Within it are numerous 
islands, including Nova Zembla, Spitzbergen, 
Franz Josef Land, New Siberia, and the Arctic 
Archipelago of North America. Among the 
principal livers that flow into it are the Mack¬ 
enzie, Lena, Obi, and Yenisei. The Arctic Cur¬ 
rent flows southward between Iceland and 
Greenland, doubles Cape Farewell, and passes 
into Davis Strait, where it is joined by the 
Labrador Current. A small drift of water 
passes into the Arctic through Bering Strait. 

A large part of the Arctic Ocean is frozen 
during the greater part of the year. Owing 
to dense fogs, floating icebergs, severe storms, 
and long nights, only a comparatively small part 
is accessible to navigators. However, it is a 
prolific source of whales, and many ships visit 
the southern portions annually. The most val¬ 
uable regions for fishing are west of Spitzber¬ 
gen, in the vicinity of Greenland, and in the 
waters contiguous to Alaska. The region of 
Bering Strait yields annually large quantities 
of whales, cod, and walrus. On the eastern 
coast of Siberia are found numerous bones of 
mammoths. These bones are inclosed in ice, 
and are released at the time of the thaws in 
the summer season. Besides fossil remains of 
ivory, there are large beds of wood, some of it 
petrified, and some in an advanced state of 
decay. Some of these wood deposits are forty 
feet below the surface, and indicate that in 
prehistoric times luxuriant vegetation existed in 
the far north, both in Eurasia and North 
America. Sea water freezes at about 28°, and 
the ice reaches a thickness of about seven feet 
in one season, from which the intense cold of 
the polar regions may be understood. 

The icebergs met with in the Arctic Ocean 
reach an enormous thickness, being an accumu¬ 
lation of snow and ice that is piled up for many 
years. The presence of these obstructions en¬ 
dangers navigation and makes it necessary that 
exploring expeditions proceed with great cau¬ 
tion. While a region of about 2,500,000 square 
miles surrounding the North Pole is unknown 
to geographers, it is reasonably certain that the 
unknown part is a vast sea of ice. The northern 
lights, known as the aurora borealis, are beau¬ 
tiful illuminations of the Arctic seas, and ex¬ 
tend far into the heavens, hence they may be 
seen a long distance toward the south from the 
north polar regions. They appear in a variety 
of forms. At times great pillars of light move 
rapidly across the heavens, or the entire north¬ 
ern sky is lit up by one great flash of rapidly 
moving beams. The illuminations more fre- 



























ARCTURUS 


136 


ARGENTINA 


quently observed consist of arches of fire, from 
which long streamers flash toward the zenith. 

ARCTURUS (ark-tu'rus), a fixed star, the 
largest in the constellation of Bootes. It is a 
star of the first magnitude, in the northern 
heavens, and may be found by continuing the 
curve of the tail of the Great Bear. 

ARDMORE (ard'mor), a city of Oklahoma, 
in the Chickasaw nation, about ninety miles 
southeast of Oklahoma City, on the Atchison, 
Topeka and Santa Fe and other railroads. It 
is surrounded by a fertile farming region, and 
has a considerable trade in farm produce, live 
stock, and merchandise. Bituminous coal is 
mined in the vicinity. Among the public im¬ 
provements are several fine school and church 
buildings, waterworks, and electric lights. It 
is the seat of Hargrove College. The city was 
incorporated in 1898. Population, 1920, 14,181. 

ARE ( ar), the unit of land measure used 
in France. It is equal to 100 square meters, or 
1,076.44 square feet. There are 100 ares in a 
hectare, which is equal to 2.47 acres. 

ARECIBO (a-ra-se'bo), a seaport of Porto 
Rico, on the north coast of the island, 50 miles 
west of San Juan. It is located at the month of 
the Arecibo River, but the harbor is shallow and 
cannot be entered by the larger vessels. Several 
churches, the government building, and a num¬ 
ber of public schools are its chief improvements. 
It is on the railroad running along the northern 
coast and has considerable trade in sugar, to¬ 
bacco, and fruit. Population, 1920, 9,612. 

ARENA (a-re'na), the portion of a Roman 
amphitheater where the combats of wild beasts 
and gladiators were exhibited. It was provided 
with four main entrances, and was inclosed by 
a wall fifteen feet high to protect the spectators. 
The floor was covered with sand. The term is 
now applied to places of combat and large sum¬ 
mer theaters. 

ARENDAL (a'ren-dal), a city in Norway, 
on Bohus Bay, 41 miles northeast of Christian- 
sand. It is built partly on islands and partly on 
the mainland, hence it has been called “Little 
Venice.” It has railroad facilities and a good 
harbor, and carries a large export trade in iron 
and timber. Population, 1916, 11,250. 

AREOPAGUS (ar-e-op'a-gus), or Mars 
Hill, a rocky eminence in ancient Athens, situ¬ 
ated near the acropolis, famous as the seat of 
the celebrated council or court known by the 
same name. In this court sat as judges all 
who had filled the archonship without having 
been expelled, though the number varies con¬ 
siderably. The judges occupied seats in the 
open air. It is said that Pericles deprived the 
judges of some of their power and later they 
became responsible to the people, but the court 
still flourished in the time of Emperor Theodo¬ 
sius. Paul plead the cause of Christianity be¬ 
fore this august court, the highest that Athens 
could boast. See Acts xvii., 19-22. 

AREQUIPA (a-ra-ke'pa), a city of Peru, 


in a state of the same name, on the Chile River, 
near the volcano Arequipa. It is surrounded 
by a fertile region, which also produces valua¬ 
ble minerals, including gold and silver. The 
city has railroad connections with Molliendo, 
its seaport, and also with Cuzco and several 
cities on Lake Titicaca. In the 16th century it 
was nearly buried in ashes thrown from the 
volcano of Misti, and it has since suffered se¬ 
verely from earthquakes. Population, 1920, 
35,500. 

AREZZO (a-ret'sd), a city in Italy, capital 
of the province of Arezzo, about 50 miles 
southeast of Florence. It has railroad conven¬ 
iences, two colleges, and an extensive museum. 
The manufactures embrace silk textiles and 
ironware, and it has a brisk trade in fruit and 
cereals. Arezzo was founded by the Etruscans, 
and is the birthplace of Petrarch, Cesalpino, 
Maecenas, and Pietro Aretino. Population 
(commune), 1921, 44,316. 

ARGAND LAMP (ar'gand), a lamp in¬ 
vented by Aime Argand, a Swiss chemist, in 
1782, and designed for burning oil. In this 
lamp a wick in the form of a hollow cylinder 
is used, which permits a current of air to 
ascend, so the supply of oxygen is increased, 
thus diminishing the waste of carbon and in¬ 
creasing the amount of light. This burner, sup¬ 
plied with a glass chimney to create a draft, 
is used extensively in kerosene lamps. 

ARGELANDER (ar-ge-lan'der), Friedrich 
Wilhelm August, astronomer, born in Memel, 
Germany, March 22, 1799; died Feb. 17, 1875. 
He studied at Konigsberg and in 1823 was made 
director of the observatory at Abo, Finland, 
where he catalogued the fixed stars that have 
what he termed perceptible “proper motion.” 

ARGENSOLA (ar-h&n-so'la), Bartolome 
Leonardo de, poet, born at Barbastro, Spain, 
Aug. 26, 1562; died Feb. 26, 1631. He became 
a canon of Saragossa and gave much attention 
to literature, especially poetry. His “History 
of the Conquest of the Moluccas” is a standard 
work on the subject of which it treats. His 
brother, Lupercio Leonardo de Argensola 
(1559-1613), is a lyric poet of much repute. The 
two brothers are often called the “Horaces of 
Spain.” 

ARGENT A, a city of Pulaski County, 
Arkansas, near Little Rock, on the Iron Moun¬ 
tain, the Cotton Belt, and other railroads. The 
features include the Y. M. C. A. building, city 
hall, high school, and many churches. It has 
oil mills and large railway shops. It was in¬ 
corporated in 1903. Population, 1920, 11,128. 

ARGENTINA (ar-jen-te'na), or Argentine 
Republic, a republic of South America, next to 
Brazil the largest country of that continent. It 
is bounded on the north by Bolivia and Para¬ 
guay; east by Paraguay, Brazil, Uruguay, and 
the Atlantic; south by the Atlantic and Chile, 
and west by Chile. The length from north to 
south is about 2,100 miles, and the width ranges 


ARGENTINA 


137 


ARGENTINA 


from 200 miles in the south to nearly 1.000 
miles in the north. A portion of the island of 
Tierra del Fuego, the eastern part, and several 
islands along its coast are included as posses¬ 
sions of the republic; area 1,153,119 sq. mi. 

Description. Along the western boundary 
are the elevated ranges of the Andes, which 
separate Argentina from Chile, and the north¬ 
ern part is more or less elevated and hilly. A 
few ranges of mountains characterize the coun¬ 
try east of the Andean Plateau, such as the 
Sierra de Cordoba and the Ventana Highlands, 
but the larger part of the surface is slightly un¬ 
dulating in the central part and quite level 
along the Atlantic coast. Among the natural 
features of the country are its extensive plains, 
which occupy more than three-fourths of the 
surface. In the south are the plains of Pata¬ 
gonia, in the central part are the pampas, and 
in the northeastern section are the Chico plains. 
The plains are fertile in the region where rain¬ 
fall is abundant and abound in luxuriant vege¬ 
tation. Along the streams are belts of valuable 
forests, but the plains of Patagonia are almost 
treeless, though they have a growth of shrubs, 
herbs, and tufty grass. The soil is from three 
to eight feet deep, made largely by decaying 
vegetable matter, under which is a sedimentary 
subsoil made by alluvial deposits. 

The drainage is wholly toward the south and 
east into the Atlantic. On the eastern border is 
the Uruguay, which separates the country from 
Brazil and Uruguay. The Parana, -which forms 
a part of the boundary with Paraguay, receives 
the Rio Salado and the Pilcomayo, and dis¬ 
charges a large volume of water into the Rio 
de la Plata. Among the streams that flow di¬ 
rectly into the Atlantic are the Colorado, the 
Negro, the Chubut, the Deseado, and the Chico. 
Many fresh-water lakes abound in the table¬ 
lands east of the Andes, including lakes Chi- 
quila, Amarga, Porongos, Musters, and Viedma. 
Lake Buenos Ayres, the source of the Deseado 
River, is in the south central part. Along the 
eastern shore are numerous inlets and bays, in¬ 
cluding the Bay of Samborombon and the gulfs 
of San Matias, Nueva, and San Jorge. 

The climate ranges from the subtropical 
region of the north to the cold belt of the south. 
In the northern part the hottest months have 
an average temperature of 80°, while the ex¬ 
tremes range from 30° in July to 105° in Jan¬ 
uary. In the cold belt of the south the temper¬ 
ature frequently falls below the freezing point. 
A semiarid region stretches through the south¬ 
ern part, but the central and northern sections 
have an abundance of rainfall, from 30 to 70 
inches, amply sufficient for all agricultural pur¬ 
poses. Sudden changes occur in the weather 
on the pampas, where the cool, dry winds from 
the south are frequently followed by the moist, 
hot winds from the north. 

Mining. Although the mineral resources of 
the country arc extensive, they have received 


but little attention. Mining is confined chiefly 
to the mountain districts in the west, where con¬ 
siderable quantities of tin, nickel, copper, iron, 
gold, silver, and precious stones are obtained. 
Marble of a good quality is found in the Sierra 
de Cordoba, but it is not quarried extensively. 
Mineral waters of a superior quality are abun¬ 
dant in the western highlands. Other minerals 
include petroleum, natural gas, salt, mica, and 
borate of soda. 

Agriculture. Farming is the most important 
industry, but the country is sparsely settled and 
admits of material development. The leading 
cereals grown in Canada and the United States 
yield good returns, such as wheat, barley, oats, 
maize, and rye, but wheat continues to be the 
most important crop. Among the minor farm 
products are cotton, tobacco, linseed, canary 
seed, rice, and sugar cane. Silk culture has 
been introduced successfully in the northern 
part, where the climate is particularly favorable 
for the cultivation of the mulberry tree. Other 
products include coffee, potatoes, peanuts, and 
hay. The country Las large interests in the 
live-stock industry, especially in cattle, horses, 
swine, and sheep. Among the minor domestic 
animals grown extensively are goats, mules, and 
poultry. Immigration from Europe is having 
a marked and favorable influence upon the de¬ 
velopment of the industries, especially upon 
farming and stock raising. 

Manufactures. Comparatively little atten¬ 
tion has been given to the manufacturing enter¬ 
prises until within recent years. A large ma¬ 
jority of the products consist of materials that 
are produced and partially finished for exporta¬ 
tion, such as leather, lumber, and packed or 
cured meat. Flour and grist mills are oper¬ 
ated in many sections of the country, and sugar 
refineries are well distributed throughout the 
region where sugar cane is grown. Among the 
general manufactures are boots and shoes, 
clothing, earthenware, furniture, chemicals, and 
farming machinery. 

Transportation. Argentina has an extensive 
coast on the Atlantic, and many of the larger 
streams are important as avenues for transpor¬ 
tation. This is true in particular of the La 
Plata and the Parana, which are navigated 
about 1,200 miles, and some of the larger trib¬ 
utaries are accessible by small craft. While the 
southern section is almost destitute of railroads, 
many lines have been built and are operated in 
the northern section. Buenos Ayres, Rosario, 
and Santa Fe are the chief railroad centers. A 
transcontinental line extends from Buenos 
Ayres to Valparaiso, a Pacific seaport in Chile. 
The lines in operation include a total of 25,500 
miles. Electric railways are operated in many 
of the larger cities and towns, from which nu¬ 
merous branches extend to interurban points. 

Commerce. Argentina stands at the head of 
countries in South America both in domestic 
and foreign commerce. Foreign trade is largely 


ARGENTINA 


138 


ARGONAUTS 


with Great Britain, Germany, the United States, 
Italy, France, and Belgium, in the order named, 
and the principal ports are at Buenos Ayres 
and Rosario. The imports somewhat exceed 
the exports, but both give evidence of consid¬ 
erable development the past decade. Among 
the leading imports are iron and metal goods, 
paper, textiles, chemicals, foodstuffs, and ma¬ 
chinery. The exports include timber products, 
minerals, hides, cereals, flour, and dressed meat. 

Government. Argentina is a constitutional 
republic, and the present constitution dates from 
1853, but it was materially amended in I860 and 
in 1898. The executive authority is vested in 
a president, elected for a term of six years, but 
he is not eligible to reelection. He is assisted 
by a ministry of eight secretaries of state, who, 
like the president, are responsible to congress, 
the legislative branch. The senate consists of 
thirty members, two from each province and 
two from the capital, and the house of depu¬ 
ties is composed of 120 members. Justice is 
administered by federal and provincial courts, 
and the highest authority is vested in the fed¬ 
eral supreme court. At present the country is 
divided into fourteen provinces and ten terri¬ 
tories. Each province has its local executive, 
legislature, and system of courts, but the terri¬ 
tories are administered under the direct super¬ 
vision of the national government. Gold is the 
standard of value. The peso is the monetary 
unit, valued at about $.965 in the money of Can¬ 
ada and the United States. A peso has 100 
centavos. The principal sources of revenue 
are import duties and excise taxes, but direct 
taxes are levied by the provinces and smaller 
subdivisions. 

Education. The system of public schools was 
organized in 1870 and is supervised by the de¬ 
partment of public instruction. Aid is given 
by the general government to numerous col¬ 
leges and universities, but each province has 
direct charge of the public schools within its 
own boundaries. In this respect the educational 
system resembles that of Canada and the United 
States. All children between the ages of six 
and sixteen years are required to attend school, 
but the compulsory attendance provision is not 
enforced strictly in the sparsely settled districts. 
A number of technical schools and normal in¬ 
stitutes for the training of teachers are in a 
flourishing condition. Spanish is the official and 
spoken language. The Roman Catholic faith 
is that of the state, but freedom of religion is 
guaranteed to all under the constitution. 

Inhabitants. Nearly one-half of the people 
reside in towns and cities, a circumstance rarely 
met with in new and partially undeveloped coun¬ 
tries. About one-third of the inhabitants are 
of foreign birth, and this element consists 
chiefly of Italians, Spaniards, Frenchmen, Ger¬ 
mans, and English. Buenos Ayres, on the La 
Plata, is the capital and largest city. Other 
cities of importance include Cordova, Rosario, 


Tucuman, La Plata, Salta, and Corrientes. In 
1919 Argentina had a population of 8,678,198. 

History. The first European explorers of 
the region now included in Argentina were the 
Spanish, who visited the Rio de la Plata in 1516. 
They sailed under the leadership of Juan Diaz 
de Solis, who left Europe with an expedition 
to search for a southwestern passage to the 
East Indies. All who sailed with the company 
failed to return, and it is supposed they were 
captured and killed by the Indians. In 1519 
the King of Portugal sent Magellan on an ex¬ 
pedition to explore the southern part of South 
America. He sailed through the strait that 
bears his name and claimed a large portion of 
the mainland, including the Rio de la Plata and 
the present site of Buenos Ayres, for Portugal. 
By the end of the 16th century Argentina be¬ 
came a Spanish possession and continued as 
such until 1810, when it cast off the dominion 
of the Spanish crown. Ten years later inde¬ 
pendence was formally declared, but the country 
was not freed until after undergoing a series 
of wars. Spain recognized its independence in 
1842. Buenos Ayres undertook to set up a re¬ 
public in 1854, but it was defeated and obliged 
to reenter the confederation in 1859. Political 
^corruption caused a revolution in 1890, after which 
the government became more efficient. Foreign 
trade increased greatly during the Great Euro¬ 
pean War. 

ARGENTINE (ar'jen-tln), a city of Kan¬ 
sas, in Wyandotte County, about four miles 
west of Kansas City, on the Atchison, Topeka 
and Santa Fe Railroad. It has electric lights, 
waterworks, and other conveniences. The 
city has manufactures of ironware, furniture, 
and tobacco products, and is the seat of large 
gold and silver smelting works. It was annexed 
to Kansas City, Kans., in 1910. 

ARGON (ar'gon), an element contained in 
the atmosphere, which possesses the property 
of being chemically inert, and was recently 
discovered by Lord Rayleigh and Professor 
Ramsey of England. It is estimated that one 
per cent, of atmospheric air is argon. This ele¬ 
ment is heavier than nitrogen but somewhat 
resembles it. The discoverers were each award¬ 
ed a prize of $10,000, one from the French 
Academy of Science and the other from the 
Smithsonian Institution. The National Acad¬ 
emy of Sciences of the United States awarded 
Lord Rayleigh the Barnard Medal in 1895. 

ARGONAUTS (ar'go-nats), in Greek myth¬ 
ology, a band of heroes who sailed in the 
ship Argo from Thessaly across the Black Sea 
to secure the golden fleece, which was guard¬ 
ed in a grove sacred to Mars. This task was 
imposed on Jason, in order that he might prove 
his valor and fitness for the throne of Iolcos. 
He not only secured the golden fleece, but 
returned safely to Thessaly, though many 
hardships were encountered on the return voy¬ 
age. Among the famous Grecians accompany- 


ARGOS 


139 


ARIOSTO 


ing him were Hercules. Pollux, Theseus, Castor, 
and Orpheus. See Jason. 

ARGONNE, a forest region of France, on 
both sides of the Aire River, between the Meuse 
and the Aisne rivers, a short distance west of 
Verdun. It was the scene of heavy fighting 
almost throughout the entire war. On Sept. 20, 
1918, General Pershing, with an American army, 
destroyed the German defenses at St. Mihiel 
and pushed northwest, carrying victory and cap¬ 
turing more than 5,000 prisoners. This cleared 
the Argonne Forest, relieved Verdun and 
opened the way toward Sedan. 

ARGOS (ar'gos), a city of ancient Greece, 
situated in the northeastern part of the Pelo¬ 
ponnesus, in the region known as Argos. It 
was founded about 1500 b. c., and is believed to 
be the most ancient city of Greece. 

ARGUS (ar'gus), a creature mentioned in 
Greek mythology, and supposed to have had 
a hundred eyes, of which only two slept at 
a time. Juno employed Argus to watch the 
priestess Io, who had been transformed into 
a heifer. This being was lulled to sleep by 
Mercury, who played soothing tunes on the 
pipe of Pan, and was slain by Hermes. It is 
said that Juno afterward transferred the eyes 
of Argus to the tail of the peacock. 

ARGYLL, or Argyle (ar-gll'), Campbells 
of, a family of Scotland raised to the peerage 
in 1445. The family includes a large num¬ 
ber of historic personages, who were cele¬ 
brated for their activities in Scottish and Brit¬ 
ish history. Among the most prominent are 
Archibald, 2d earl; Archibald, 5th earl; Archi¬ 
bald, 9th earl; Archibald, 10th earl; John, 2d 
duke; and George Douglas Campbell (1823- 
1900), 8th duke. The eldest son of the last 
mentioned, John Douglas Southerland Camp¬ 
bell Argyll (born in 1845), married Princess 
Louise, the fourth daughter of Queen Victoria, 
in 1871. He became Governor General of Canada 
in 1878, which office he administered with much 
success for five years. In 1895 he entered the 
British Parliament and became Duke of Argyll 
in 1900. He died May 2, 1914. 

ARIADNE (a-ri-ad'ne), a Grecian myth 
taken as a personification of the return of 
spring. It is said Bacchus was away over win¬ 
ter, and on his return in the spring married 
Ariadne amid great rejoicing. This marriage 
was the prominent feature of her worship, and 
is said to have originated in Crete. Her fame 
is based largely upon the incident of rescuing 
Theseus from the labyrinth by means of a 
thread clue, after he slew Minotaur. 

ARID REGION (ar'id), a tract or district 
in which the rainfall is not sufficient for the 
successful cultivation of crops. The line of 
demarkation between the humid and arid re¬ 
gions is usually irregular, being influenced more 
or less by the direction of prevailing winds, 
the character of the surface, and the time of 
year when the rains occur. It is assumed by 


most writers that the plains of North Amer¬ 
ica lying between the Rocky Mountains on 
the west and the 100th meridian on the east 
comprise an arid region, and besides this large 
scope of country there are districts in the 
Rocky Mountains and the Pacific coast plain 
where the precipitation is too small to con¬ 
duct agriculture without irrigation. A mean 
annual rainfall of 20 inches is the approxi¬ 
mate minimum, but if the rains occur princi¬ 
pally in the growing season less is required. 
Between the arid regions and those having 
sufficient rainfall is usually a belt of country 
in which farming is successful in relatively 
moist years and a failure in others. However, 
it is thought that the improvement of a prairie 
country by cultivation and the planting of 
trees cause rains to become more regular and 
abundant. This, for instance, is true of a 
large part of the Staked Plains, or Llano Esta- 
cado of Texas, which was formerly thought 
to be too dry for farming, but in recent years 
has become well settled by those interested 
in mixed farming and stock raising. 

The arid region of North America extends 
from central Mexico to north central British 
America, but its boundary east and west is 
very irregular. The southern part of Alberta, 
Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, New Mexico, 
Arizona, Utah, Nevada, and the north cen¬ 
tral part of Mexico are included in this re¬ 
gion. In addition are to be included the west¬ 
ern parts of North Dakota, South Dakota, Ne¬ 
braska, Kansas, and Oklahoma, and a part of 
Idaho, northwestern Texas, eastern Washing¬ 
ton and Oregon, and a large part of California. 
See Irrigation. 

ARIES (a'ri-ez), the ram, a sign of the 
zodiac, the first 30° measured from the point at 
which the equator intersects the ecliptic. The 
sun enters Aries the 21st of March. At pres¬ 
ent the sign Aries is about 30° west of the 
original sign, in the constellation Pisces. 

ARION (a-ri'un), a musician and poet of 
Greece, native of Lesbos, flourished about 625 
b. c. Little is known of him, though it is 
certain that he was prolific as a poet and skill¬ 
ful as a musician. The only writing from his 
pen extant is part of a poem dedicated to Posei¬ 
don. 

ARIOSTO (a-re-os'to), Ludovico, famous 
poet, born in Reggio, Italy, Sept. 4, 1474; died 
June 6, 1533. His father at first designed him 
for the study of law, but an ardent taste for 
poetry absorbed his attention from an early 
age. He received a classical education, though 
much of the available time was devoted to 
music and poetical productions. Soon after 
completing his education his entire time was 
devoted to writing lyric poems in the Latin and 
Italian languages. Several of these were 
praised by literary critics for their ele¬ 
gance and style, and introduced him to the 
notice of the ruling sovereigns. His most fa- 


ARISTA 


MO 


ARISTOTLE 


mous production is the immortal poem “Or¬ 
lando Furioso,” published in 1515. Besides this 
production, he wrote many comedies, and 
superintended dramatic performances as well 
as the construction of a theater. His works 
as a whole were meritorious and greatly ex¬ 
celled all Italian productions written in the 
15th, 16th, and 17th centuries. 

ARISTA (a-res'ta), Mariano, soldier, born 
in the state of San Luis Potosi, Mexico, July 
26, 1802; died Aug. 7, 1855. He served in the 
Spanish army until 1821, when he joined the 
Mexican revolutionists, and after successive 
promotions was placed second in command of 
the army of Mexico. Santa Anna expelled 
him for inciting a revolt, but he was restored 
to his rank in the army in 1835. He com¬ 
manded against the French and was taken 
prisoner at Vera Cruz, but was soon released 
on parole, and in the war with the United 
States he commanded at Palo Alto and Resaca 
de la Palma. In 1850 he was elected president 
of Mexico. His administration was disturbed 
by a number of revolts, and he was finally 
driven from power and banished by Santa 
Anna. He died as an exile in Spain. 

ARISTIDES (ar-is-ti'dez), surnamed The 
Just, statesman of Athen§, born about 528 b. c. 
According to some writers he descended 
from wealthy parents, but Plutarch maintains 
that he was very poor and never enriched 
himself at the expense of the state. He fought 
with the Athenians at Marathon in 490 b. c., 
where he was one of the ten generals in com¬ 
mand, being second in military rank to Mil- 
tiades. Afterward he became popular and was 
elevated to the office of archon, from which he 
was removed on account of the jealousy of 
Themistocles, but was recalled when Xerxes in¬ 
vaded Greece, and took part in the Battle of 
Salamis, in 480. He commanded the Athenians 
in the Battle of Plataea in 479, and was largely 
instrumental in attaining victory. Afterward 

lie advocated a tax to de¬ 
fray the expenses of the 
Persian War, and public 
confidence in him caused 
his appointment to appor¬ 
tion the taxes. He died in 
the year 468 b. c. at an ad¬ 
vanced age, and so poor 
that he was buried at the 
expense of the state. The 
country felt duly grateful 
for his services, and his 
children were granted 
doweries and landed 
estates 

ARISTIPPUS (ar-is-tip'us), the founder of 
the Cyrenaic school of philosophy, born in 
Greece about 400 b. c. ; died about 350 b. c. 
Though little is known of his life, some of his 
theories have been exemplified by various writ¬ 
ers. He was a student and disciple of Socrates, 


but differed widely from him in moral philoso¬ 
phy. It was his habit to wander from city to 
city and teach congregations who were eager to 
come to him for instruction. He appears to 
have ended his travels at Cyrene, where he died. 
According to his teachings, true temperance 
consists, not in abstaining from pleasure, but 
in being moderate in its enjoyment. Accord¬ 
ingly he indulged in splendid dwellings, rich 
clothing, and good living. However, he always 
remained thoroughly master of himself, no mat¬ 
ter under what conditions, and made his doc¬ 
trine and his teachings felt by personally com¬ 
plying with his precepts. He left no systematic 
plan or theory of philosophy. 

ARISTOCRACY (ar-Is-tok'ra-sy), a form 
of government by which the wealthy and noble, 
or any small privileged class, rule over the mass 
of citizens. It signifies a government of the 
best, or by the best. The ruling officers hold 
their position by right of birth or by appoint¬ 
ment, and include mostly the nobility or chief 
persons of the state. 

ARISTOPHANES ( ar-is-tof'a-nez), emi¬ 
nent writer of Greek comedy, born in Athens 
about 448 b. c. ; died about 380. He was 
the son of Philipus, and is the only writer 
of old Greek comedy of whose works we still 
possess a considerable number, although his 
history is not well known. He wrote fifty- 
four comedies, of which eleven are still extant. 
His writings place him far above his contempo¬ 
raries. He surpasses many of his immediate 
successors in wealth of fancy, elegance of 
style, and beauty of language. His poetry was 
held in such high esteem by Plato that he called 
it “the temple of the graces.” Many of his writ¬ 
ings have been translated into the German and 
English. His work entitled “The Frogs” is 
a satire on Euripides. Other writings include 
“The Wasps,” “The Knights,” and “The 
Clouds.” 

ARISTOTLE (ar'is-tot-’l), the greatest of 
ancient philosophers, born in Stagira, a Greek 
colony of Macedonia, in 384 b. c. ; died at Chal- 
cis, in the island of Euboea, in 322. From his 
birthplace he was called The Stagirite. At the 
age of seventeen he began his studies at Athens, 
where he pursued them diligently for three 
years. Plato, his great teacher, called him “The 
intellect of his school,” and he was the latter’s 
favorite pupil. He became the teacher of Alex¬ 
ander the Great in 343, and, after the conquest 
of Persia, the great general presented him with 
about a million dollars. He was further aided 
by Alexander the Great in scientific researches, 
in that he received from him specimens of ani¬ 
mals and plants with which he met while on 
his expeditions in Asia and Africa. At Athens, 
Aristotle taught in the Lyceum, a school or 
gymnasium near the city. It is said of him that 
he taught his pupils the problems of philosophy 
in the forenoon, which he did moving to and 
fro. The habit of walking almost constantly 














ARITHMETIC 


141 


ARITHMETICAL SIGNS 


while teaching caused him to be called The 
Peripatetic. In the evening he gave public 
lectures to the people for their general infor¬ 
mation. He was a natural scientist and a close 
investigator. Among his principal works are 
“Politics,” “Physics,” “Ethics,” “Rhetoric,” 
“Logic,” “Metaphysics,” “Psychology,” “Me¬ 
teorology,” and “History of Animals.” 

Aristotle has often been referred to as un- 
Greek in the character of his mind, for the 
reason that he neglected artistic form and 
adhered to “essential naked truth.” While 
this may be true of his teachings and more 
or less of his writings, it remains certain that 
he was of purely Hellenic descent. The best 
biography written of him is that by Grote. In 
it is claimed that Aristotle left many books, a 
total of 146, but a number of these were frag¬ 
mentary and of little value. From Grote’s 
biography we learn that Aristotle passed twenty 
years with Plato, thirteen years of which were 
spent consecutively; that he came to Mitylene 
in 345; that after the death of Plato he went 
to Hermeas, where he remained three years; 
thence to Philip, and came to Athens in 340, 
when Alexander was fifteen years old. He 
taught in the Lyceum thirteen years, went to 
Chalcis in 322, where he died at the age of 
sixty-three years. The writings and works of 
Aristotle were far in advance of the common 
opinions of his time. He became better un¬ 
derstood and more fully appreciated long after 
his death, and his theories on philosophy and 
mental science have had a marked influence 
upon the writings of all succeeding ages. 
Among the Greek writers he is ranked with the 
best, and is regarded the most efficient of the 
men who lived in his time. 

ARITHMETIC (a-rlth me-tik), a sci¬ 
ence that treats of numbers and of the art of 
computation by means of them. It is usually 
considered either abstract or practical. Abstract 
arithmetic includes notation, numeration, addi¬ 
tion, subtraction, multiplication, division, frac¬ 
tions, measures, multiples, powers, and roots. 
Practical arithmetic embraces the application of 
the abstract with rules, such as reduction, com¬ 
pound addition, subtraction, multiplication, and 
division; proportion, aliquot parts, interest, profit 
and loss, etc. However, the fundamental prin¬ 
ciples of arithmetic are addition, subtraction, 
multiplication, and division, and these are em¬ 
ployed more or less in all arithmetical computa¬ 
tions. 

The ancients, even the Greeks and Romans, 
made little progress in this science, owing, to 
their clumsy means of notation. The most im¬ 
portant writings that have come down to us 
from them are those of Archimedes, Euclid, 
Nicomachus, and Diophantus. After the intro¬ 
duction of the Arabic numerals, which occurred 
about the 11th century, arithmetic began to as¬ 
sume greater convenience in form and came 
to be better known. The Arabic scale of nota¬ 


tion is the one now universally used and con¬ 
sists of the following ten digits : 1, 2, 3,4, 5, 6, 
7, 8, 9, 0. Each digit is- given a value de¬ 
pendent upon its place occupied in a num¬ 
ber made up of several figures. It increases in 
a tenfold proportion from the right toward the 
left in whole numbers, and decreases in a ten¬ 
fold proportion from left toward right in deci¬ 
mal fractions. Thus any value from the largest 
to the smallest can be definitely stated by this 
system. 

The Roman system came into use with the 
ascendency of the Romans. They employed 
several letters to express numerical values. The 
letters employed are the following: I, V, X, L, 
C, D, M, and express values in this order re¬ 
spectively: 1, 5, 10, 50, 100, 500, 1,000. When 
a letter is written after another letter of the 
same or greater value, they express together 
the sum of their value. Thus, 11=2; XII= 
12; XXV=25; CX=110; MX=1,010. When 
a letter is written before another letter of 
greater value, the two together express the 
difference of their value. Thus, IV=4; IX 
=9; XL=40; XC=90; CM=900. A bar 

placed over a letter multiplies its value by a 
thousand. Thus, v=5,000; 1=50,000 ; m= 

1 , 000 , 000 . 

In the study of arithmetic the three stages of 
mental development involved should be carefully 
kept in view. The earliest stage requires a 
large proportion of work in the concrete. The 
faculties chiefly exercised at this time are obser¬ 
vations, or perception, and memory, and a be¬ 
ginner is not able to formulate thought, or to 
derive benefit from abstract or formal state¬ 
ments of principles or processes. In the inter¬ 
mediate stage the reasoning faculties, such as 
abstraction and judgment, come into prominence, 
and at this time the student needs to acquire a 
clear perception of the definition and principle 
involved, and be able to state and define ab- 
tract terms intelligently. The ultimate stage is 
reached when the mental powers are so matured 
and trained that the student is competent to re¬ 
ceive instruction from the abstract or formal 
statement of propositions. Definitions, princi¬ 
ples, propositions, and statements of processes 
may be stated to a student at this time before 
the illustration or demonstration of the pro¬ 
cesses involved is given. 

ARITHMETICAL SIGNS (a-rith-met'i- 
cal), the signs or symbols used to designate 
the operations to be performed, or the facts 
to be obtained. The following are the com¬ 
mon signs used in arithmetic: + signifies 

that the numbers between which it is placed 
are to be added; X, that the former is to be 
multiplied by the latter; —, that the latter is 
to be subtracted from the former; - 5 -, that 
the former is to be divided by the latter; =, 
that the number or the process is equal to the 
number following; and :, ::, : are signs used 
between the members of a proportional series, 


ARIZONA 


142 


ARIZONA 


as 6:12::8:16. A period placed to the left of 
a figure, or a series of figures, indicates that 
they are decimal fractions, as .206. 

ARIZONA (ar-i-zd'na), a State of the 
United States, bounded on the north by Utah, 
east by New Mexico, south by Mexico, and west 
by California and Nevada. The larger part of 



1, Phoenix; 2, Tucson; 3, Prescott. 

Chief railways are shown by dotted lines. 

the western boundary is formed by the Colo¬ 
rado River. The breadth from east to west is 
about 335 miles, and the length from north to 
south is 350 miles. It has an area of 113,020 
squares miles, of which about 100 square miles 
is water surface. 

Description. The surface is largely elevated 
and mountainous. The highlands consist of a 
portion of the Rocky Mountains and attain 
heights of from 12,000 to 14,000 feet. Among 
the principal ranges are the Mogollon Mesa, in 
the east; the Santa Ana and Dragon, in the 
south; the Granite Wash, in the west; the 
Santa Catalina, in the southeast; and the Gila, 
San Francisco, and Black Mesa, toward the cen¬ 
ter and northwest. The high plateaus and 
mountains are furrowed by rivers whose beds, 
in some places, are 6,000 feet below the level of 
the surface. Buttes and mesas characterize the 
aspect of the plains in many localities, and many 
of the streams are dry a large part of the year. 

The drainage is by the Colorado and its tribu¬ 
taries. The latter include the Little Colorado, 
the Gila, and the Bill Williams Fork. The Salt 
and Rio San Pedro discharge into the Gila 
River. The Colorado, one of the great rivers 
of North America, passes through the north¬ 
western part of Arizona and separates it on 
the western boundary from Nevada and Cali- 
forniar It discharges into the Gulf of Cali¬ 
fornia after passing through a part of Mexico. 
It is navigable about 500 miles from its mouth, 
but navigation is somewhat hindered by the 


rapid flow of its waters. The total fall of the 
river within Arizona is more than 3,000 feet. 
In its course it flows through the Grand Can¬ 
yon of the Colorado, whose vertical wajls rise 
to a height of from 4,000 to 6,000 feet. 1 hese 
walls are vast sections of almost horizontal 
strata, and, with the smaller canyons of the 
tributaries of the Colorado, present well-marked 
geological formations in regular order to a 
depth of 25,000 feet. 

Arizona is located in the arid region (q. v.) 
of North America, but the climate is healthful 
and the sky is clear a larger number of days 
than in any other part of the United States. 
The mean annual temperature of the northern 
part is 45°, while in the southern section it is 
placed at 69°. Rain falls more abundantly in 
the northern than in the southern part, being 
about 20 inches annually in the former, while in 
the southern half it ranges from 10 to 13 inches. 
Vegetation is correspondingly scant, but bunch 
grass and pasture lands are abundant. The 
soil in the valleys is fertile, which is true of most 
of the level land, but in some parts alkali occurs 
quite extensively in the soil. The plants and 
animals are about the same as those found in 
southern California and New Mexico. 

Mining. Mineral-bearing land is found in a 
large part of Arizona, and the mining industry 
is being developed as rapidly as the transporta¬ 
tion facilities will permit. In the production of 
copper the Territory takes high rank, having ex¬ 
tensive and valuable deposits. In the output 
of this mineral it is surpassed only by Montana 
and Michigan, and the product is about one-fifth 
of the total output of the United States. Gold 
mining is next in importance, the annual out¬ 
put being about $2,750,000, and the output of 
silver is placed at $1,130,000 per year. Other 
minerals are lead, salt, tin, quicksilver, gypsum, 
and precious stones, including onyx, opal, garnet, 
and sapphire. Marble and building stone are 
abundant. Near Holbrooke is a section where 
a large amount of petrified trees are found, fre¬ 
quently referred to as the petrified forest. 

Agriculture. Stock raising is the chief in¬ 
dustry, but irrigation on a large scale is fast 
extending all classes of farming. The govern¬ 
ment constructed the Salt River Dam, thereby 
redeeming a large scope of arid land, and ir¬ 
rigation is employed in the vicinity of Phoenix 
and other places. Alfalfa is an important crop 
and is grown largely. The cultivation of wheat, 
barley, and oats is receiving marked attention, 
and the acreage devoted to fruit culture is be¬ 
ing extended largely, especially in the southern 
part, where the semitropical varieties are grown, 
such as almonds, figs, and raisin grapes. Pota¬ 
toes, apples, and vegetables flourish in all parts 
of the Territory. 

Manufacturing and Transportation. Man¬ 
ufacturing enterprises have been developed to 
some extent, though the smelting and refining of 
copper remain the chief enterprises. Among the 








ARIZONA UNIVERSITY 


143 


ARKANSAS 


general manufactures are flour and grist, butter 
and cheese, eathenware, and timber products. An 
abundance of coal and considerable other mate¬ 
rial of value are factors contributing to the de¬ 
velopment of manufacturing enterprises, espe¬ 
cially in the preparation of material used in the 
building trades. The only navigable river is the 
Colorado, but it is available for navigation only 
in its lower course. Railroad building has re¬ 
ceived marked attention, and trunk lines of the 
Southern Pacific and the Santa Fe cross the Ter¬ 
ritory, furnishing convenient means of trans¬ 
portation to the east as well as to the Pacific 
coast. In 1917 the lines included a total of 
2,350 miles and several electric railways were 
in operation. 

Inhabitants. In 1900 there were only 1.1 in¬ 
habitants to the square mile, of which about 
twenty per cent, were of foreign birth, mostly 
Mexicans. Excellent schools are maintained by 
a system of taxation and public grants, including 
the two normal schools at Tempe and Flagstaff 
and the university at Tucson. The asylum for 
the insane is at Phoenix and the penitentiary at 
Yuma. A number of libraries, benevolent and 
charitable institutions, and scientific and edu¬ 
cational associations are maintained. Phoenix is 
the capital. Jerome, Prescott, Tucson, and Yuma 
are thriving business centers. Arizona, in 1900, 
had a population of 122,212, a gain of 125 per 
cent, in ten years. The Indian population was 
26,480 Population, 1920, 333,273. 

History. A powerful race resembling the Az¬ 
tecs inhabited the region occupied by Arizona be¬ 
fore it was visited by white men. This is evi¬ 
dent from the fact that ruins of aqueducts, forti¬ 
fications, and cities have been discovered in many 
of the valleys, and there are traces of large ir¬ 
rigation canals maintained by the early inhab¬ 
itants. A Spanish expedition explored the coun¬ 
try in 1539, and the following year a second ex¬ 
pedition visited the section. The Apaches and 
other tribes of Indians resisted the pioneers who 
undertook to make settlements, and little prog¬ 
ress was made until after the Mexican Revo¬ 
lution of 1827, when the mines that had been 
opened at Tucson and Tubac began to attract 
considerable attention and ranching began to 
yield returns. Arizona was acquired by the 
United States in 1848 as a result of the Mex¬ 
ican War, though a tract south of the Gila be¬ 
longed to the Mexican state of Sonora, and 
this was secured by the Gadsden Purchase (q. 
v.). It was a part of New Mexico until 1863, 
when it was made a separate Territory. Ef¬ 
forts to have it admitted as a State were made 
in 1905, and Congress took some action to unite 
Arizona and New Mexico as one State, but the 
proposition was not accepted. It was finally ad¬ 
mitted, in 1912, as the 48th State. 

ARIZONA, University of, an educational 
institution located at Tucson, Ariz. It was es¬ 
tablished in 1885, is coeducational, and is at¬ 
tended by about 800 students. The library con¬ 


tains 30,000 volumes, and the courses include 
academic and higher branches of study. The 
buildings and grounds are valued at $600,000. 

ARJISH (ar-jesh'), a river of Rumania, 
rises in the Carpathian Mountains, and flows into 
the Danube after a course of 175 miles. It 
passes through a fertile country. 

ARK (ark), the vessel built by Noah, and in 
which he and his family and many animals were 
preserved during the flood. It was 525 feet long, 
87j^ feet wide, and 52^4 feet high, and was 
built to float and not for speed. In the Bible 
the word ark is applied to the basket in which 
Moses was found by the daughter of Pharaoh, 
and also to the ark of the covenant. 

ARKANSAS ( ar'kan-sa), a south central 
State of the United States, bounded on the north 
by Missouri, east by Tennessee and Mississippi, 
south by Lou¬ 
isiana, and 
west by Tex¬ 
as and Okla¬ 
homa. The 
greatest 
length from 
north to south 
is 275 miles; 
breadth, 2 4 0 
miles ; and 
area, 53,850 
square miles. 

It has a water 
surface of 
805 square 
miles. The 
State was 
named from the Arkansas River, which flows 
diagonally through it from northwest to south¬ 
east. It is popularly called the Bear State. 

Description. The surface slopes toward the 
southeast, and in the direction of the Arkansas 
River, from elevations in the northwest. Along 
the Mississippi, particularly in the southeastern 
part of the State, are low and marshy tracts, sub¬ 
ject to overflow where the low bottoms are not 
protected by artificial embankments, while the 
interior of the State is generally undulating. 
Much of the surface is highly fertile, especially 
the alluvial tracts in the eastern part. In the 
northern part are ranges of the Ozark Moun¬ 
tains, which extend into it from Missouri, and 
attain a height of about 2,800 feet. Smaller ele¬ 
vations wholly within the State, known as the 
Black Hills and the Washita Hills, stretch over 
a considerabe area, but are less elevated. The 
Arkansas River enters the State from Okla¬ 
homa, near Fort Smith, and joins the Missis¬ 
sippi 20 miles north of Arkansas City. This river 
and its tributaries drain the larger part of the 
State. The White River, which crosses the 
boundary from Missouri, receives the iBlack 
and the Cache rivers, and discharges into the 
Mississippi near the mouth of the Arkansas. 
The Saline, the Ouachita, and the Bartholo- 



ARKANSAS. 

1, Little Rock; 2, Pine Bluff; 3, Hot 
Springs; 4, Fort Smith. 

Chief railways are shown by dotted 
lines. 









ARKANSAS 


144 


ARKANSAS 


mew are tributaries of the Red River. The 
Mississippi River, which forms the eastern 
boundary, is important as an avenue of com- 
merce. 

The climate as a whole is genial, though ma¬ 
larial fevers are not infrequent in the marshy 
districts during the warm summer season. The 
annual rainfall aggregates forty inches in the 
western part, and about sixty inches in the east¬ 
ern part, while the mean annual temperature is 
placed at 61°. Hot Springs and other cities are 
popular resorts for invalids, especially those 
suffering with pulmonary diseases. The State has 
extensive and valuable forests, virgin growths of 
timber covering a large part of the surface. 
Among the chief varieties are the oak, yellow 
pine, hickory, maple, sycamore, cypress, hack- 
berry, elm, palmetto, cottonwood, and black 
walnut. In the lowlands are extensive cane- 
breaks, and the wild plum, persimmon, whortle¬ 
berry, and other native fruits abound. 

Mining. The region traversed by the Arkan¬ 
sas River has deposits of a fine grade of bitumi¬ 
nous coal, and oil and gas are found in pay¬ 
ing quantities in several parts of the State. An 
excellent grade of whetstone is made from 
salicious rock abundant in the mountains. Other 
minerals mined largely are bauxite or aluminum 
ore, zinc, lead, nickel, granite, and manganese. 
Slate, sandstone, limestone, and granite are quar¬ 
ried. Minefal waters are obtained at Hot Springs 
and other localities. 

Agriculture. Farming is the chief occupa¬ 
tion, more than half of the area being in farms. 
In the production of cotton, which is the most 
important crop, the State takes seventh rank. 
Corn, wheat, and oats are the most important 
cereals, in the order named, and hay and forage 
crops are correspondingly large. Apples, 
peaches, and strawberries are grown for the 
market. Stock raising is receiving marked at¬ 
tention, expanding as land is cleared and con¬ 
verted into pasture, and dairying has developed 
into a productive enterprise. Horses, cattle, 
mules, swine, and sheep are the principal domes¬ 
tic animals. 

Manufactures. Manufacturing has been of 
secondary consideration, but the large forests 
and extensive mineral interests are stimulating 
development of this branch of industry, partic¬ 
ularly in the output of lumber products and ma¬ 
chinery. Flour and grist, cotton-seed oil and 
cake, and tobacco products are manufactured 
extensively. The manufacture of cotton tex¬ 
tiles has been increasing to a considerable ex¬ 
tent the past decade, but the larger part of the 
raw cotton produced is still exported. Little 
Rock, Pine Bluff, and Fort Smith are the lead¬ 
ing manufacturing and railway centers. 

Transportation and Commerce. The Mis¬ 
sissippi, which forms the eastern boundary, gives 
the State an outlet by water communication to 
many states of the Mississippi valley. Many of 
the rivers within the State are navigable during 


high water, including the Saint Francis, White, 
and Arkansas rivers. While communication by 
railway does not extend to all the counties, im¬ 
portant lines pass through many sections of the 
State. These include the Saint Louis, Iron Moun¬ 
tain and Southern, the Chicago, Rock Island and 
Pacific, the Saint Louis Southwestern, the Kan¬ 
sas City Southern, and many other lines. In 1917 
the State had 6,000 miles of railroads. Electric 
railways are operated in the cities and many 
sections of the State where settlements are well 
established. Large quantities of fruit are trans¬ 
ported to the northern markets during the early 
spring and summer. Among the leading exports 
are cotton, coal, timber products, and live stock. 
A large share of the foreign commerce is car¬ 
ried through the port of New Orleans, La. 

Education. Advancement in educational af¬ 
fairs in Arkansas has been marked the past few 
years. This helpful uplift is due largely to laws 
passed by the Legislature in 1907, under which 
the county superintendency was established and 
the teaching of elementary agriculture was in¬ 
augurated in the rural schools. This law pro¬ 
vided for the establishment of a State normal 
school for white teachers, located at Conway, a 
town situated about thirty miles west of Little 
Rock, and increased the State levy for school 
purposes from two mills to three mills. The Uni¬ 
versity of Arkansas is located at Fayetteville 
and is in a flourishing condition, having more 
than one thousand students in attendance, and 
being supported by liberal appropriations from 
the State. Among the leading denominational 
schools are Ouachita College and Henderson 
College, at Arkadelphia; Gallaway College, at 
Searcy; Hendrix College and Central Col¬ 
lege, at Conway; Arkansas College, at Bates- 
ville; and Cumberland College, at Clarksville. 
Two institutions are maintained for the higher 
education of Negroes, including Philander 
Smith College and Arkansas Baptist College, 
both located at Little Rock. The State has 
about forty preparatory schools and academies 
of high rank. Most of the towns have good 
public school systems embracing work of 
the primary, grammar, and high school 
grades. Many educational associations are 
maintained and are doing much in arousing 
public sentiment in favor of better sanitary con¬ 
ditions, school libraries, and better equipment 
for the public schools of the State. 

Government. The present constitution was 
adopted in 1874. It provides for State elections 
to be held biannually, at which the Governor and 
other State officers are elected for a term of 
two years. The right to vote is limited to those 
who have paid poll tax and resided in the pre¬ 
cinct one month, in the county six months, and 
in the State a year. A Senate of 35 members 
and a House of Representatives in which the 
membership cannot exceed 100 comprise the 
legislative department. The judicial system 
embraces the supreme court, the circuit courts, 


ARKANSAS 


145 


ARKWRIGHT 


and the county court. Local government is ad¬ 
ministered by the counties, municipalities, and 
townships. At Little Rock the State maintains 
institutions for the blind and deaf and the State 
penitentiary, and there is a State prison and a 
hospital for the insane in Pulaski County. 

Inhabitants. In 1920 the State ranked twen¬ 
ty-fifth in the order of population, and the density 
was 24.7 people to the square mile. Immigration 
has not been large, averaging not more than 
about 14,000 per year. A large proportion of the 
people reside in small villages and rural districts, 
and not more than eight places have a popula¬ 
tion exceeding 4,000. The Negro population has 
been increasing more rapidly than that of the 
whites, and in the number of colored inhabitants 
the State ranks tenth. In religious affiliation, 
the membership in churches is represented 
largely in the Baptist, Methodist, Presbyte¬ 
rian, and Christian denominations, in the order 
named. Little Rock, the capital, is the largest 
city. Fort Smith, near the line of Oklahoma, 
Texarkana, Pine Bluff, Hot Springs, and Hel¬ 
ena are among the thriving business centers. 
In 1900 the State had a population of 1,311,504, 
as compared with 1,750,995 in 1920. 

History. The authentic history of Arkansas 
begins with 1641, when a portion of it was ex¬ 
plored by the Spaniards under De Soto. Sub¬ 
sequently explorations were made by the French 
under Joliet, Marquette, La Salle, and Henne¬ 
pin, and in 1682 the region was claimed by 
France. Later it formed a part of Spain, was 
then ceded to France, and in 1803 was secured 
as a part of the Louisiana Purchase by the 
United States. The first permanent settlement 
was made by the French at Arkansas Post in 
1695. It was organized as a Territory in 1819 
and became a State in 1836, and in 1861 seceded 
to join the Southern Confederacy. A constitu¬ 
tion prohibiting slavery was ratified by a vote 
of the people in 1868, and a new constitution 
was adopted in 1874. Since 1876 it has made 
rapid development of its resources, especially 
in agriculture and mining. 

ARKANSAS, an important river of the 
United States, rises in Colorado, flows through 
Kansas, Oklahoma, and Arkansas, and joins the 
Mississippi after a course of 2,170 miles. The 
chief tributaries include the Cimarron, Grand, 
and Verdigris rivers. It drains a basin of 190,- 
000 square miles, and its lower course is naviga¬ 
ble for steamboats nine months in the year. 
There are periodical overflows near its mouth, 
the difference in depth between the dry and the 
wet seasons being not less than twenty feet. 
A large proportion of its water in the upper 
course is used for irrigation. Among the chief 
cities on its banks are Pine Bluff, Little Rock, 
and Fort Smith. 

ARKANSAS, University of, a State insti¬ 
tution located at Fayetteville, Ark., established 
in 1872. It is supported by Federal and State 
endowments and appropriations, and with it are 


affiliated a normal college at Pine Bluff and the 
medical and law schools at Little Rock. The 
value of its grounds and buildings is $500,000. 
It has eighty professors and instructors and is 
attended by 1,200 students. 

ARKANSAS CITY, a city of Kansas, in 
Cowley County, on the Missouri Pacific, the 
Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe, and other rail¬ 
roads. It is finely situated on the Arkansas 
River about fourteen miles south of Winfield, 
and has considerable jobbing and retail trade. 
The manufactures include clothing, ice, furni¬ 
ture, flour, machinery, earthenware, and tobacco 
products. It is the seat of a United States 
Indian school, and has two parks, a public li¬ 
brary, and city waterworks. In the vicinity are 
deposits of coal and natural gas. The city was 
incorporated in 1871. Population, 1920, 11,253. 

ARKWRIGHT (ark'rlt), Richard, inventor, 
born in Preston, England, Dec. 23, 1732; died 
Aug. 3, 1792. He was the youngest of thirteen 
children, a poor boy 
without education, 
and worked as a 
barber until twenty- 
eight years old. La¬ 
ter he became a 
dealer in hair and 
discovered a hair 
dye, from which he 
secured a good in¬ 
come. At that time 
few machines had 
been invented for 
the purpose of spin¬ 
ning, and he under¬ 
took to discover a 
plan whereby cotton 
machinery. After this time his entire attention 
was given to invention and discovery. His experi¬ 
ments soon led to the invention of a machine 
for spinning a hard thread suitable for warps. 
It consisted of rollers revolving at different rates 
between which the cotton was made to pass. The 
rollers that revolved the slower held the thread, 
while those revolving faster drew it out and 
twisted it. After completing a machine, he in¬ 
terested several wealthy men and induced them 
to assist him. His invention was patented in 
1769, and, with the aid of his partners, he erected 
a mill at Nottingham and proceeded with the 
manufacture of warp. The machinery was at 
first driven by horse power, but proved expen¬ 
sive and inefficient. Accordingly, a second fac¬ 
tory was erected at Cromford in 1771 at which 
water power was utilized. In 1775 he took out 
additional patents on machinery whereby card¬ 
ing, roving, and spinning could be done success¬ 
fully. His machinery was ingenious and compli¬ 
cated, and by the aid of it one man was able to 
do as much work as 130 men could do in work¬ 
ing by hand. This caused a feeling of unfriend¬ 
liness against him among the laboring classes, 
who erroneously thought that the invention of 





RICHARD ARKWRIGHT, 
spinning could be done by 


10 








ARLBERG 


146 


ARMADILLO 


machinery was harmful to the interests of labor¬ 
ing men. Accordingly, mobs were organized and 
many factories that had been established were 
destroyed. Arkwright became involved in sev¬ 
eral lawsuits to maintain the validity of some 
of his patents, but succeeded in successfully es¬ 
tablishing his prior rights. At the age of fifty 
he began to study the common branches of 
education, acting principally as his own teacher. 
By his unusual industry and devotion to busi¬ 
ness he amassed a vast fortune. In 1786 he 
was knighted by King George III. 

ARLBERG (arl'berg), a mountain pass in 
Austria, between the Rhaetian and the Lech Alps. 
A highway was located and improved across the 
mountains in 1786 and it remained the only 
means of communication from points in Austria 
to Vorarlberg until 1880, when a railroad was 
built. This line passes through the Arlberg Tun¬ 
nel, situated between Sanct Anton and Langen, 
a distance of six and a half miles. The tunnel 
has an elevation of 4,260 feet above the sea. 
The cost of construction was $7,500,000. 

ARLES (arlz), a city of France, on the 
Rhone River, 44 miles northwest of Marseilles. 
It has remains of a Roman amphitheater, and 
was the meeting place of several important 
councils of the church between 314 and 475 
a. d. A cathedral and a college are its chief 
buildings. Silk textiles, hats, and wine are 
manufactured here. Population, 1921, 15,506. 

ARLINGTON (ar'ling-tun), a town of Mid¬ 
dlesex County, Massachusetts, six miles north¬ 
west of Boston, on the Boston and Maine Rail¬ 
road. It has a fine public library and several 
commodious church buildings, and is popular 
as a residence suburb. It was formerly a part 
of Cambridge, from which it was separated in 
1807 and called West Cambridge. Since 1867 
it has been known by the present name. Pop¬ 
ulation, 1905, 9,668; in 1920, 16,646. 

ARLINGTON, a district in Alexandria 
County, Virginia, across the Potomac River 
from Washington, D. C. It was the home of 
Robert E. Lee, but was seized by the govern¬ 
ment at the time of the Civil War, and at pres¬ 
ent is the site of of the Arlington National 
Cemetery. The Lee mansion can be seen from 
Washington’s Monument and other prominent 
places in the city of Washington, and is a fine 
specimen of Colonial architecture. The cemetery 
surrounds this building and is the last resting 
place of about 18,500 persons, including many 
of high military rank. The village is reached by 
the Alexandria and Arlington Electric Railway. 
Population, 1900, 3,200; in 1920, 5,850. 

ARM (arm), the upper extremity of the hu¬ 
man body, on either side, extending from the 
shoulder to the hand. It consists of two por¬ 
tions: the arm proper, called the upper arm, 
and the forearm, or lower arm. The former has 
one bone, the humerus, which moves freely by 
a ball and socket joint upon the scapula, form¬ 
ing the shoulder joint, while the forearm has 


two bones, the ulna and radius. These two 
bones move on the lower end of the humerus, 
thus forming the elbow joint, and below articu¬ 
late with the bones of the carpus, forming the 
wrist. Motion depends largely upon several 
well-defined muscles, including the deltoid, 
which lifts the arm from the side; the triceps, 
which extend the forearm; and the biceps, 
which govern largely the flexion or bending of 
the ulna and influence the movement of the 
humerus. Blood is supplied to the arm by the 
brachial artery, by the side of which large cords 
of nerves pass. The arm furnishes a fine ex¬ 
ample of muscular development, whose struct¬ 
ure affords excellent illustrations of some of 
the principles of mechanics. 

ARMADA (ar-ma'da), or Invincible Ar¬ 
mada, a Spanish term applied to a powerful 
expedition sent by Philip II. of Spain in 1588 to 
conquer England. The prime object of the ex¬ 
pedition was to strike a decisive blow against 
the Protestant interests, an enterprise that Pope 
Sixtus V. had assigned to him. It was placed 
in command of the Duke of Medina-Sidona. In 
July, 1588, the fleet set sail with 130 large war 
vessels, thirty smaller ships of war, 19,900 mar¬ 
ines, 8,460 sailors, and 2,080 slaves, and was 
armed with 2,631 cannon. Soon after leaving 
Lisbon a heavy storm effected much damage, 
which required a refitting at Corunna. The de¬ 
sign was to pass through the channel and at 
Flanders cooperate with the Duke of Parma, 
who had gathered a force of 35,000 men. Large 
forces were to be landed at several points on 
the British coast, and the Armada was to 
ravage the sea and occupy the English Channel. 
The English organized strong defenses and put 
their fleet under the command of Lord Howard, 
with Drake, Frobisher, and Hawkins as lieuten¬ 
ants. By prompt and brave attacks the landing 
of Parma was prevented, and by dexterous 
seamanship the English were enabled to inflict 
severe damage to the lumber-built vessels of 
Spain. At Dunkirk many Spanish vessels were 
destroyed or captured. It soon became ap¬ 
parent to the Duke of Medina-Sidona that the 
enterprise must be abandoned; accordingly, he 
attempted to sail round the north of Great 
Britain and return home, but his fleet was 
almost destroyed by severe storms. Many of 
the Spaniards attempted to save themselves from 
drowning by escaping to the shore of Ireland, 
but were captured and slain. The enterprise 
was entirely unsuccessful in accomplishing the 
object for which it started out. Spain lost 
seventy-two large vessels and over 10,000 men. 

ARMADILLO (ar-ma-dil'16), an animal 
native of South America, where it inhabits 
the selvas and pampas in large numbers. It 
is commonly classed with the Edentata or 
toothless animals, but is not entirely toothless. 
Its teeth are molars and are so constructed 
that the upper fit in between the lower. It is 
covered with a hard, bony shell, made up largely 


ARMATURE 


147 


ARMENIA 


of bony bucklers and polygonal plates, into 
which it draws its head and limbs for pro¬ 
tection. The different species attain a length 
of from ten inches 'to three feet. Their food 
consists chiefly of roots, fruit, worms, and 



insects. The flesh is relished as an article of 
food by the native Indians. Armadillos are 
mammals; the female brings forth from two 
to ten young at a birth. 

ARMATURE (ar'ma-tur), an appliance 
used in permanent and electro-magnets, and 
first introduced in 1895. Its purpose is to 
preserve and increase the magnetism of the 
original bars. It is usually, but not always, 
constructed of thin sheet-iron rings, around 
an inner soft iron ring, with coils wound 
between toothed edges, and is held in place 
by wooden wedges. The shaft carrying the 
armature is made to revolve rapidly before 
the poles of the permanent magnet. By these 
means the electro-magnetic forces are caused 
to constantly change their direction, hence the 
currents produced are alternating. The number 
of magnetic poles in the field frame and the 
speed of rotation determine the number of times 
per second such currents change their direction. 
In the arc and incandescent lamps, and for 
certain kinds of electric motors, the alternating 
current is used largely. Other armatures are 
used for various purposes. A common form of 
armature consists of a piece of soft iron placed 
in contact with the pole of a magnetic bar to 
preserve its magnetism while not in use. When 
used in this form, it is commonly termed the 
keeper. When a horseshoe magnet is laid aside, 
it should not be separated from its armature, 
and straight-bar magnets should be laid side 
by side in pairs. 

ARMENIA (ar-me'm-a), an ancient country 
of Western Asia, located between the Caspian 
Sea and Asia Minor. It includes the north¬ 
western part of Persia, the southern region 
of Transcaucasia, and the northeastern section 
of Asiatic Turkey, and embraces an area of 
about 137,000 square miles. The surface is 
characterized with high tablelands trav¬ 
ersed by mountains, of which Mount 
Ararat is the most prominent, and much 
of the region is drained by the Tigris and 
Euphrates rivers. A part.of the drainage is by 
the Hayls into the Black Sea and by the Aras 
or Araxes into the Caspian Sea. The climate is 
variable but generally heathful. The rainfall is 
scant, the winters are severe, and the summers 
are hot. 


The district includes numerous Persian and 
Turkish settlements, and in the cities are many 
Jews. The Armenians, like the Jews, are 
widely scattered in different countries. Wars 
between them and the Turks have been numer¬ 
ous and were frequently attended with mas¬ 
sacres and rank cruelty, causing Russia and 
other countries to threaten intervention and the 
establishment of a protectorate. In 1895 in¬ 
cursions of Kurdish soldiers committed 
revolting atrocities with the avowed intention 
of exterminating the Armenians and populating 
the district with Mohammedans. This almost 
led to international complications and a dis¬ 
memberment of the Turkish empire, for the 
reason that the Sultan of Turkey, who is some¬ 
times called “The Sick Man of the East,” is 
largely in sympathy with the opponents of 
Christianity. The Turkish government promised 
reforms to a joint commission made up of 
representatives of England, France, and Russia, 
but the pledges were not carried out and in¬ 
discriminate massacres, though less frequent, 
occurred from to time. However, in 1919, a 
government of greater stability was established 
by the Paris Peace Congress. The region de¬ 
scribed has a population of 2,500,000. 

Armenia was once a powerful kingdom, and 
was conquered in 325 b. c., by Alexander the 
Great. It remained subject to the Macedonians 
or Syrian-Greeks nearly 200 years, when it 
became independent and was divided into 
Armenia Minor and Armenia Major. The 
former was made a Roman province in 70 
a. d., and was for a time governed by the 
Byzantines, the Arabs, and the Persians, and 
became a possession of Turkey in 1541 
Armenia Major was conquered by the Partis¬ 
ans about 150 b. c., and passed through suc¬ 
cessive wars and under the control of different 
nations until 1828, when it was made Russian 
territory. At present the entire region that 
comprised ancient Armenia is divided among 
the Turks, the Russians, and the Persians. To 
unite the Armenians into a nation has been the 
ambition of these people, but they remain scat¬ 
tered over Asia Minor and a considerable num¬ 
ber have emigrated to Europe and America. 

The Armenians were adherents to the 
Zoroastrian religion until about 285, when 
Christianity was introduced by Gregory the 
Illuminator, under whose missionaries the king, 
Tiridates III., was converted. A considerable 
number belonged to the Roman and the Greek 
Catholic churches, but the greater part adhere 
to a sect of Christians formerly known as the 
Monophysites, from which the Armenian 
church was evolved at an early period in the 
history of Christianity. They are industrious, 
intelligent, peaceable, and faithful to their 
church and to their traditions. The Armenian 
language is classed with the Indo-European 
family of languages, being associated with the 
Iranic group, but the spoken form is somewhat 















ARMINIUS 


148 


ARMOUR 


mixed with words derived from the Turkish 
and Persian dialects. They have a consider¬ 
able literature, which includes a number of 
representative works on religion, history, and 
the sciences. The Bible was translated into the 
Armenian language as early as the 5th century, 
the translation being by Isaac, the Armenian 
patriarch, and is from the Septuagint version. 

ARMINIUS (ar-min'i-us), celebrated chief 
of the German tribe called Cherusci, born 
about 18 b. c.; assassinated in the year 21 a. d. 
He became a Roman citizen in youth and at¬ 
tained a high rank in the Roman army. On 
returning to his native land, he found Quintilius 
Varus, the Roman Governor, oppressing the 
Germanic tribes and endeavoring to Romanize 
them. Accordingly he organized an uprising, 
calling to his aid tribes as far as the Elbe, to 
overthrow Roman supremacy. In a three days’ 
battle at Teutoburg he completely annihilated 
the army of Varus, who was so overcome with 
remorse that he took his own life. When a 
report of this victory over the Roman army 
reached Rome, it caused the greatest consterna¬ 
tion and excitement. Emperor Augustus, now 
old and weak, repeated the words, “Varus, 
Varus, give me back my legions!” In the years 
14 and 16 a. d., Arminius led two successive 
compaigns. With a large army he met a force 
under Germanicus and forced him into 
retreat. The following year Germanicus came 
again with a large navy on the rivers and an 
army of 100,000 men, and, although temporarily 
successful, he was eventually defeated. This 
was the last Roman army that marched beyond 
the Rhine. Arminius has gone down in history 
as the German liberator, an appellation properly 
applied, since he vanquished the Romans on the 
plains called Woman’s Meadow, with the effect 
that they no longer laid tribute on the German 
people. The death of Arminius occurred 
through the treachery of a relative. Many 
songs praising his valor are still sung by the 
German people. 

ARMISTICE (ar'mis-tis), a short suspen¬ 
sion of hostilities between two armies or two 
nations at war, concluded by mutual agree¬ 
ment. An armistice is usually agreed upon 
when an endeavor to make peace is pending, 
or when both parties are exhausted. A very 
notable example is the armistice of the 25th of 
February, 1856, when five nations of Europe, 
then at war, agreed to a temporary suspension 
of hostilities with the view of concluding peace. 
The armistice may be either general or partic¬ 
ular. In the former a general cessation of 
hostilities results, while in the latter there is a 
suspension only between two contending armies 
of the nations at war. 

ARMOR ( ar'mer), the defensive arms used 
as a covering to protect the body, worn espe¬ 
cially in war as protection against the weapons 
of a foe. In ancient times this custom was 
general. Homer describes the heroes of the 


Trojan War as equipped with armor. The 
custom of wearing armor reached its greatest 
development in the age of chivalry, when a 
warrior was almost entirely covered. The early 
Britons bore little other armor than their 
shield, but during the Norman conquest the 
Anglo-Saxons were fully equipped with this 
character of protection. When gunpowder 
began to be used largely in warfare, these ap¬ 
pendages went rapidly out of use. In modern 
warfare life is protected by the construction of 
breastworks and forts, and armor plate is used 
to protect ships for the same purpose. 

ARMOR PLATE, the name applied to the 
strong iron or steel plates used to cover war¬ 
ships with the view of rendering them proof 
against gun and cannon fire. The first use 
made of armor plate in naval warfare was in 
1782, in the attack on Gibraltar, when the 
French used bars of iron to protect the hulls 
of their wooden ships. An increased demand 
for armor followed the combat of the Monitor 
and the Merrimac on Hampton Roads in 1862, 
and since then much thought has been given to 
the problem of obtaining the best protection 
that can be devised to overcome the destruc¬ 
tive force of a modern steel-capped projectile. 
It has been found that the best armor plate is 
made of different varieties of steel, a hard 
surface to break up the projectile, or to deform 
it so as to lessen its power to penetrate, and 
this is backed up by a tough composition which 
will not crack easily. Nickel steel combines 
hardness with toughness and its power to resist 
penetration is about twfice that of wrought iron. 
The larger warships are protected by plates 
about a foot thick, and a single plate is about 
nine feet wide and eighteen feet long. Between 
the plates and the iron frame of the ship is a 
packing of teakwood or something similar, 
which serves to lesson the concussion when the 
armor plate is struck by projectiles. A large 
ship carries about 4,000 tons of armor. The 
Mersey works in England, the Krupp works in 
Germany, the Carnegie works in Pittsburg, and 
the works of the South Bethlehem Steel Com¬ 
pany at South Bethlehem, Pa., are the most 
noted manufacturing establishments where 
armor plate is made. 

ARMOUR (ar'mur), Philip Danforth, cap¬ 
italist, born at Stockbridge, N. Y., May 16, 
1832; died in Chicago, Jan. 6, 1901. He was 
born on a farm, and attended public schools at 
Stockbridge. In 1852 he made an overland trip 
to California, a part of the distance on foot, 
with the object of getting advantage from the 
gold excitement, and after four years returned 
east to engage in the grain and warehouse busi¬ 
ness at Milwaukee. He removed to Chicago in 
1875, where he joined his brother, Herman O. 
Armour, as a dealer in grain and pork. The 
business was successful, and he became the 
owner of a large number of grain elevators and 
did an extensive export business. He was as 


ARMS 


149 


ARMY 


enterprising in the support of education as he 
was in business, endowing institutions to the 
extent of $2,500,000, most of which was given 
to the Armour Mission and the Armour Insti¬ 
tute in Chicago. 

ARMS (arrnz), the weapons used for offense 
and defense in times of war. Some arms are 
used both for offensive and defensive opera¬ 
tions, but there are some designed only for 
one of these purposes. Among those intended 
for offensive operations are pistols, rifles, 
muskets, swords, bayonets,, machetes, and 
cannon; while those designed for defensive 
purposes are shields, cuirasses, greaves, and 
helmets. The class of arms used in warfare 
depends entirely upon the state of civilization 
common to a people. In ancient times, and 
among savage people in modern times, the bow 
and javelin were favorites for long range, and 
the straight dagger for close fighting. The 
Greeks used heavy spears at long range, and 
generally employed short swords when con¬ 
tending parties engaged in a hand-to-hand 
combat. In Macedon, Alexander the Great 
used the pike, a weapon about twenty feet long, 
to form a phalanx with the view of presenting 
an impregnable wall against both infantry and 
cavalry. This form of weapons continued in 
tise more or less during the early civilization of 
Europe, although the Romans preferred and 
used extensively a short massive javelin six 
or seven feet long, which they hurled at their 
antagonists, and in short-range fighting em¬ 
ployed the broadsword. They moved and 
operated in such a manner that each man had 
ample room to wield his instrument of war and 
inflict the greatest possible damage upon the 
enemy. 

The Middle Ages witnessed the use of cav¬ 
alry armed with steel-pointed weapons. The 
lance, battleax, two-handed sword, and mace 
were peculiar to this period. At that time the 
lance was a weapon about eighteen feet in 
length, with a butt end almost a foot in dia¬ 
meter some distance from the extremity, and 
was designed to fit the arm. The warriors 
of Scotland, Gaul, Germany, and other regions 
used either pikes, spears, halberds, or bills with 
heavy sideblades. 

Modern firearms date from the 16th century. 
The first to be used was the matchlock musket. 
However, the early pattern was so heavy that 
a rest was required when taking aim, and later 
it was supplied with a bayonet, designed to 
give the musketeers means of defense when in 
close contact with the enemy. The invention of 
the musket added greatly to the use of powder 
as a means of aggressive operation. Arms of 
this class were used largely in the American 
Revolution, and in the Revolution of France 
in 1789. Subsequently many improvements 
were made in all classes of firearms. The per¬ 
cussion lock, revolving pistols, breech-loading 
rifles, self extracting and loading magazine 


guns, and arms especially designed for the use 
of powerful explosives have all had a marked 
influence in offensive and defensive warfare. 
In the war with Spain in 1898 the United 
States supplied her army with the Krag-Jor¬ 
gensen gun, one of the newer inventions. 
This was superseded in 1904 by the Springfield 
rifle. Germany uses the Mauser rifle, suitable for 
long range. The British now use the Enfield and 
the Metford rifles, each of which has a magazine 
holding ten cartridges suitable for quick fire. 

ARMSTRONG (arm'strong), John, soldier, 
born at Carlisle, Penn., in 1758; died April 1, 
1843. He enlisted in the Revolutionary army 
while a student at Princeton, in 1775, and be¬ 
came aid to General Hugh Mercer, whom he 
bore from the battlefield when mortally 
wounded at the Battle of Princeton. Subse¬ 
quently he was promoted to the rank of major. 
After the war he returned to Carlisle and was 
elected secretary of State, and later became ad¬ 
jutant general of Pennsylvania. In 1800 he 
was elected to the United States Senate, and 
later was sent as minister to France and still 
later to Spain. He also served in the War of 
1812. He is the author of “The Review of 
General Wilkinson’s Memoirs ” and “The His¬ 
tory of the War of 1812.” 

ARMSTRONG, Samuel Chapman, edu¬ 
cator, born at Wailuka, Hawaii, Jan. 30, 1839; 
died May 11, 1893. He was the son of an 
American missionary, studied at the Oahu Col¬ 
lege, and when a young man came to the United 
States. At the beginning of the Civil War 
he entered the Union army, and was mustered 
out of service when the war closed with the 
rank of brigadier general of volunteers. From 
1865 until his death he was principal of the 
Manhattan Normal and Agricultural Institute. 
He made a special study of educating the Negro 
and Indian races. 

ARMSTRONG, William George, engineer 
and inventor, born at Newcastle-upon-Tyne, 
England, March 23, 1810; died in 1900. He be¬ 
came interested in engineering at an early age. 
In 1858-63 he was government engineer of 
rifled ordnance at Woolwich, and in 1882 was 
chosen president of the Institution of Civil 
Engineers. He was created a peer in recogni¬ 
tion of his success, and degrees were conferred 
upon him by the universities of Oxford and 
Cambridge. Among his inventions are the 
hydro-electric machine for developing frictional 
electricity, the hydraulic crane, and a kind of 
cannon known as the Armstrong gun. The 
last mentioned is a rifled ordnance gun, made 
of spirally coiled wrought-iron bars, in which 
a lead-coated projectile is used, so constructed 
that the bullet in its flight assumes a rotary 
motion. 

ARMY (ar'my), a body of men enlisted, 
brought together, and so drilled, disciplined, and 
armed as to form a vast movable force for 
offense and defense in warfare. It may com- 


ARMY 


150 


/ 


ARMY 


prise the entire body of military men employed 
by a nation, or a portion of it under a partic¬ 
ular commander. To be of greatest efficiency 
it must be perfect in organization and discipline, 
otherwise it is not available for the highest 
utility in action. A well constituted and dis¬ 
ciplined army implies a trained leader, who 
communicates orders to subordinate command¬ 
ers, and they again transmit to others of 
inferior rank, until, by regularly recognized 
order of transmission, the original command is 
communicated to the private soldier. It is nec¬ 
essary that the army be divided into groups 
gradually decreasing in size so that every por¬ 
tion may be not only commanded with facility, 
but clothed, fed, armed, and paid. In early 
times warfare was conducted in a stealthy man¬ 
ner from forest, marsh, and wilderness, led by 
the most daring and reckless. In modern times 
war has advanced to an art and is conducted 
by men who have been trained at institutions 
designed to give insight to and skill in manag¬ 
ing large affairs. 

Ancient Armies. The earliest history of 
organized armies comes down to us from the 
16th century b. c. From this it appears that 
Sesostris, an Egyptian king, maintained a reg¬ 
ular army, equipped, disciplined, and salaried. 
He divided his kingdom into thirty-six military 
provinces, established a national militia, allotted 
lands for the support of the soldier, and used 
this army both in offensive and defensive war¬ 
fare. With it he became a conqueror of North¬ 
ern Africa and a large part of Western Asia. 
Later the Persians extensively fostered mili¬ 
tary art. They organized a standing army, es¬ 
tablished garrisons, equipped infantry and cav¬ 
alry, and provided rules of discipline. The 
Greeks maintained a national militia in various 
small states, which united in one great army 
in times of foreign war. By means of their 
superb organization and strict discipline they 
gained the great victories of Marathon and 
Plataea. The phalanx was originated by the 
Spartans, while the Athenians organized troops 
of cavalry to cover the front of their army and 
harass the enemy in the rear. Philip, the 
father of Alexander the Great, established the 
world’s second standing army, added to the 
efficiency of the phalanx, and made Macedonia 
strong in war. To him is due the early use of 
the pike, a weapon about twenty feet in length 
and efficient in warfare, which, glittering in the 
hands of a solid phalanx, made an almost im¬ 
pregnable array of muscle and steel. In Rome, 
about 200 b. c., all able-bodied men between the 
ages of seventeen and forty-six were liable to 
service upon a call for military duty. The 
Roman soldiers were trained from early child¬ 
hood, as a means of securing both muscular 
development and efficiency in discipline. Magis¬ 
trates enrolled the names of those liable to 
military duty, from which lists were chosen the 
legions of the Roman army, a military force 


excelling all others then known. With a grad¬ 
ual decline in discipline, and a draft of slaves 
and criminals into the service, the decline of 
Roman power commenced. 

Medieval Armies. It is not strange that the 
decline of Rome and the barbarian conquests 
paved the way for a decline of skillful warfare, 
which continued until all organized tactics were 
lost. The invaders from the north possessed 
little learning, and relied upon personal brav¬ 
ery and daring to secure the fortunes of war. 
The armies of the Gauls and Germanic tribes 
represented the nation. During the prevalence 
of the feudal system national armies again ap¬ 
peared, and each chief or baron possessed a 
small army, well equipped, but too small for 
great effect. When the Crusaders organized 
under a great cause to oppose a common enemy, 
they discovered the need of organization and 
discipline. They, accordingly, began to organize 
large forces of foot soldiers, which took the 
place of cavalry. The invention of gunpowder 
effected great changes, but progress in secur¬ 
ing its general use was not rapid for the reason 
that guns and cannon were unknown, and the 
art of making them was slow in developing. 
Besides, each knight was ambitious to distin¬ 
guish himself, and preferred to dash forward 
by himself and engage in personal combat, 
rather than lead an army, direct its movements, 
and gain distinction by leadership. 

Modern Armies. With the use of firearms 
and increased facilities for providing them on 
a larger scale, came gradual changes in modern 
military affairs. The first standing army of 
modern times is ascribed to Turkey, where the 
Janizaries organized an efficient military body 
in the 14th century. However, the modern mili¬ 
tary system dates from the time of Charles VII. 
of France. About the middle of the 15th cen¬ 
tury that king of France first organized an army 
of 9,000 men, and afterward added 16,000 more. 
During the Thirty Years’ War, including the 
period of 1618-48, Gustavus Adolphus experi¬ 
mented in the use of infantry. His method 
was to spread the forces of infantrymen out to 
a great width, while his opponent, Wallenstein, 
preferred to mass them in a more solid front. 
In the reign of Louis XIV. armies were 
grouped into brigades and divisions; while 
Frederick the Great, a hundred years later, won 
his victories because of skill in discipline. On 
account of prolonged wars military service was 
made legally compulsory in France in 1798. 
Under this statutory requirement every male 
citizen between the ages of twenty-one and 
twenty-five years was liable to four years’ 
service. This plan of Napoleon was later 
adopted by other European nations. 

At present most nations have a standing army 
constituted of several corps, with which is as¬ 
sociated a body of cavalry, together with army 
reserves of two classes, one subject to immediate 
call and the other a militia or second reserve. 


ARMY WORM 


151 


ARNHEM 


England is the only one of the great powers 
of Europe in which military service has not 
been made compulsory, but the recent war in 
South Africa and the unrest shown in India 
■caused a general agitation more or less to such 
measures. The time of actual military serv¬ 
ice varies in different countries from six months 
to fifteen years, and, besides this, there are an¬ 
nual periods when those subject to military duty 
are required to pass a limited time in drill and 
reviews by officers high in authority. The cost 
of maintaining these armies is enormous, and 
in recent years several organized efforts were 
made to secure a general reduction in standing 
armies. An international conference was held 
at The Hague in May, 1899, at the suggestion 
of Czar Nicholas II., for the purpose of pro¬ 
moting general disarmament. All the great 
powers were represented at this conference and 
at several held since, and the evils of militarism 
were freely discussed. While the deliberations 
have led to no immediate results, they have 
awakened inquiry, and may yet lead to a con¬ 
dition under which the industrial classes will 
be largely freed from excessive taxes necessi¬ 
tated by large armies and navies. 

In the United States the army is authorized 
by the Constitution. According to its provi¬ 
sions the President is commander in chief of 
the army and navy. Congress has the power 
to raise and support armies, to regulate them, 
and to provide for the execution of the law, 
the suppression of insurrections, and the repul¬ 
sion of invasions. Congress several times 
placed a general limitation on the number of 
men that are to constitute the regular army, 
but in times of war the President calls for 
volunteers that aggregate many times the num¬ 
ber usually maintained. In 1790 the regular 
army as fixed by Congress included 1,216 men; 
at the commencement of the War of 1812, 
25,000; during the Mexican War, 29,000; at 
the beginning of the Civil War, 12,000. The 
law of 1874 limited the standing army to 
25,000; and in March, 1899, the regular army 
was limited to 65,000, with a volunteer service 
of 35,000 at the option of the President. The 
highest number of men ever called into service 
in the United States was during the Civil War, 
when it aggregated 2,759,049 men and officers. 
The army of the Confererate States aggregated 
1,100,000 men, thus making the total number' 
engaged on both sides about four million men. 
The regular United States army in 1916 con¬ 
sisted of 225,000 men and officers. At the be¬ 
ginning of the Great European War the total 
American man power was 22,000,000. The army 
mobilized consisted of 3,665,000, of which 1,993,- 
000 were transported overseas. Canada mobilized 
450,556 men and transported 383,523 overseas. 

ARMY WORM, the larva of a night flying 
moth, so named from its habit of moving in 
colonies of large numbers. It attains a length 
of about one and one-half inches, and may be 


distinguished easily by the greenish-gray color 
and yellowish stripes. Army moths make their 
appearance periodically, and sometimes prove 
very destructive to crops and other form of 
vegetation. The best method to destroy them 
is to plow deep furrows, and, when large num¬ 
bers of the worms have fallen into the channel, 
they may be killed by burning straw spread 
loosely, or by dragging a heavy log over them. 
The log should be about ten feet long and 
slightly pointed at the end to prevent pushing 
the ground as it is pulled by a team of horses. 
These pests are quite common in North 
America, especially in the United States, but 
they do not frequently become troublesome. 

ARNAULD ( ar-n5'), Antoine, advocate, 
born in Paris, France, in 1560; died there Dec. 
29, 1619. His family traced its lineage to 
wealthy ancestors of Auvergne, and was noted 
for distinguished services in civil and military 
affairs. He obtained a liberal education, became 
a successful advocate, and wrote a number of 
works against the Jesuits. He translated sev¬ 
eral ancient writings, among them Josephus’s 
“History of the Jews.” 

ARNDT (arnt), Ernst Moritz, patroit and 
poet, born on the island of Rugen, Dec. 26, 
1769; died in Bonn, Germany, Jan. 29, 1860. 
After attending public and private schools, he 
entered the University of Greifswald, later 
studied theology at Jena, and subsequently 
traveled in many countries of Europe. In 1806 
he became professor of history at Greifswald, 
in which capacity and in writing he induced a 
strong feeling against Napoleon. His chief 
work, “Der Geist der Zeit” (“The Spirit of 
the Times”), was published in 1807, and was 
the means of arousing the national conscious¬ 
ness. The threatening danger of the rise of 
Napoleonic influences caused him to settle for a 
time in Stockholm, where he served tl e Swed¬ 
ish government three years. Some of the lead¬ 
ing patriotic songs of Germany, which are still 
the most popular among the nationalists, are 
from the pen of Arndt. These include 
“Husaren heraus,” “Was blasen die Trom- 
peten,” and “Vas ist des Deutschen Vaterland.” 
In 1818 he became professor of modern history 
at Bonn, where he gave offense by his liberal 
views on government, and was restrained from 
teaching history for a period of twenty years. 
He was chosen a deputy of the Frankfort 
parliament in 1848, but later withdrew and set¬ 
tled at Bonn to engage in literary work, where 
a fine monument was erected to his honor in 
1865. His publications, entitled “War Songs” 
and “Catechism for the German Warrior,” are 
still exceedingly popular. 

ARNHEM (arn'hem), or Arnheim, a city 
of Holland, capital of the province of Gelder- 
land, situated on the Rhine, thirty-five miles 
southeast of Utrecht. It has a Reformed 
Church dating from 1452, in which is the tomb 
of the Duke of Gelderland. Other buildings of 


ARNICA 


152 


ARNOLD 


note include a museum, a public library, and a 
normal school. The favorable location on the 
Rhine and several railroads make it important 
as a commercial center. The trade is chiefly 
in cereals and clothing, and it has manufactures 
of furniture, machinery, and scientific instru¬ 
ments. Population, 1019, 64,685. 

ARNICA (ar'm-ka), a genus of plants be¬ 
longing to the Compositae order, many species 
of which yield an essential oil and a resinous 

matter called arnicin. 
A tincture of it is used 
as an external applica¬ 
tion for chilblains, 
bruises, and wounds. 
The plant is native to 
the mountain districts 
of Middle Eurasia. 
It grows to a height 
of about two feet, has 
a perennial root, and 
bears a dark golden 
yellow flower. A species 
sometimes called 
mountain tobacco is na¬ 
tive to Central Europe. 

ARNIM ( ar'nim), 

Harry Karl Kurt 
Eduard von, diplomat, 
born in Pomerania, 
Germany, Oct. 3, 1824; 
May 19, 1881. After 
died in Nice, France, 
attaining a liberal edu¬ 
cation, he engaged in 
arnica. politics, and in 1864-70 

was Prussian ambassa¬ 
dor at Rome. He was awarded the title of 
graf, served as ambassador to France in 1872- 
74, in which capacity he displeased Bismarck, 
and was prosecuted on a charge of purloining 
public documents. In 1874 he voluntarily re¬ 
tired into exile, and the sentence of five years 
against him was never enforced. 

ARNIM, Ludwig Joachim von, poet, born 
in Berlin, Germany, Jan. 26, 1781; died Jan. 
21, 1831. He acquired a liberal education, spent 
several years in traveling to trace the sources 
of current folk songs and legends, and devoted 
himseli to literature. In 1811 he married Bet- 
tina von Brentano, who afterward became 
celebrated as Bettina von Arnim and famous 
for her acquaintance and correspondence with 
Goethe. His chief publications include “Berth- 
old’s First and Second Life,” “Halle and 
Jerusalem,” “Collection of Novels,” and “Ariel’s 
Revelations.” His wife was born at Frankfort, 
April 4, 1785; died in Berlin, Jan. 20, 1859. She 
is the author of a number of valuable works, 
several of which are based upon her corres¬ 
pondence with Goethe in 1807-11. 

ARNO (ar'no), an important river of Italy, 
rises in the Apennines, and after a course of 
140 miles flows into the Mediterranean Sea. 


The source of the Arno is 4,450 feet above 
the level of the sea. It is navigable for barges 
as far as Florence. A canal connects the Arno 
with the Tiber at Arezzo. The valley through 
which it flows is highly fertile. 

ARNOLD (ar'nold), Benedict, army officer, 
born in Norwich, Conn., Jan. 14, 1741; died in 
London, England, June 14, 1801. He secured 
a good common school education and some 
knowledge of the higher branches, and began 
an apprenticeship in a drug store. Later he 
made a trip to Honduras, where he engaged in 
a duel with an English sea captain, on account 
of reflections made by the sea captain on the 
people of New England. When the Revolution 
broke out, he joined the “Green Mountain 
Boys,” and rendered valuable assistance to 
Ethan Allen in capturing Fort Ticonderoga, and 
four days later himself captured Saint John’s. 
In the autumn of 1775 Washington dispatched 
him with 1,100 men to assist in the siege of 
Quebec, where he was wounded. His gallant 
service at Quebec caused his promotion to the 
rank of brigadier general, in which capacity 
he commanded on Valcour Island, in Lake 
Champlain. In October, 1776, he was defeated 
by a British flotilla, but effected a skillful re¬ 
treat. 

In 1777 Congress raised five of his inferiors 
in rank to be major generals and this slight 
made a deep impression upon him. However, 
his gallantry at the Battle of Ridgefield, in 
Connecticut, caused Congress to regard his 
services to the country in a more appreciative 
mood. He was soon after made major general, 
and took an efficient part in the campaign against 
Burgoyne. At Fort Stanwix he dispersed 
Saint Leger’s force, and was in command of 
the left wing in the first Battle of Saratoga, 
where his horse was killed under him and he 
was again wounded. He next commanded in 
Philadelphia, was court-martialed on trivial 
charges, and later reprimanded by Washington. 
In 1780 he was appointed to the command at 
West Point, on the Hudson, then one of the 
most important positions in the colonies, and 
while there intrigued with Clinton for the 
betrayal of that fort to the British. The ne¬ 
gotiations were carried on with Andre, who 
was captured and the scheme frustrated. Arnold 
fled to the British army, where he was given 
a sum of money and a command. Early in 
1781 he led a British force into Virginia and 
made an attack on New London. The British 
government gave him 13,400 acres of land in 
Canada, and his sons received commissions in 
the British army. He went to London in 1782, 
where he was despised and shunned. Accord¬ 
ing to tradition, he regretted his treason and so 
expressed himself before he died. 

ARNOLD, Sir Edwin, poet and journalist, 
born in Rochester, England, June 10, 1832; died 
March 24, 1904. He graduated at Oxford in 
1854, and became president of the Government 






ARNOLD 


153 


ARRAS 


Sanskrit College in India. His reputation is due 
largely to a wide range of knowledge in Orien¬ 
tal languages and literature and to his many 
literary productions. On his return to England 
in 1861, he became editorial writer on the Daily 
Telegraph. In this capacity he enlisted the aid 
of the New York Herald to equip the famous 
expedition of Livingstone for explorations in 
South Africa. His own country and a number 
of others bestowed upon him many distinctions. 
In 1889 and 1891 he lectured in Canada and 
United States. Among his writings are ‘‘The 
Light of Asia,’’ “Indian Songs of India/’ “The 
Light of the World,” and “Pearls of Faith.” 

ARNOLD, Matthew, prose writer and poet, 
born at Laleham, England, Dec. 24, 1822; died 
April 15, 1888. His education was secured at 
Winchester, Rugby, and Balliol College, Ox¬ 
ford, and later he was fellow at Oriel. His ' 
father, Dr. Arnold, of Rugby, took a deep per¬ 
sonal interest in his education and success, and 
on account of eminent scholarship he became 
known as the “Apostle of Culture.” While his 
works are not read as extensively as those of 
Browning and Tennyson, he may justly be as¬ 
signed a place among the leading poets of his 
time. He was school inspector from 1851 to 
1866, traveled and attended to literary work, 
and was elected professor of poetry at Oxford 
University in 1857, which position he held two 
years. He ranked high as a critic, a line of 
literary work in which he attained the general 
confidence and approval of scholars and writers. 
Among his productions are “Lectures on Trans¬ 
lating Homer,” “Essays on Criticism,” “Lec¬ 
tures on the Study of Celtic Literature,” “Amer¬ 
ican Lectures,” and “Civilization in America.” 

ARNOLD, Thomas, known as Arnold of 
Rugby, educator and author, born at West 
Cowes, Isle of Wight, June 13, 1795; died in 
Rugby, June 12, 1842. At an early age he 
moved to Winchester, where he was known 
as an indolent, restless boy. While at the 
Winchester School he was a pupil of Dr. 
Goddard and Dr. Gabell, who were head 
masters during his attendance. In 1811 he 
became a student of Corpus Christi College, 
Oxford, where he took a degree in 1814, and 
in 1815 was elected fellow of Oriel College. 
He was ordained deacon in 1818, and subse¬ 
quently instructed young men at Laleham. In 
1827 he became head master at Rugby, which 
position he held nearly fourteen years. In a 
recommendation it was said of him, “If elected, 
he would change the face of education all 
through the public schools of England.” This 
prediction of the great man was fully real¬ 
ized, since his work at Rugby was of a very 
high character. He made this school a great 
reputation, and himself a warm place in the 
heart of all the world. “Arnold of Rugby” is 
known to all English people, and is especially 
impressed on the minds of all the teachers. His 
chief aim in teaching was to develop character, 


which he sought to do by placing trust in hE 
pupils and impressing them through his strong 
personality. The story of his life is told in 
the work of Dean Stanley, entitled “The Life 
and Correspondence of Arnold,” and in Thomas 
Hughes’s “Tom Brown’s School Days at 
Rugby.” His chief writings include “The His¬ 
tory of Rome,” “Thucydides,” “Fragments 
Upon the Church,” and “The Study of His¬ 
tory.” His life work practically ended at 
Rugby, since he died shortly after his election 
as professor of history at Oxford. 

AROMA (a-ro'ma), a term employed to 
designate the constituents of substances that 
possess minute particles which affect the 
organs of smell and produce fragrant odors. 
These odors are diffused without a percepti¬ 
ble loss of bulk or weight of the substances 
producing them. Among the chief aromatic 
substances are cloves, vanilla, coffee, and 
lavender. 

AROMATICS (ar-6-mat'iks), the medicines 
or drugs that owe their properties to the 
essential oils, and which are secured from 
the plants that yield camphor, odorous resins, 
or essences. Many have a warm, pungent taste, 
as pepper, ginger, cinnamon, saffron, and nut¬ 
meg. Some have a bitter taste, as tansy 
and wormwood, while others are highly fra¬ 
grant, as myrrh, musk, and storax. In the 
United States medicines are usually associated 
with aromatics, but in some countries they are 
added only on prescription. 

ARPAD (ar'pad), the national hero of the 
Magyars, born in Hungary about 869; died 
in 907. He engaged in a military life at an 
early age, succeeding his father, Almos, in an 
important command, and carried on successful 
warfare against the Bulgarians, Moravians, and 
Wallachians. Subsequently he made several 
raids into Italy. Arpad is the founder of a 
dynasty which assumed royal dignity in 1000, 
and became extinct in the male line with An¬ 
drew III., in 1301. His name still lives in the 
songs of Hungary. 

ARRAH (ar'ra), a city of India, in the 
presidency of Bengal, 33 miles west of Patna. 
The surrounding country is fertile. It is im¬ 
portant as a railroad and commercial center. 
In 1857 it was the scene of a battle in which 
the British gained a decisive victory over 3,000 
Sepoy insurgents. Population, 1917, 51,500. 

ARRAN (a'ran), an island of Scotland in 
the Firth of Clyde, about 13 miles west of Ayr¬ 
shire. It is a narrow strip of land, about 20 
miles long, and has an area of 165 square miles. 
The surface is mountainous, culminating in Goat- 
fell, which has an elevation of 2,860 feet above 
the sea. The island is remarkable because of 
its numerous strata of rock, including trap, 
limestone, mica, granite, and sandstone. Popu¬ 
lation, 4,950. 

ARRAS (ar-ras'), a city in France, capital 
of the Department of Pas-de-Calais, 100 miles 


ARROW 


154 


ART 


north of Paris. It has manufactures of lace, 
hosiery, and cotton goods, and carries a large 
trade in cereals and live stock. The public 
library has about 36,000 volumes. In the Mid¬ 
dle Ages the city had extensive manufactures 
of tapestry, and its name has been given to a 
grade of highly figured hangings. Population, 
1921, 20,697. 

ARROW (ar'ro), a missile weapon to be 
shot with a bow, the latter being bent for 
that purpose into an angular form. Arrows 
are usually straight and sharply pointed, and, 
to inflict a more deadly wound and prevent 
them being easily pulled out, are often barbed 
and poisoned at the point. The arrow is fre¬ 
quently mentioned in the Bible as a weapon 
used in war, and is still employed by savage 
people. Arrowheads of flint stone were made 
by the American Indians, many of which are 
still found in different parts of the continent. 

ARROWROOT ( ar'ro-root), the name of 
a variety of starch derived from the roots and 
grains of several plants and used as an article 



ARROWROOT. 


of food. The best quality is secured from the 
roots of a plant cultivated in tropical countries, 
especially in the West Indies. The roots of 
this plant are about twelve inches long and 
nearly an inch thick. They are peeled and ground 
into a pulp, from which the starch is taken 
by means of bathing in water, and it is then 
spread out and dried in the sun. In Brazil a 
class of arrowroot known as tapioca meal is 
secured in great quantities from the roots of 
several plants, and a fine quality is made from 
Indian corn, known in the market as Oswego 
arrowroot. 

ARRU (a'roo), the name of a group of 
islands in the Arafura Sea, southwest of New 
Guinea. The group consists of a number of 
small islands. The surface is low and the 
area is about 3,000 square miles. Some of the 
natives have adopted Christianity. Dobo is the 
chief town. It is a market for pearls, trepang, 
and edible birds’ nests, which are exported. 
The islands belong to Holland and have a pop¬ 
ulation of 15,000. 

ARSENAL (ar'se-nal), an establishment for 
the manufacture and repair of munitions of 
war. In most instances separate arsenals are 
maintained for the manufacture of guns, though 


formerly all the munitions of war, including ex¬ 
plosives and cartridges, were made in general 
establishments. Great naval arsenals are main¬ 
tained at Venice, Toulon, and Cherbourg, at 
which ships are built, repaired, and fitted out. 
The royal arsenal at Woolwich was estab¬ 
lished by England in 1720. It comprises a 
laboratory, and manufactures warlike imple¬ 
ments for the army and navy. In the United 
States each State has an armory for storing 
arms and ammunition. Large arsenals are 
located at Fort Monroe, Va., Rock Island, Ill., 
San Antonio, Tex., and Benicia, Cal. 

ARSENIC (ar'se-nik), a chemical element 
found widely distributed in nature, closely re¬ 
sembling a metal in physical properties, but 
ranking with the nonmetals. Pure arsenic is a 
shining, steel-gray, hard, and brittle substance. 
The white powder known as arsenic in the 
market is an oxide, and is secured largely 
from vapors that rise in extracting pure arsenic 
from the ore. Arsenic is a deadly poison, and 
when taken into the system causes cramps and 
a burning pain. The workmen who engage in 
the manufacture of arsenic, or products in 
which it is used extensively, are very liable 
to become unhealthy unless the best possible 
sanitary regulations are observed. Arsenic is 
found chiefly in Germany, Chile, Mexico, New 
Zealand, and in the northern section of the 
Appalachian Mountains, especially in New 
Hampshire. It is used in medicine and in the 
manufacture of shot, glass, and other products. 
When mixed with copper, it produces a beauti¬ 
ful green color, which is used extensively for 
coloring wall paper. See Poisons. 

ARSON (ar's’n), the willful and malicious 
burning of a dwelling or outbuilding belong¬ 
ing to another. The crime of arson includes 
willfully setting fire to any barn, ship, church, 
produce, coal mine, or other valuable prop¬ 
erty. Arson is punishable by common law as 
a felony, and when death results from it the 
offender may be punished by inflicting capital 
punishment, or its legal equivalent. An at¬ 
tempt to set on fire valuable property of an¬ 
other is also punishable as a penal offense. In 
case the offender sets fire to property for the 
purpose of defrauding an insurer, the penalty 
is usually increased. 

ART (art), the principles of artistic con¬ 
struction and aesthetic criticism, or the appli¬ 
cation of such principles to artistic works. In 
an extended sense the word implies everything 
which may be distinguished from nature. 
Art and nature are the two most comprehen¬ 
sive subjects of human study. In Pope’s 
familiar expression, “Blest with each grace 
of nature and of art,” is included everything 
that exists independent of our study and all 
that can be added by human exertion to ren¬ 
der beautiful, appropriate, and pleasing. 
The term is commonly used to designate 
skill in performing some specified kind of 


ARTAXERXES 


155 


ARTESIAN WELL 


work, either physical or mental. Usually the 
several arts are arranged in two groups: the 
mechanical and the liberal or fine arts. The 
former engage workmen who successfully fol¬ 
low an occupation in which genius is not the 
most material element, but rather skill and 
facility to work with an efficiency imparted by 
long practice, as the arts of the watchmaker, 
carpenter, blacksmith, and others. These are 
usually called the trades. Liberal or fine arts 
are such as require, not only manual skill, but 
great genius. These include sculpture, paint- 
ing, music, architecture, and all that minister 
to the sentiment of taste by means of the beau¬ 
tiful in color, form, rhythm, or harmony. 

ARTAXERXES (ar-taks-erks'ez), mean¬ 
ing The Mighty, the name of three Persian 
kings. Artaxerxes, surnamed Longimanus, 
third son of Xerxes I., ascended the throne 
in 465 b. c. He conquered the Egyptians 
and subjected the Athenians. His reign ex¬ 
tended over a period of forty years. Artax¬ 
erxes, surnamed Mncmon, son of Darius II., 
became king in 405 b. c. After an extend¬ 
ed war against the Spartans, he forced them to 
abandon the cities they had conquered in 
Greece. Artaxerxes, surnamed Ochus, ascend¬ 
ed the throne in 359 b. c. During his reign 
the Phoenicians and Egyptians became subject 
to Persia. He was poisoned by his eunuch Ba- 
goas in 338 b. c. 

ARTEMIS (ar'te-mis), an ancient Grecian 
divinity identified with Diana. See Diana. 

ARTEMUS WARD, the noin de plume 
of Charles Farrar Browne, humorist, born 
at Waterford, Me., April 26, 1834; died at 
Southampton, England, March 6, 1867. He 

was first a printer and later served as editor 
of several newspapers in Ohio, where he wrote 
humorous letters that became very popular. 
He went to England in 1862, where he lec¬ 
tured and contributed to Punch, but after¬ 
ward again lectured in the United States. 
His noin de plume was signed to articles 
pretending to have been written by a show¬ 
man, and these were particularly popular 
for their droll and eccentric construction. 
Numerous writers have since imitated his 
style. 

ARTERY (ar'ter-y), the name of any one 
of the vessels through which the blood is con¬ 
veyed from the heart to the different parts 
of the system. These organs are so named be¬ 
cause the ancients found that the arteries of 
dead bodies contained air, and supposed them 
to be air tubes leading through the body. The 
arterial system starts from the left ventricle, 
where it consists of one trunk, called the 
aorta. From it several branches pass to the 
head, after which it makes a bold curve, 
known as the arch of the aorta , and sends 
numerous branches to all parts of the lower 
extremities. Arteries are tubelike canals, by 
which the pure blood is carried from the 


heart to the cells. They are nearly straight 
and are located as near the bones as possible, 
so as to be less liable to injury. In composi¬ 
tion they are elastic, which causes them to 
yield to every pulse of the heart. They are 
made up of three layers or coats, including 
the external or cellular, the middle or 
fibrous, and the internal or serous, and are 
encased in a sheath. Where they penetrate 
muscles, they are often protected by fibrous 
rings to prevent compression by muscular 
action. A large canal, not a part of the gen¬ 
eral arterial system, carries the impure blood 
from the heart to the lungs to be purified. 
It is called the pulmonary artery. 

ARTESIAN WELL (iir-te'zhan), a bor¬ 
ing in the ground through which currents of 
water rise from various depths toward or 



ARTESIAN WELL. 


above the surface. The possibilty of secur¬ 
ing a flow of water in this way depends upon 
the geological structure, though water is 
found more or less abundantly in all rock 
formations. Soil and rock constituted largely 
of sand contain pores and cavities that easily 
fill with water, which flows out in case a well 
is sunk to a depth below the regular cavities 
in which the liquid is stored. Nearly one- 
third of the apparent sand mass at the seashore 
or near water beds is made up of water. 
Artesians wells are sunk in comparatively low 
places, and in districts where the lower or older 
strata are formed into basin-shaped curves. 
Rain falling on the outer portion of the strata 
saturates the whole porous bed, and, when the 
bore reaches below the common water surface, 
the water rushes up toward the level by hy¬ 
draulic pressure, the height of the flow being 
equal to the height of the water in the basin¬ 
shaped strata. Wells with a good supply of 
water can be obtained in nearly all parts of 
Canada and the United States, but artesian 
wells are not so common. However, in many 
localities where holes have been sunk in pros¬ 
pecting for coal, salt brine, gas, petroleum, and 
other minerals excellent flows of water have 
been found. 

In the eastern part of the United States, 
particularly in the manufacturing centers of 































ARTEVELDE 


156 


ARTHUR 


New York, Ohio, and Pennsylvania, and in 
many of the Southern States, such wells are 
utilized extensively for industrial purposes. 
In New York City a vast supply of water is 
secured at a depth of 500 feet; at Saint Louis 
a well at a depth of 2,250 feet discharges 
seventy-five gallons of water per minute. 
At Terre Haute, Ind., are several wells from 
1,500 to 2,000 feet deep; and at Columbus, 
Ohio, a good flow is obtained at a depth of 
2,275 feet. New Orleans, La., has several such 
wells, and many have been obtained in the 
states on the Pacific coast. These wells sup¬ 
ply water for city consumption, manufactur¬ 
ing, and irrigation. In South Dakota and in 
portions of the Sahara Desert wells have 
been sunk that yield vast volumes of water 
for the irrigation of large tracts of arid land. 
The census returns show that over 10,000 of 
these wells are used for irrigation purposes 
in the western half of the United States, of 
which number about 3,000 are in California. 
These wells are secured at a depth of from 
twenty to nearly 3,000 feet. 

In late years the process of boring wells 
for oil, gas, and other minerals has become 
a distinct branch of hydraulic engineering. 
Usually a hole is bored for some distance, 
which is cased by driving an iron pipe 
into it, and this is lengthened from time to 
time in the process of construction by attach¬ 
ing other sections. Iron piping is used in con¬ 
structing drill rods, and a valve opening from 
beneath is attached about every thirty feet. 
The drill below the rod contains a hole, 
through which the borings pass, through the 
agency of a supply of water poured into the 
well. These borings work upward through 
the drill rods as they are moved up and down 
by machinery on the ground above. In this 
way drilling becomes a process of pumping, 
which is not only effective in all grades of 
clays, but is capable of penetrating through the 
hardest kind of granite. As the drill passes 
downward into the earth, iron casing is driven 
down to prevent caving, and additional rods 
are put in from time to time as the work pro¬ 
gresses. In some localities large augers are 
used a portion of the time, but in most in¬ 
stances the best steel drills are suitable to 
carry on the work. However, in the harder sub¬ 
stances, such as granite and other rock, the 
diamond drill is used, which is set with black 
diamond. In making tests for minerals, a 
careful account is kept of every strata and 
formation through which the drill passes, by 
means of which an accurate knowledge of the 
various deposits is secured and the expense 
of further improvements can be easily esti¬ 
mated. 

ARTEVELDE (ar'ta-vel-de), Jacob van, 
a brewer of Ghent, celebrated as a Flem¬ 
ish leader in the 14th century. During the 
war between England and France he supported 


the English and the Count of Flanders aided 
the French. He became commander of the 
forces of Ghent, and gained marked advan¬ 
tages over the nobles. Subsequently he pro¬ 
posed that the son of Edward III. of Eng¬ 
land be made Count of Flanders. This was 
unpopular and led to an insurrection in 1345, 
in which he was slain.—Artevelde, Philip, 
son of the former, whom he succeeded in 
1381 as leader of the people of Ghent. He de¬ 
feated the Count of Flanders, Louis II., and 
occupied Burges, but was in power only one 
year. In 1382 the French took up the cause 
of the Count of Flanders and defeated him 
at Rooseboke in a battle, in which he and 
many thousands were slain. 

ARTHROPODA (ar-throp'6-da), or Artic- 
ulata, one of the divisions of the animal king¬ 
dom. The body of animals belonging to this 
family is divided into segments, each of which 
has a pair of jointed feet or appendages, hence 
Cuvier named the whole group articulata. 
Many species have been described, including 
a class that is parasitic in its habits, and in 
these some of the organs disappear or lost 
their functions as the animal grows older. In 
most species the mouth is upon the lower sur¬ 
face of the anterior end, the seat of the nerv¬ 
ous system is above and in front of the mouth, 
and the heart is dorsal and propels the blood 
forward, but, as the veins are often lacking, 
the venous circulation, in some species, is re¬ 
turned to the heart through the tissues of the 
body. The nerves pass from the brain to 
the eyes, which are simple in some species and 
compound in others, and the outer wall of the 
body is usually hardened by a peculiar sub¬ 
stance known as chitine. They reproduce ex¬ 
clusively by eggs. The three divisions of artic¬ 
ulata are arachnida, Crustacea, and anten- 
nata. The first mentioned group breathe by 
lungs, gills, or air tubes; the second by gills 
entirely; and the last mentioned by air tubes. 
Those belonging to the antennata are pro¬ 
vided with antennae. Among the animals 
classed in this family are lobsters, spiders, 
cockroaches, butterflies, mites, flies, bees, etc. 

ARTHUR (ar'thur), King of the ancient 
Britons, who flourished in the 6th century. 
History assigns him no certain locality, but 
he is thought to have occupied the regions now 
called Scotland and to have supported the 
Christian faith and civil liberty, for which he 
fought. He established the celebrated Order 
of the Round Table, and to him are credited 
the “Chronicles of Geoffrey of Monmouth/’ 
Though he reigned but twelve years, he con¬ 
quered Denmark, Norway, and France. While 
he was at Rome, his nephew caused his sub¬ 
jects to revolt. Hastening home, he engaged 
the enemy on the Island of Avalon in a de¬ 
cisive battle and was wounded, from the ef¬ 
fects of which he died. Many of the accounts 
written of him are doubted, but in legend and 


ARTHUR 


157 


ARTICLES 


song he is known by people speaking various 
languages. Some of the most interesting writ¬ 
ings alluding to King Arthur include Cax- 
ton’s “Byrth, Lyfe, and Acts of Kyng Ar¬ 
thur,” Tennyson’s ‘‘Idylls of the King,” and 
Skene’s ‘Four Ancient Books of Wales.” 

ARTHUR, Chester Alan, twenty-first Pres¬ 
ident of the United States, born at Fairfield, 
Vt., Oct. 5, 1830; died in New York City 

Nov. 18, 1886. 
His father, 
William A r - 
t h u r, D. D., 
was a Scotch- 
Irish Protest- 
a n t who 
graduated a t 
Belfast C o 1 - 
lege. At the 
age of eight¬ 
een he came 
to the United 
States and 
subsequen 11 y 
was ordained 
a Baptist min- 
education at 
Schenectady, N. Y., and at Union College, 
at which he graduated in 1848. Soon after 
graduating he engaged in teaching school, and 
became principal of an academy at North Pow- 
nal, Vt. He saved $500 by teaching and took 
up the study of law in Lansingburg, N. Y., 
and was admitted to the bar in 1853. He prac¬ 
ticed law and took an active part in politics, 
in the interest of the Whig party, but became 
a Republican soon after that party was organ¬ 
ized. In 1861 he became quartermaster gen¬ 
eral in New York City, and the following year 
was made inspector general. He rendered 
efficient service throughout the Civil War, 
especially in preparing the New York troops 
for the field. 

After the close of the war he devoted his 
time exclusively to the practice of law, be¬ 
ing a member of the firm of Arthur, Phelps 
& Knevals. President Grant appointed him 
collector of the port of New York, which 
position he held in 1871-78, and in the latter 
year he w r as relieved by President Hayes. In 
1880 he advocated the third nomination of 
Gen. Grant at the national convention in Chi¬ 
cago, and was nominated for the Vice Presi¬ 
dency on the ticket with James A. Garfield. 
While filling the office of Vice President, he 
was frequently called on to exercise the right 
of casting the controlling vote, on account of 
the Senate being equally divided. He was 
formally installed in the office of President on 
Sept. 20, 1881, after the assassination oi Presi¬ 
dent Garfield. The exclusion of Chinese im¬ 
migrants and the abolition of polygamy in 
Utah were among the important events of 
his administration. His name was proposed for 


the nomination for President at the conven¬ 
tion in 1884, but that body chose to nominate 
James G. Blaine. The highest number of votes 
cast for Arthur was 278 on the first and 276 
on the second ballot. His administration 
was approved by the convention in these 
words: “In the administration of President 
Arthur, we recognize a wise, conservative, and 
patriotic policy, under which the country 
has been blessed with remarkable prosper¬ 
ity, and we believe his eminent services are 
entitled to and will receive the hearty ap¬ 
proval of every citizen.” His death occurred 
suddenly at his residence. He was buried in 
Rural Cemetery at Albany, N. Y. 

ARTHUR, Julia, actress, born in Hamilton, 
Ont., May 3, 1869. Her real name, Ida Lewis, 
was displaced by the maiden name of her 
mother. She appeared on the professional 
stage at the age of fourteen years as the 
Prince of Wales in Bandmann’s presentation 
of Richard III. In 1885 she appeared with 
Irving at the Lyceum Theater in London, and 
soon after played roles as Rosalind in “As 
You Like It” and as Josephine Bonaparte in 
“More Than a Queen.” She toured Canada 
and the United States with Irving and Terry 
in 1896. In 1900 she retired from the stage 
on account of illness. 

ARTHUR’S SEAT, a famous hill near 
Edinburgh, Scotland, so named from King 
Arthur. It is 822 feet above the level of the 
sea, contains many beautiful drives and 
valuable monuments, and furnishes an excel¬ 
lent view of the city. It has come to be a 
favorite pleasure resort of Edinburgh, which 
is frequently called “Modern Athens.” 

ARTICHOKE (ar'ti-chok), a perennial 
plant resembling the thistle, found native in 
Europe and Asia. The stem is from two to 
ten feet high. It is cultivated for food in 
many parts of Southern Europe. The unripe 
flower heads and the lower part of the sur¬ 
rounding leaf scales are the chief parts taken 
for food. The Jerusalem artichoke, a species 
of sunflower, is cultivated for its root tubers, 
which resemble potatoes. These may be pre¬ 
pared for the table like potatoes, or eaten raw 
with vinegar and salt in the form of a salad. 

ARTICLE (ar'ti-k’l), in grammar, one of 
a class of limiting adjectives, which embrace 
the adjective elements a, an, and the. A is 
used before consonant sounds and an before 
vowel sounds; both are called indefinite 
articles, because they refer to any one of two 
or more objects. The is called the definite 
article. 

ARTICLES, The Thirty-Nine, a statement 
of the points of doctrine agreed upon by the 
Church of England. These articles, 39 in num¬ 
ber, were confirmed by royal authority after 
having been agreed upon by a convocation held 
in London in 1562-63. They are articles of re¬ 
ligion, a formula, rather than a creed, and 



CHESTER A. ARTHUR, 
ister. Chester received his 


\ 



ARTICLES OF CONFEDERATION 


158 


ARTILLERY 


originally were 42 in number. A convocation 
of the Irish Church adopted them in 1635, and 
they were ratified by the Scottish Episcopal 
Church in 1804. 'The General Conference in 
1801 made them applicable to the American 
Episcopal Church, but inaugurated a few slight 
changes. Formerly the clergy was required 
to subscribe to the articles, but now they give 
assent to them and to the Prayer Book. 
The Methodist Episcopal Church of America 
reduced these articles to 25, which is the num¬ 
ber now published in its Book of Discipline. 

ARTICLES OF CONFEDERATION, an 
instrument adopted by the thirteen colonies of 
America for their mutual protection and gen¬ 
eral government. Congress proposed them in 
1776 with the condition that they should not 
be binding until ratified by all the states. Mary¬ 
land ratified them on March 1, 1781, the last 
of the States to grant approval, and Congress 
convened the next day. The delay on the 
part of Maryland was due to the fact that 
it demanded that the states cede their claims 
to territory in the Northwest Territory to the 
Federal Government, which was done by all 
the interested states. The instrument united 
the colonies under the title United States of 
America. While they did not provide a sat¬ 
isfactory plan for government, they remained 
in force as the fundamental law until March 
4, 1789, when the Constitution became opera¬ 
tive and the first Constitutional Congress as¬ 
sembled. 

ARTIFICIAL ICE (ar-ti-fish'al): See Ice. 

ARTIFICIAL LIMBS, the mechanical 
contrivances employed to fill the functions 
of a lost limb or part thereof. The con¬ 
struction of artificial limbs possessing con¬ 
siderable merit dates from the beginning of 
the 19th century, although Herodotus and 
others mention their use in early history. A 
Roman artificial leg discovered in a tomb in 
Capua, and which was used about 300 b. c., is 
now in the London Royal College of Surgeons. 
The German Knight, Gotz von Berlichingen, 
in 1504, wore an iron hand constructed to 
grasp a sword, which weighed three pounds. 
Many other remarkable incidents in history 
may be cited as evidence that artificial limbs 
have been worn for many ages. 

Artificial limbs of recent manufacture pos¬ 
sess many points of utility and show much 
skill in construction. Various kinds of sub¬ 
stances are used in the manufacture, but 
mostly such as possess lightness, strength, 
and noncorrosive qualities. Aluminum pos¬ 
sesses all these elements and has gone 
largely into the manufacture of these ap¬ 
pliances. Arms are often contrived so the hand 
may be unscrewed and a hair brush, knife, 
fork, or some similar instruments can be put 
in its place. Cork, rubber, and wood with 
leather bands have gone largely into the manu¬ 
facture of devices to replace lost limbs. Arti¬ 


ficial fingers, ears, and noses are skillfully 
shaped from papier mache. This material may 
be waxed and varnished so as to have in 
effect the same complexion as the real organs 
of the individual. Such an artificial part, if 
carefully made, cannot be distinguished from 
the real, except by the very closest examina¬ 
tion. Glass is used in the manufacture of 
artificial eyes, which are so skillfully made 
that they agree in size, measurement, color, 
and other essentials with the real eye. They 
serve a useful purpose in preserving the natural 
appearance, especially where the wearer still 
possesses one of the natural eyes. 

ARTILLERY (ar-til'ler-y), the term for¬ 
merly used to designate any instrument of war, 
even bows, slings, and arrows, but now applied 
to cannon and general ordnance, including guns, 
mortars, howitzers, and machine guns. It is also 
applied to officers and men of the army to whom 
the care and management of the artillery is in¬ 
trusted. It may be taken for granted that the 
history of artillery proper commenced with the 
discovery of gunpowder. The first large imple¬ 
ments of war to throw missiles of consider¬ 
able size were constructed of stone. The 
scientific casting of cannon did not begin 
until the 17th century, but there is evidence 
that implements of rough construction were 
used as early as the 12th century. 

With the advent of field guns came the 
necessity of employing a special body of men 
skilled in the management of heavy masses 
of field artillery, though this branch of war¬ 
fare received little attention until the beginning 
of the last century. Early experiences showed 
the large cannon to be unwieldy and it • 
was often lost by mismanagement or ren¬ 
dered of small effect for want of means to 
move it about. Besides, there was a want 
of men skilled in the arts of taking aim and 
calculating distances and the range of guns, 
whereby effective results might follow. This 
led to the establishment of artillery schools, 
where men might be trained to efficiency and 
skill. These schools date from 1675, when 
Louis XIV. founded such an institution and 
organized a special artillery force. France 
and Germany long possessed the best artil¬ 
lerymen and artillery service of the great pow¬ 
ers of Europe. They were trained, not only in 
institutions, but by personal inspection at the 
seats of war. This was the case in the war 
between the English and the Boers, in South 
Africa in 1900, when Germans and French 
managed largely the artillery of the latter 
However, it was demonstrated in the Span- 
ish-American War of 1898 that the United 
States cannot be excelled in military marks¬ 
manship. 

Woolwich is the seat of the artillery and 
engineering school of England. However, most 
countries of Europe separate the school of 
artillery from that of the engineers. In the 


ARTILLERY SCHOOLS 


159 


ASBESTOS 


United States the organization of batteries is 
largely under the direction of the President. 
In time of peace the mounted artillery organi¬ 
zation is small, while in time of war it con¬ 
stitutes a considerable portion of the general 
army. Recently automobiles displaced horse 
artillery to some extent. Owing to the late 
wars in the colonial possessions, garrisoned 
fortifications have been constructed at which a 
large portion of the artillery is utilized. To 
enlarge the skill of the American army and 
secure expert artillerymen, a school with a suit¬ 
able course of study and a practical department 
is maintained at Fort Monroe, Va. The course 
consists of two years, and is a post-graduate 
adjunct to the United States Military Academy 
at West Point, N. Y. 

ARTILLERY SCHOOLS, the institu¬ 
tions designed to impart skill in artillery 
practice. The first was established in France 
in 1675, which was followed by one in Ger¬ 
many in 1766, and England founded the Royal 
Military Academy at Woolwich in 1741. The 
artillery school of the United States is located 
at Fortress Monroe, Va. It was founded in 
1824, and has a course of study covering two 
years. 

ARUNDEL (ar un-del), Thomas, Arch¬ 
bishop of Canterbury, born at Arundel Castle, 
England, in 1353; died Feb. 19, 1413. He was 
made bishop of Ely in 1373, and later was lord 
high chancellor of England and archbishop of 
York. In 1396 he became Archbishop of Can¬ 
terbury, was banished the following year for 
complication in the insurrection against Rich¬ 
ard II., and returned with Henry IV. two 
years later to be reinstated at Canterbury. He 
prosecuted the Lollards, the followers of Wic- 
lif, and aided in procuring the act for the 
burning of heretics. He caused Lord Cobham 
to be convicted of heresy, though he was not 
executed until 1417, and opposed translating 
the Scriptures into the English language. 

ARUWIMI (a-rdo-we'me), a river of Af¬ 
rica, one of the tributaries of the Congo. It 
rises west of Lake Albert Nyanza and flows 
westward through a region of dense forest. 
At Yambuya, to which it is navigable, are. a 
number of rapids. In different parts of its 
course of about 800 miles it assumes the names 
of Ituri and Bijerre. 

ARYANS (ar'yans), the name applied to 
the Indo-European races. The Aryans orig¬ 
inally inhabited the region of Asia near 
the upper Oxus or Amu River. They en¬ 
gaged in farming and stock raising, . and 
were advanced in some of the arts of civiliza¬ 
tion. Their origin is traced to the Japhetic na¬ 
tions from Japheth, son of Noah, of whom 
they are held to be descendants.. These people 
spoke one language, the Sanskrit, from, which 
the modern languages spoken by their de¬ 
scendants have originated. Although many of 
these languages appear to show no affinity, jet 


upon close examination it is found that all were 
derived from the same source and had one com¬ 
mon origin. The Aryan nations of Asia are 
the high-caste Hindus and the ancient Persians, 
while those of Europe include the Greeks, 
Latins, Slavs, Leets, Celts, and Teutons; the 
last mentioned include the Germans and Scan¬ 
dinavians. While little is known of the ancient 
Aryans, it is thought they engaged chiefly in 
tilling the soil and in pasturing their flocks. 
They lived in villages, practiced the grinding of 
grain and weaving of cloth, and possessed well- 
formed ideas of government. The English 
are a branch of the Aryan race, and descended 
from them through the German people. 

AS (as), or Libra, a Roman weight, divided 
into 12 unciae, and nearly equal to the English 
pound. A Roman coin called as originally 
weighed a pound, but it was afterward reduced 
in size and weighed one thirty-sixth of a pound. 
The older coins bore the figure of some domes¬ 
tic animal, as an ox or a sheep, and on one 
side of those of more recent date was stamped 
the head of an important personage. 

ASA (a'sa), the son of Abijah, great-grand¬ 
son of Solomon, and third King of Judah. He 
reigned from 917 until 876 b. c., and was suc¬ 
ceeded by Jehoshaphat. During the early part 
of his reign the altars of idols were destroyed 
and their images were broken. 

ASAFETIDA (as-a-fet'i-da), the name of 
several plants common to Persia and the 
East Indies. These plants yield a drug use¬ 
ful in medicine, 
especially for asth- 
ma, hysteria, 
worms, and gase¬ 
ous distentions of 
the intestines. To 
secure the drug 
old plants are tap¬ 
ped for their juice, 
which is dried in 
the sun and hard- 
e n e d, in which 
state it is export¬ 
ed largely. This 

drug has a very 

disagreeable odor, 
but is used for sea¬ 
soning articles of 
food among some 
tribes in the East. 

ASAPH (a'saf)/ 
a Levite and 

psalmist, the 

leading chorister in the divine service in 
the time of David. He was the founder of 

a school of musicians and poets. His stu¬ 

dents were called “The sons of Asaph. Some 
writers attribute twelve of the Psalms to.him, 
including i and those numbered from lxxiii to 

1XXX111. 

ASBESTOS (as-bes'tos), a substance named 



ASAFETIDA. 








ASBJORNSEN 


ASCHAM 


1(50 


from its property of not being affected by 
fire. It is a highly useful mineral of a silky, 
luster, having fibers that in some species are 
delicate, flexible, and elastic, and in others 
brittle and stiff. Its chief property is that 
it will not burn, which renders it highly im¬ 
portant as a means of protection against fire 
in buildings and as a sheath or covering to 
confine heat to a particular channel. The an¬ 
cients knew of it and used it in preparing flexi¬ 
ble cloth for shrouds to cover dead bodies. De¬ 
posits of this mineral are found in various local¬ 
ities of all the grand divisions. It occurs in 
Montana and Georgia in paying quantities, where 
it is mined profitably. The quality of the 
American product is equal to any in the world. 
At Sail Mountain, a foothill of the Blue Ridge 
in Georgia, an asbestos ledge has been discov¬ 
ered that is more than 800 feet long, about 250 
feet wide, and of great depth. Canada has large 
deposits of white asbestos, which can be spun 
into fine thread and woven into yarn and rope. 
Large quantities of this product are marketed 
annually and its use is extensive. Electrical 
supply companies employ it in the manufacture 
of insulators. It is used extensively in making 
asbestos cement, quick-setting plasters, fireproof 
roofing, deadening for walls and floors, sectional 
covers for steam pipes, refrigerator insulation, 
and many other useful purposes in manufactur¬ 
ing. It has proved especially beneficial in the 
manufacture of stage curtains in theaters and 
for the protection of dead bodies that have been 
embalmed. 

ASBJORNSEN (as-byern'sen), Peter 
Christen, naturalist, born in Christiana, Nor¬ 
way, Jan. 15, 1812; died Jan. 6, 1885. He vis¬ 
ited Egypt and Asia Minor to study rare speci¬ 
mens of botany, and spent two years at the 
Academy of Therand, Saxony. In 1856 he was 
made inspector general of the forests of Nor¬ 
way and for some time had charge of the turf 
industries. He is the author of many works on 
botany and folklore. The most important are 
“Norwegian Folk Tales” and “Norwegian Fairy 
Tales and Legends.” 

ASBURY (as'ber-i), Francis, clergyman, 
born in Handworth, Eng., Aug. 20, 1745; died 
at Spottsylvania, Va., March 31, 1816. He was 
the first bishop of the Methodist Church or¬ 
dained in America, receiving a salary of $64 
per year. He came to America in 1771, labored 
under the direction of John Wesley, and did 
much for the Christian cause. On account of 
expressing sympathy for the colonists, he was 
arrested and fined, but later was permitted to 
resume his circuit. Under his efficient services 
the Methodist Church grew from a member¬ 
ship of 316 to 214,000 communicants. 

ASBURY PARK, a town of New Jersey, in 
Monmouth County, on the Pennsylvania and 
the Central of New Jersey railroads. It is 
finely situated on the Atlantic coast, six miles 
south of Long Branch, and is one of the most 


famous health and pleasure resorts of the 
Eastern states. A short distance south is Ocean 
Grove, from which it is separated by Wesley 
Lake. It is visited by many thousands of peo¬ 
ple annually, who are amply accommodated by 
facilities for entertainment. Population, 1905, 
4,526; in 1920, 12,400. 

ASCALON (as'ka-lon), or Askalon, an im¬ 
portant city of ancient Palestine, situated mid¬ 
way between Gaza and Ashdod, on the Medi¬ 
terranean Sea, thirty-eight miles southwest of 
Jerusalem. It is mentioned several times in the 
poetical books of the Scriptures, but is noted 
more particularly on account of its history in 
connection with the Maccabees and the Cru¬ 
saders. The Christians under Godfrey de 
Bouillon and Tancred attained a noted victory 
at Ascalon in 1099, and Baldwin III., King of 
Jerusalem, also gained a victory here in 1153. 
It was recaptured by Saladin in 1187, and three 
years later was destroyed by a joint treaty 
under the Moslems and Christians. The an¬ 
cient city contained a number of noted temples 
and was celebrated for the production of wine 
in the time of Pliny. On the site of the ancient 
city are ruins and a small village of Turks and 
Christians. 

ASCENSION (as-sen'shun), an island in 
the Atlantic Ocean, 750 miles northwest of 
Saint Helena. It has an area of 35 square 
miles, is of volcanic origin, and belongs to 
Great Britain. Green Mountain, the highest 
elevation, rises 2,870 feet above the sea. It is 
important as a coaling station. Georgetown, 
the chief business center, is a naval station. 
Population, 390. 

ASCENSION DAY, often called Holy 
Thursday, the day on which the ascension of 
Christ is commemorated. It has been observed 
as a feast since about 68 a. d., and is movable, 
occurring on the second Thursday before Whit¬ 
suntide. 

ASCHAM (as'kam), Roger, eminent 
scholar, born in Yorkshire, England, in 1515; 
died Dec. 30, 1568. He descended from hum¬ 
ble parentage, but was educated with the sons of 
Sir Anthony Wingfield, and in 1534 graduated 
from Saint John’s College, Oxford. Ascham 
was a devoted Protestant, became college tutor 
in 1537, and was appointed teacher of learned 
languages to Elizabeth, afterward queen, in 
1548. It is said that he spent several hours 
every day reading to her in the learned lan¬ 
guages, and that her proficiency was equal to 
his pains. He was fond of instrumental music 
and archery. In 1568 he completed his “School¬ 
master,” a treatise on the method of teaching 
Latin to children. His small work on arch¬ 
ery, entitled “Toxophilus,” was dedicated to 
Henry VIII., who granted him an annual pen¬ 
sion of $50. Queen Elizabeth said in express¬ 
ing her regrets on account of his death that 
she would “rather have lost £10,000 than her 
tutor Ascham.” His complete works were pub- 


ASCHBACH 


101 


ASHLAND 


lished at Oxford in 1703, and Dr. Johnson pub¬ 
lished his life in 1815. 

ASCHBACH (ash'bak), Joseph von, his¬ 
torian, born near Frankfort on the Main, Ger¬ 
many, April 29, 1801; died April 25, 1882. He 
was professor at Bonn and Vienna, and for 
efficient service was ennobled in 1870. His chief 
works are “History of the Emperor Sigismund,” 
“History of the Visigoths,” and “History of the 
Omeyyades in Spain.” 

ASH, a genus of forest trees common to 
North America and Eurasia. More than fifty 
species have been described, of which the com¬ 
mon ash is the most widely distributed. The 
species native to North America include the red 
ash, white ash, blue ash, and swamp ash. The 
ash tree is distinguished by its size and grace¬ 
ful foliage. It attains a height of sixty to 
ninety feet and has widespreading branches. It 
yields a good quality of timber for the manu¬ 
facture of plows, vehicles, furniture, and agri¬ 
cultural implements. The weeping ash is a 
species with drooping branches, and the moun¬ 
tain ash is planted largely as an ornamental 
shade tree. A species native to Palestine, the 
flowering or manna ash, yields the substance 
called manna. This product exudes from in¬ 
cisions made in the bark. Some varieties yield 
a sap useful in the preparation of medicine. 

ASHANTEE (a-shan'te), or Ashanti, a 
country in Western Africa, situated north of 
the Gulf of Guinea, and extending, toward the 
interior from the Gold Coast. Though its 
boundaries are not accurately defined, its area 
is placed at 50,000 square miles, and the popu¬ 
lation at 3,000,000. It is one of the largest 
native kingdoms of Africa, but within recent 
years many changes have been wrought on ac¬ 
count of the extension of European interests, 
particularly those of France, England, and 
Germany. The country is rich in gold dust and 
ivory, and there are considerable productions 
of fruits, cereals, vegetables, and fish. Several 
wars have been carried on with European 
powers. The government is a despotic mon¬ 
archy, in which slavery is still recognized. In 
1896 it was placed under British protection and 
was annexed to that country in 1901. The chief 
seat of government is at Kumassi, which, in 
1917, had a population of 19,500. 

ASHBURTON (ash'bur-ton), Alexander 
Baring, diplomat, born in London, England, 
Oct. 27, 1774; died May 13, 1848. He was em¬ 
ployed in mercantile affairs and succeeded his 
father as head of the firm of Baring Brothers. 
While in the United States he married a 
daughter of William Bingham, United States 
Senator from Pennsylvania. In 1806 he was 
elected to Parliament and was reelected sev¬ 
eral times, and gave support to the policy of 
Sir Robert Peel. In 1842 he was made com¬ 
missioner to adjust the rival claims between 
England and the United States on account of a 
dispute in regard to the northeastern boundary, 

U 


and with Daniel Webster negotiated the Ash¬ 
burton Treaty (q. v.). He was selected as a 
commissioner in negotiating a settlement be¬ 
cause he was inclined to a specific policy. 

ASHBURTON TREATY, a treaty nego¬ 
tiated between the United States and Great 
Britain at Washington in 1842, the former 
country being represented by Daniel Webster 
and the latter by Lord Alexander B. Ashburton. 
By this treaty the northeastern boundary be¬ 
tween the United States and Canada was finally 
settled, the United States securing about seven- 
twelfths of the territory in dispute. It was 
also stipulated that the slave trade should be 
mutually suppressed. 

ASHEVILLE (ash'vfl), a city in North 
Carolina, county seat of Buncombe County, on 
the French Broad River, 210 miles west of 
Raleigh, on the Southern Railroad. It is finely 
situated in the midst of the Blue Ridge Moun¬ 
tains, at an elevation of 2,300 feet, and 
enjoys a large manufacturing and jobbing 
trade. The city has well-paved streets, rapid 
transit, electric lights, and excellent school 
and church buildings. It is the seat of Ashe¬ 
ville College, a Methodist institution founded 
in 1843. Among the chief buildings are the 
city hall, the post office, the Auditorium, the 
Asheville Normal and Collegiate Institute, and 
the Battery Park Hotel. Richmond Hill, Over¬ 
look Park, Pisgale Forest, and the Vanderbilt 
estate are among the points of interest. It has 
manufactures of cigars, clothing, earthenware, 
machinery, flour, and furniture. Its favorable 
location has made Asheville famous as a health 
resort, both for summer and winter visitors. 
The region was first settled in 1792. Popula¬ 
tion, 1900, 14,694; in 1920, 28,504. 

ASHLAND (ash'land), a city of Boyd 
County, Kentucky, on the Ohio River, and on 
the Norfolk and Western and the Chesapeake 
and Ohio railroads. It is surrounded by a fer¬ 
tile farming country, which contains extensive 
deposits of coal. The manufactures include 
ironware, boilers, furniture, nails, and machin¬ 
ery. The city has good municipal improve¬ 
ments, and enjoys the advantages of good 
school and church facilities. It was first settled 
in 1854 and became an incorporated city in 
1870. Population, 1900, 6,800; in 1920, 11,729. 

ASHLAND, the county seat of Ashland 
County, Ohio, 65 miles southwest of Cleveland, 
on the Erie and other railroads. It has a 
large trade in grain and produce. A public 
library and the county courthouse are among 
the chief buildings. It has waterworks, elec¬ 
tric lights, and manufactories of machinery. 
Population, 1900, 4,087; in 1920, 9,249. r 

ASHLAND, a city of Oregon, in Jackson 
County, fifteen miles southeast of Jacksonville, 
the county seat. It is on the Southern Pacific 
Railroad, in a fruit growing country, and gran¬ 
ite quarries and gold mines are worked in the 
surrounding country. Railroad shops, lumber 


ASHLAND 


162 


ASIA 


yards, and flouring mills are among the indus¬ 
tries. It is the seat of a State normal school. 
In the vicinity are mineral springs. Population, 
1900, 2,634; in 1920, 4,283.. 

ASHLAND, a borough in Schuylkill County, 
Pennsylvania, twelve miles northwest of Potts- 
ville, on the Philadelphia and Reading and the 
Lehigh Valley railroads. It has large foun¬ 
dries and machine shops, and anthracite coal 
is mined in the vicinity. The State Miners’ 
Hospital is located at this place. It has a mu¬ 
nicipal system of waterworks and several fine 
schools. Ashland was incorporated in 1857. 
Population, 1900, 6,438; in 1920, 6,666. 

ASHLAND, a city in Wisconsin, county 
seat of Ashland County, on Ashland Bay, 200 
miles north of La Crosse. It is on the North¬ 
ern Pacific, the Sault Ste. Marie Line, the Chi¬ 
cago and Northwestern, and other railroads, and 
has a large trade in lumber, iron, and building 
stone. The manufactures include lumber prod¬ 
ucts, ironware, machinery, furniture, and cloth¬ 
ing. Among the chief buildings are the county 
courthouse, the post office, the North Wiscon¬ 
sin Academy, the Vaughn Public Library, and 
the Knight Hotel. The city has a fine system 
of public schools and numerous churches, and 
is substantially improved by pavements, elec¬ 
tric lights, and street railways. There are sev¬ 
eral fine parks and libraries. It was first set¬ 
tled in 1854 and was chartered as a city in 
1887. Population, 1905, 14,519; in 1920, 11,334. 

ASHTABULA (ash-ta-bu'la), a railroad 
center and manufacturing city of Ohio, in Ash¬ 
tabula County, at the mouth of the Ashtabula 
River, on the New York, Chicago and Saint 
Louis, the Lake Shore and Michigan Southern, 
and other railroads. The surrounding country 
is productive, yielding considerable quantities 
of cereals, live stock, and fruits. The city has 
a fine harbor on Lake Erie, and direct steam¬ 
boat connections are maintained with Chicago, 
Cleveland, and other lake cities. The manufac¬ 
tures include ships, boilers, engines, leather, 
machinery, furniture, clothing, and tobacco 
products. It has a fine system of public schools, 
many well-built churches, and good municipal 
improvements, including electric street railways, 
pavements, waterworks, and several fine parks. 
The first settlement was made in 1803. Popu¬ 
lation, 1900, 12,949; in 1920, 22,082. 

ASHTON-UNDER-LYNE (ash'tun un'der 
lin), a manufacturing town of England, in 
Lancashire, six miles east of Manchester. It 
is nicely situated on the Tame River and sev¬ 
eral railroads, and has large industries in calico 
printing and the manufacture of machinery. 
A canal connects it with Manchester and other 
important towns. It was founded by the Sax¬ 
ons and has a church built in the time of Henry 
V. Population, 1911,43,900. 

ASH WEDNESDAY, the first day of Lent, 
so named from the Roman Catholic ceremony 
of sprinkling ashes on the heads of penitents 


then admitted to penance. It is thought prob¬ 
able that this custom was established by Greg¬ 
ory the Great. The ashes are secured by 
burning palms, after which they are consecrated 
on the altar and sprinkled with holy water, and 
a small portion is then cast on the head of the 
penitents as they kneel at the altar. 

ASIA (a'shi-a), the largest of the grand 
divisions, comprising an area of 16,775,000 
square miles, about twice the extent of North 
America. The principal boundaries on the 
north are formed by the Arctic Ocean, east 
by the Pacific, south by the Indian, and west 
by Africa and Europe. As a whole, the coast 
line is indented by numerous inlets, many of 
which are deep and expansive seas. On the 
north are the Kara Sea and the Gulf of Ob. 
The eastern shore is indented by the gulfs of 
Anadir, Tartary, Pechili, and Tonkin, and by 
the Sea of Okhotsk, the Japan Sea, the Whang 
Hai or Yellow Sea, and the East China Sea. 
On the south are the gulfs of Siam, Martaban, 
Cambay, Cutch, and Oman, the Bay of Bengal, 
the South China Sea, and the Arabian Sea; to 
the southwest are the Gulf of Aden and the 
Red Sea; and the western boundary is formed 
partly by the Mediterranean, the Black Sea, and 
the Caspian Sea. Few great lakes or inland 
waters characterize the continent, those of most 
importance being Lake Baikal, the Aral Sea, 
and lakes Tenis, Balkash, and Tungting. 

The continent is separated from Europe by 
the Ural Mountains, the Ural River, the Cas¬ 
pian Sea, the Caucasus Range, and the Black 
Sea. It is connected with Africa by the Isth¬ 
mus of Suez, through which the Suez Canal 
has been cut, and it is separated from Africa 
mainly by the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden. 
Near the continent are a large number of 
islands, especially off the eastern coast, many 
of which are the peaks of volcanic mountains 
belonging to systems partly submerged. The 
East Indies constitute the largest group of 
islands, and include Borneo, Sumatra, and New 
Guinea. North of the East Indies are the 
Philippines, Formosa, and the group included 
in Japan. North of the continent, in the Arc¬ 
tic Ocean, are Anjou or New Siberia, and a 
number of small groups not well known. Small 
islands are located in the seas east and south 
of the continent, including Plainan in the China 
Sea, the Andaman islands and Ceylon in the 
Sea of Bengal, and numerous small groups in 
the Arabian Sea. 

Physical Features. The altitude of Asia 
is varied to a greater extent than that of any 
other portions of the earth, ranging from a 
considerable tract below sea level to the high¬ 
est mountain summits in the world. A tract 
of 50,000 square miles in the region of the 
Caspian Sea is below sea level, while the high¬ 
est extensive region on earth is included in the 
lofty highlands of the interior. The Plateau 
of Pamir is situated about 1,000 miles south- 



RELIEF MAP OF ASIA, 








ASIA 


1G4 


ASIA 


west of the center of the continent, where the 
boundaries of Afghanistan, India, and Tur¬ 
kestan meet. This plateau is near the center of 
the mountain systems, which radiate from it in 
various directions. Southeast of it are. the 
Himalayas; northwest, the Hindu Kush; and 
northeast, the Thian Shan. East of the Pa¬ 
mirs are the Kuenlun Mountains, which extend 
east into China, and southwest of them is the 
Plateau of Tibet. The Hindu Kush attain a 
height of 25,000 feet and are extended west¬ 
ward by the Elburz in the northern part of 
Persia, where Mount Demavend has a height 
of 18,500 feet. South of the Elburz is the 
great Plateau of Iran, situated mostly in Per¬ 
sia and Afghanistan. 

The Himalaya Mountains trend in a slight 
curve from the northwest to the southeast, 
forming a natural barrier between India and 
China, with many chains and groups of moun¬ 
tains both north and south of the central ridge. 
Mount Everest, the highest peak, has a summit 
29,002 above sea level, and, like many others in 
the continent, is covered perpetually with snow. 
The Desert of Gobi occupies a large part of 
Northern China, east of which are the Great 
Khinghan Mountains, trending north and south, 
and north of it are the Yablonoi Mountains. 
Arabia is a tableland, made up largely of the 
Desert of Roba el-Khali, with a narrow coast 
bordering on the surrounding waters. The 
mountains of Armenia culminate in Mount 
Ararat, famous as the landing place of Noah 
after the Deluge, and Asia Minor is charac¬ 
terized by the Taurus Range and other moun¬ 
tains. The Deccan, a region elevated about 
2,000 feet, stretches over a part of India, and 
the Altai Mountains extend from Siberia into 
the northern part of China. Although most of 
the rivers have their source in the Himalayas, 
the Hindu Kush, and the Altai mountains, the 
drainage is practically in all directions from 
the borders of the Desert of Gobi. Asia con¬ 
tains large tracts that belong to the desert and 
arid regions, including the Tarim Desert, the 
Desert of Gobi, the Arabian Desert, and a por¬ 
tion of the Kirghiz Steppe. 

Rivers. The continent has seven great river 
systems, which include a number of the larg¬ 
est water courses on the globe. Since railroad 
building has not been developed to a large 
extent, these water courses remain as impor¬ 
tant in transportation as they were in remote 
antiquity. The Tigris and Euphrates discharge 
into the Persian Gulf; the Ob, the Lena, the 
Indigirka, and the Yenisei flow into the Arctic 
Ocean; the Ural flows into the Caspian Sea; 
the Amur, the Hoang Ho, the Yang-tse-Kiang, 
and the Si-Kiang flow east into the Pacific; and 
the Mekong, the Ganges, the Indus, the Ira- 
waddy,and the Brahmaputra carry their drainage 
south into seas and bays connected with the In¬ 
dian Ocean. Some of the rivers are inland and 
have no visible connection with the sea. This 


class of streams include the Amu Darya and 
the Sir Darya, flowing into the Aral Sea, and 
the Ili, which discharges into Lake Balkash. 

Climate. In the northern part the climate is 
cold during most of the year, the extreme north¬ 
ern point, Cape Chelyuskin, being somewhat 
farther north than Nova Zembla. Here the 
temperature rises quite high during the short 
summer season, though the warm portion of 
the year is only momentary as compared with 
the long winters, and in a large portion of 
Northern Siberia, particularly in the Tundra, 
the ground never thaws out entirely. In the 
central region the temperature is extremely 
cold in the winter, and hot in the summer; on 
the southern slope of the great mountain sys¬ 
tems the climate is warm, while along the 
southern coast it is very hot, though all parts 
are comparatively healthful. In the southern 
portion, owing to the equatorial winds, rain 
falls abundantly about one-half of the year, 
while the other half is practically rainless. 
The northern part, owing to the presence of 
lofty plateaus in the interior, is generally arid. 
As a whole, the climate is not wet, which is 
due partly to its vast extent and partly to the 
absence of a considerable water surface in the 
interior. The continent has a wide range of 
temperature, the maximum ranging from 75° 
on the northern coast to 120° in Persia and 
Arabia, and the minimum is from about 65° 
in the southern part to 58° below zero in the 
northern section. In Northeastern Asia, at 
Verkhoyansk, the temperature falls as low as 
92° below zero. Hot winds from the deserts, 
oceanic currents, and the monsoons of the In¬ 
dian Ocean affect the climate to a considerable 
extent in different sections. 

Animal Life. The animals of Asia are 
very numerous and include the largest species 
of mammals. Tropical Asia has the Asiatic 
elephant, a species different from the elephant 
of Africa. The buffalo, rhinoceros, deer, por¬ 
cupine, squirrel, and many varieties of apes 
and monkeys are found in the southeastern 
part. In the highlands of Tibet and the plat¬ 
eaus of the Himalayas the yak is common. This 
animal is used extensively as a beast of draft 
and burden. The camel is native to Asia and 
fills an important function in the industries. 
Other animals common to different sections are 
the goat, lion, hyena, and many species of 
birds and reptiles. The domestic animals, be¬ 
sides those common in America, are the buf¬ 
falo, Angora goat, camel, elephant, and sacred 
ox. In Central Asia the mountaineers rear the 
sheep, horse, goat, and ass extensively, while 
the camel is almost indispensable in the arid 
region, and the yak is reared and used chiefly 
in the highlands and regions having a temper¬ 
ate climate. Fish are abundant off the Asiatic 
coast and in the interior waters. The dolphin, 
dugong, crocodile, boa, and cobra de capello are 
Asiatic animals. 



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ASIA 165 ASIA 


Plants. Many species of plants abound that 
are common to the same latitudes in Europe, 
but the variety is greater than the plants classed 
in the flora of that grand division. > Some of 
the deserts are barren and almost destitute of 
vegetation, but they are bordered by vast areas 
of pasture land, and where the climate is suf¬ 
ficiently moist and the temperature favorable 
plant life thrives luxuriantly. In the north are 
vast forests in which the willows, pines, and 
birches predominate. Maples, oaks, poplars, 
walnuts, limes, and the mulberry are found in 
Japan, China, and the regions having a similar 
climate. Aromatic shrubs abound in Persia and 
Arabia and in most of the southern sections 
thrive the date palm, the banyan, the mahogany, 
the magnolia, and the gum-producing acacias. 
A large variety of the cultivated plants of 
Europe are common to Asia and have been 
cultivated for many centuries. The chief eco¬ 
nomic plants are rice, maize, wheat, oats, bar¬ 
ley, tea, sugar cane, cotton, tobacco, buckwheat, 
millet, potatoes, and rye. Fruits are cultivated 
on a large scale for the market in the south, 
especially the banana, yam, plantain, and raisin 
grapes. Spices, pepper, and the opium poppy 
are grown extensively. 

Minerals. The minerals are very abundant, 
but mining has not been developed as exten¬ 
sively as in Europe and America. Petroleum 
and mineral oil abound in many places, espe¬ 
cially in parts of India and in the vicinity of 
the Caspian Sea. Coal is mined in Siberia, 
Eastern China, and India, and salt and saltpeter 
are abundant in Persia and Asia Minor. Lime¬ 
stone, sandstone, and granite are quarried for 
building purposes, and beds of gypsum have 
been developed and are used in the manufac¬ 
ture of Portland cement. Other minerals more 
or less predominant are silver, gold, manga¬ 
nese, copper, lead, iron ore, and precious stones, 
including rubies, diamonds, and sapphires. 

Inhabitants. The people of Asia are greatly 
diversified, and at least five races or divisions 
are well represented. These include the Mon- 


CHINESE. THIBETAN. 

golian in the eastern and central parts, the Cau¬ 
casian in the western part and India, the Malay 
in the Moluccas and the Indian Archipelago, the 
Drividas in southeastern India and Ceylon, and 
the Papuans and Negritos in the Philippine 
Islands. With respect to society the people of 


Asia are largely diversified from the lowest 
savage state to the higher civilizations. Within 
the last few decades the Mongolian race, which 
in numbers greatly exceeds all others, has been 
influenced materially by the education and polit¬ 
ical advancement of Europe, especially the 
Japanese, who have reformed their govern¬ 
ment in a large measure and reorganized their 
educational system to conform to the needs of 
an advancing civilization. The spirit of prog¬ 
ress has influenced to a considerable extent the 
people of China, India, and some sections of 
Western Asia, but the stationary condition that 
has prevailed among the Malayans remains the 
same. Mohammedanism, Brahmanism, Bud¬ 
dhism, and Confucianism are the chief religions 
in numerical strength, but the Christians and 
Jews are quite well represented. In 1921 the 
population was 894,409,856; hence more than 
half of the human race live in Asia. 

Government. The systems of government 
differ widely and have been influenced more or 
less noticeably by the people of Europe and 
America. A considerable area is at present 
controlled or governed by nations that are not 
Asiatic in location or racial affiliation. The in¬ 
dependent countries are Japan, Persia, Asiatic 
Turkey, China and its dependencies (Eastern 
Turkestan, Mongolia, Tibet, Sungaria, and 
Manchuria), and portions of Arabia. Corea 
belongs to Japan and Afghanistan and Balu¬ 
chistan are under the control of Great Britain. 

Russia possesses the largest scope of terri¬ 
tory which is under the government of nations 
not located in Asia. The Russian possessions 
comprise Turkestan, Siberia, and Transcau¬ 
casia, and embrace an area of 6,390,000 square 
miles. The British possessions, comprising 
about 1,800,000 square miles, include Ceylon, 
India, and the Straits Settlements. France has 
territory equal to 25,000 square miles, confined 
to the peninsula known as Indo China, which 
embraces Cambodia, Oman, Tonkin, and Cochin 
China. The Philippine Islands are territory of 
the United States and the larger part of the 
East Indies belongs to the Netherlands. Ger¬ 
many had leased Kiauchau from China and occu¬ 
pied the Caroline Islands, which were captured 
by Japan in 1914. Portugal has a small posses¬ 
sion in India. 

The great diversity of races, languages, cus¬ 
toms, and religions has given rise to varied 
economic conditions. Until recently there were 
no telegraph and telephone lines, and railroads 
were unknown. With the growth of European 
influence and the consequent reforms in gov¬ 
ernment and methods of commerce, wonderful 
changes have been wrought. Russia constructed 
and operates the great transcontinental rail¬ 
road, a continuous line from Saint Petersburg, 
across the northern portion of Eurasia, to Vlad¬ 
ivostok on the Sea of Japan. India alone 
possesses 30,000 miles of railroads, and several 
trunk systems and many shorter steam and 







ASIA MINOR 


166 


ASPARAGUS 


electric lines have been built in the Philippines, 
Japan, Turkey, and Turkestan. Many of the 
seaport cities have extensive and well improved 
harbors, but the foreign trade is handled 
largely by European vessels. Numerous tele¬ 
graph and telephone lines have been constructed 
and modern- municipal facilities have been 
introduced into the larger cities. 

History. The history of Asia is recounted 
in the oldest historical documents, and that 
continent is generally regarded the cradle of 
the human race. In Genesis is an account dat¬ 
ing back to a period about 1,600 years before 
the Christian era, in which Moses details the 
biblical history of the creation of man, and 
gives a recital of the facts relating to the Del¬ 
uge and to the establishment of the Mosaic 
code. Western Asia contains antiquities quite 
as old as those of Egypt, while authentic his¬ 
tory in China is traced to a period fully 1,000 
years before the Christian era. These early 
dates are more or less associated with the 
kingdoms of Egypt, Assyria, Media, Babylon, 
Persia, and Phoenicia. Not only do we trace 
the early seat of the Aryan race to the vicinity 
of the Amu or Oxus River, but we find in Asia 
the origin of practically all popular religions, 
including the Jewish, Christian, and Moham¬ 
medan. From Asia vast populations moved 
westward over Europe, distributing themselves 
more or less from the Caspian Sea to the Brit¬ 
ish Isles, but in the long period of the Middle 
Ages little was known of the original seat of 
mankind. 

With the modern rise of European civiliza¬ 
tion, and the spread of Christianity and educa¬ 
tion, we are brought in closer contact with the 
people of Asia. The natural desire to learn as 
much as possible of former development in 
the arts and sciences induced the scholars of 
modern times to explore the ruins of former 
states and the seat of ancient civilizations. With 
the invention of the steamboat came a new era 
of navigation and large armies were trans¬ 
ported to the continent with the view of ex¬ 
tending the trade of the leading nations of 
Europe. Although unwilling to cooperate in 
the new order of things, the native races were 
unable to prevail against the improved imple¬ 
ments of war and the superior discipline of 
the armies with which they were confronted. 
Thus, we find practically all parts of Asia 
overrun with Europeans in the eager strife 
for political and industrial advantage. This 
impetus of the newer and larger commercial 
life, though opposed by the native races, is 
developing the mines and forests as well as 
building up the higher educational arts. For 
further information, see special articles on the 
different countries, especially subheads History 
and Description. 

ASIA MINOR, a peninsula at the western 
extremity of Asia, situated between the Black 
Sea and the Mediterranean, and forming a part 


of Asiatic Turkey. The area is about 220,000 
square miles. The surface is an elevated 
plateau, with a narrow coast on the bordering 
seas. Among the chief mountain ranges are 
the Taurus and the Anti-Taurus, between which 
are extensive and fertile valleys. There are 
many lakes, some of which are salt, but only 
few rivers of importance are within the region. 
The chief drainage is into the Black Sea by 
the Sakaria and the Kizil Irmalc rivers, and by 
the Meander into the Grecian Archipelago, or 
Aeagean Sea. Most of the inhabitants are 
Turks, though there are a variety of races, and 
the total population is about 7,000,000. 

The region included in Asia Minor was once 
the seat of many great cities linked closely 
with history. Anciently it was divided into 
Ionia, Lydia, Phrygia, Galatia, Caria, Bithynia, 
Pontus, Mysia, Paphlagonia, Lycia, Pisidia, 
Cilicia, Isauria, Cappadocia, and Pamphylia. 
Among its chief cities were Smyrna, Ephesus, 
and Troy, and there were fought some of the 
most renowned battles of the world. The coast 
regions and many valleys are fertile and are 
cultivated. Though the interior is arid, it 
yields nutritive grasses. Cereals, fruit, wine, 
minerals, timber, and domestic animals are 
the chief products. Angora, Smyrna, Scutari, 
and Erzerum are among the present cities of 
Asia Minor. 

ASP (asp), a species of snake native to Egypt 
and Libya, and distinguished for its venomous 
bite. It became well known in ancient times 
by the circumstance that Cleopatra chose the 
bite of an asp to accomplish her suicide. This 
species is quite similar to the cobra found in 
various parts of Arabia, but differs from it in 
having a narrower neck and some slight dif¬ 
ferences in color, 
pain in the first in¬ 
stance, and the poi¬ 
son is said to act so 
quickly that the ap¬ 
plication of an anti¬ 
dote is impossible. 

The Bible makes 
mention of the asp 
in Romans iii, 13. 

ASPARAGUS 
(as-par'a-gus), a 
perennial plant of 
the lily family, 
largely developed by 
cultivation, and now 
grown as an article 
of food. It is prop¬ 
agated in beds heav¬ 
ily mulched, the 
young shoots being 
the only portions 
eaten. These boiled 

and enriched with butter and seasoning are 
nutritious and healthful. This plant was ex¬ 
tensively cultivated by the Greeks and Romans, 









ASPASIA 


167 


ASS 


but is found in a wild state in the warmer parts 
of Europe and Asia. It is grown extensively 
for market in the United States. The best 
yield of young shoots is obtained from plants 
at least three years old. 

ASPASIA (as-pa'shi-a), a woman of ancient 
Greece, daughter of Axiochus, and noted for 
her genius and political influence. She was born 
at Miletus and removed to Athens, where she 
married Pericles, and became the mother of a 
son also named Pericles. Her husband divorced 
his first wife to marry her, but since she was a 
foreign woman the marriage was not considered 
legitimate and was later legitimated by special 
decree. In 429 b. c., after the death of Pericles, 
she lived with Lysicles. She is reputed of 
great talent and some writers credit her with 
having composed part of the funeral oration 
pronounced by Pericles over the Athenians who 
fell in battle about 430 b. c. 

ASPEN (as'pen), a species of poplar some¬ 
times called trembling poplar on account of the 
highly tremulous motion of the leaves. It is 
native to the mountainous regions of both 
Europe and Asia. The wood is light, soft, 
white, and smooth, and is used chiefly to make 
troughs, pails, trays, and arrows. The tree usu¬ 
ally is slender and rootstalks spring in large 
numbers at a considerable distance from the 
main stem. This species of tree is planted 
largely for ornament, but in many regions, as 
in the Mississippi valley, the tops die when the 
rootstalks begin to spring from the roots. 

ASPHALT (as'falt), a mineral pitch, so 
called from the name applied by the Greeks 
to the Dead Sea, where it was anciently ob¬ 
tained in considerable quantities. It is prob¬ 
ably composed of decayed animal and vegetable 
substances, and belongs to the series of hydro¬ 
carbon compounds, which include petroleum and 
natural gas. The odor resembles that of 
pitch, the color is black or dark brown, and 
it is not soluble in water. It melts easily 
when heated and may be dissolved in ether or 
turpentine. The pure article burns without leav¬ 
ing ashes. It is artificially produced in making 
coal gas, but the article of commerce is taken 
from the beds of lakes. Asphalt occurs most 
abundantly in Cuba, California, Venezuela, Pal¬ 
estine, and various parts of Europe. However, 
the largest asphalt districts are in the northern 
parts of South America, in the regions lying 
west of Lake Trinidad. The product obtained 
there is used in manufacturing varnish and 
patent leather, and for street paving.. In con¬ 
structing pavements a limestone mixed with 
asphalt is used to some extent, but asphalt pav¬ 
ing is made more largely of cement covered by 
coats of asphalt, put on at a temperature of 
from 275 to 300 degrees. 

ASPHODEL (as'fo-del), a genus of plants 
found in Southern Europe and the countries 
bordering on the Mediterranean Sea. Two spe¬ 
cies, the yellow and the white asphodel, are 


cultivated as garden flowers. The former has 
a stem from two to three feet high, which is 
covered with long narrow leaves, and flowers 
late in the spring. In the white asphodel the 
flowers are in clusters. The genus is repre¬ 
sented in England by the bog asphodel, which 
is the daffodil of English poets. Allied species 
are found in the United States and the southern 
part of Canada. 

ASPHYXIA (as-fix'i-a), a term used to 
signify a loss of pulsation resulting from an 
arrest of the function of respiration. This state 
may be produced by breathing gas destitute of 
oxygen, by submersion in water, strangulation, 
or suffocation, or by any cause that tends to 
prevent the breathing of pure air. Death re¬ 
sults from asphyxia, if the person affected is 
not relieved in a very short time. Relief in a 
case of apparent death by this cause is often 
obtained by maintaining the heat of the body 
and inflating the lungs. 

ASPINWALL (as'pm-waf). See Colon. 

-ASPIRATE (as-pi-rat). See Voice. 

ASQUITH, Herbert Henry, statesman, 
born at Morley, England, Sept. 12, 1852. He 
studied in London and at Balliol College, Ox¬ 
ford, and in 1876 was 
admitted to the bar at 
Lincoln’s Inn. Four 
years later he became a 
queen’s counsel, after 
which he practiced his 
profession, and in 1886 
was elected to Parlia¬ 
ment fof East Fife. In 
1892 he became home 
secretary in the cabinet 
of Gladstone, after 
which time he held a 
number of other offices 
and positions of public 
trust. He supported the 
measure to disestablish 
the Church of Wales, in 1894, which was re¬ 
jected by the House of Commons. During the 
Boer War he favored the policy of the gov¬ 
ernment. He became rector of Glasgow Uni¬ 
versity in 1905. In 1908 he„succeeded Sir Henry 
Campbell-Bannerman as premier, serving until 
1916, when he was succeeded by David Lloyd 
George. 

ASS (as), an animal of the horse family, but 
differing frofn the horse in being smaller, in 
having no hard, bony warts on the hind legs, 
and in its ears being longer. The hoof is 
smaller than that of the horse. It is thought 
to be an offspring from the wild ass of Abys¬ 
sinia, because of its unwillingness to cross 
streams and its great fondness of rolling in 
loose soil. Asses are used more or less as 
beasts of burden and for draft purposes. A 
light, graceful breed is used in Syria by women 
for pleasure riding. In Arabia it is bred for 
the saddle, while in Damascus and other coun- 



HERBERT HENRY 
ASQUITH. 




ASSAM 


168 


ASSAULT AND BATTERY 


tries it is used for draft and plowing. It excels 
the horse on account of possessing better 
health in diversified climates and consumes a 
smaller quantity and coarser quality of food, 
and is superior as a beast of burden in moun¬ 
tainous districts, being safer on foot than any » 
other domesticated animal. In some localities 
the flesh is valued as an article of food, and 
its skin is used in the manufacture of parch- 



DOMESTIC ASS. 


ment, drum covers, shoes, and for other pur¬ 
poses. The hybrid offspring of this animal and 
the female horse is known as the mule, which 
is a very valuable animal for many purposes, 
and is extensively reared in America. It is 
almost as large as the average horse. The 
mule is reared more extensively in the south¬ 
ern part of the United States than in the North. 

ASSAM (as-sam'), a province of British 
India, bounded by Bengal, Manipur, Burma, 
and China. The area is 52,057 square miles. It 
embraces the valley of the Brahmaputra and 
several tablelands and mountain districts. It has 
a heavy rainfall and a moderate climate, but 
in the southern part, near the lower course of 
the Brahmaputra, is an extensive region of 
swamps and jungles where the climate is un¬ 
healthful. The jungles are infested by tigers, 
leopards, elephants, rhinoceroses, and other wild 
animals. Rice is the chief product, but tea, cotton, 
and fruits are grown to a considerable extent. 
Iron, coal, and petroleum are the chief minerals. 
This section is populated largely by Hindus, 
most of whom are Brahmans, and about one- 
fifth of the people are Mohammedans. Schools 
and colleges are maintained and there is con¬ 
siderable Assamese literature. Assam has been 
a British possession since 1826. Sylhet, the 
largest town, has a population of 15,000. Shil¬ 
long is the seat of government. Population, 
1915, 6,122,201. 

ASSASSINATION (as-sas-si-na'shun), the 
crime of murder committed treacherously, with¬ 
out immediate provocation, and usually with¬ 
out resistance from the person whom the as¬ 
sailant seeks to kill. The word originated from 


a secret military and religious society of Per¬ 
sia, founded by Hassan ben Sabbah in the 11th 
century, and those who are guilty of the crime 
are said to be assassins. A number of assas¬ 
sinations have been committed in all periods of 
history. In most cases perpetrators hope to 
further their ideas by causing the death of 
some public official, which is the case with an¬ 
archists and others who labor under illusionary 
hopes. Among the most noted assassinations 
during the last half century are the following: 

Montenegro, Prince Daniel, killed Aug. 13, 
1860. 

United States, President Lincoln, shot April 
14, 1865. 

Servia, Prince Michael, killed June 10, 1868. 

Turkey, Sultan Abdul Aziz, stabbed June 16, 
1876. 

Russia, Czar Alexander II., killed with dyna¬ 
mite March 13, 1881. 

United States, President Garfield, shot July 
2, 1881; died Sept. 19, 1881. 

France, President Carnot, stabbed June 24, 
1894. 

Italy, King Humbert, shot July 29, 1900. 

Uruguay, General Borda, killed Aug. 26, 1897. 

Guatemala, President Barrios, killed Feb. 9, 
1898. 

Austria, Empress Elizabeth, stabbed Sept. 
10, 1898. 

United States, President McKinley, shot Sept. 
6, 1901; died Sept. 14, 1901. 

Servia, King Alexander I., shot June 11,1903. 

Russia, Katcheslav von Plehve, assassinated in 
Saint Petersburg, by a Finn, July 28, 1904. 

Russia, Grand Duke Sergius, killed near the 
Kremlin, Moscow, Feb. 17, 1905. 

Russia, General Sakharoff, killed Dec. 5, 1905. 

Portugal, King Carlos I. and Crown Prince 
Luiz., shot in Lisbon, Feb. 2, 1908. 

Greece, George I., shot Mar. 18, 1913. 

Austria, Duke Francis Ferdinand, shot at 
Bosna-Serai, Bosnia, July 28, 1914. 

ASSASSINS (as-sas'sins), a secret mil¬ 
itary and religious society founded in Persia 
by Hassan Ben Sabbah, in 1090 a. d. The 
principal aim was the assassination of those 
not members of the society. It was most pros¬ 
perous shortly after its organization, but later 
fully 12,000 were massacred for the purpose of 
exterminating the order. A few adherents still 
remain in India. 

ASSAULT AND BATTERY, a misde¬ 
meanor punishable by fine or imprisonment. An 
assault consists of physical force partly or fully 
put in motion, contrary to law, as the act of 
pointing a loaded gun at a person, or raising a 
cane to strike some one. Battery consists of 
actually inflicting injury upon the person of 
another in an angry, spiteful, or insolent man¬ 
ner. It may consist of striking or constraining 
him, or in touching him in any way while 
angry. An assault is assumed when the offense 
of battery has been committed, hence, in law, 




ASSAYING 


169 


ASSOCIATED PRESS 


it is customary to use the phrase assault and 
battery. The crime varies in degree according 
to the intents with which the offenses are com¬ 
mitted. Thus, we have the simple assault, 
assault and battery, assault with intent to com¬ 
mit great bodily injury, and assault with intent 
to commit arson, robbery, murder, etc. 

ASSAYING (as-sa'ing), the art or process 
of subjecting coins, quantities of bullion, or 
alloys to examination and experiment for the 
purpose of ascertaining what proportion of 
each of the various metals they contain, as to' 
find the amount of copper in a quantity of ore, 
or the amount of gold in a coin. The process 
of assaying depends upon the kind of metal or 
ore to be tested. *In assaying ore containing 
silver the apparatus employed is a cupel and a 
muffle, a kind of fire-clay oven. The ore is 
placed in the cupel, which is then put into the 
muffle, and is heated to such an extent that the 
ore is melted. Some parts of the ingredients 
are carried away by union of the oxygen in the 
air with lead, and the silver remains in the 
cupel in the form of a molten metallic globule. 
When all of the ingredients have been driven 
out, the silver lightens in color and becomes a 
brilliant white. When cooled, the silver is 
weighed, and the amount of pure metal de¬ 
termined. This process is called cupellation. 
When silver contains copper, it is necessary to 
mix lead with the alloy before attempting to 
separate the copper. Another process, called 
humid, consists of dissolving the compound 
containing the silver with a solution of nitric 
acid, and afterward adding a solution of com¬ 
mon salt. The salt causes a precipitation of the 
chloride of silver into white globules or small 
lumps. When no further precipitation is ob¬ 
tained by adding the salt solution, the opera¬ 
tion is concluded, and the quantity of silver is 
measured by the quantity of salt solution em¬ 
ployed. The process of assaying, of course, de- 
oends upon the kind of metal or ore tested. A 
skilled assayer is able to form a fair estimate of 
the richness of the ore from the weight and 
color, but accurate knowledge can be obtained 
only by a careful chemical test. 

ASSEMBLY (as-sem'bly), a convention or 
body of men gathered to deliberate, as a con¬ 
vention of a religious society or a political 
party. The legislative branch of many states 
of the United States is known as a General As¬ 
sembly, as in New York, Iowa, and other 
states, while in New Jersey the lower house is 
known by that term. An unlawful assembly is 
a gathering of a number of persons, usually 
three or more, bent on aiding or performing 
an unlawful act. 

ASSIMILATION (as-sim-i-la'shun), a term 
used in physiology to designate the action 
of the vital organs whereby food, in the course 
of digestion, is modified in various ways and 
fitted for the use of the body, of which it 
finally becomes a part. The materials assimi¬ 


lated are brought by the blood in the capil¬ 
laries to the cells, where the development of 
living tissues takes place. See Absorption. 

ASSINIBOIA (as-sin-i-boi'a), formerly a 
district in the southern part of the Dominion 
of Canada, but divided in 1905 and made a 
part of the two provinces of Alberta and Sas¬ 
katchewan. See Alberta, Saskatchewan. 

ASSINIBOIN (as-sin'i-boin), a tribe of 
Indians, so named because they dropped hot 
stones into water to heat it. This tribe for¬ 
merly occupied the region between the Mis¬ 
souri and Saskatchewan rivers, on both sides 
of the boundary of Canada, but these Indians 
are now on reservations in Montana and Can¬ 
ada. They seceded from the Sioux and speak 
a dialect of the Sioux language. The total 
number of Assiniboins is 2,670, about half of 
whom are in Canada, and the balance are at 
Fort Peck and Fort Belknap, Mont. 

ASSINIBOINE (as-sin'i-boin), a river in 
Canada, formed in Macdonald County, Mani¬ 
toba, by the junction of the Mouse or Souris 
and the Qu’Appelle. From the head water of 
the latter to its junction with the Red River of 
the North, at Winnipeg, it has a length of about 
475 miles. The river is so named from the 
Assiniboin Indians, who formerly inhabited the 
region through which it flows. 

ASSISI (as-re'ze), a small town of Italy, 
in the province of Umbria, fourteen miles east 
of Perugia. It is noted as the birthplace of 
Saint Franci:, the founder of the Franciscan 
Order of Monks, and his remains are in the 
first monastery of this order built in Assisi. The 
town is visited by many pilgrims every year. It 
is a beautiful place, surrounded by olive groves, 
and is the seat of several churches and twelve 
monasteries. The commune, in 1921, had a 
population of 17,378. 

ASSOCIATED PRESS (as-so-shi-a ted), 
an organization founded for the purpose of 
collecting and distributing news. The first 
association for this purpose was formed in 
1849 by the owners of several New York news¬ 
papers, among them the Herald, World, Times, 
Sun, Tribune, and Express. Since then other 
associations of the kind have been organized. 
The object is to systematize the gathering of 
news by sending correspondents to different 
sections of the country, or even to foreign 
countries, by employing cable and telegraph 
lines and by utilizing any other means for the 
rapid accumulation and distribution of news. 
These associations not only use the news them¬ 
selves, but sell all or certain classes of news in 
different parts of the world for use in making 
up daily and weekly periodicals. The Asso¬ 
ciated Press is now the largest association of 
the kind in America. It controls over 30,000 
miles of telegraph wire and several cable lines, 
and is in touch with news centers in all parts 
of the world. The cost of the service is about 
$150,000 each month, and over 2,000 news- 


ASSOCIATION 


170 


ASSYRIA 


papers, published in the region from Maine to 
California, are furnished news daily from time 
to time. To facilitate the transmission of news, 
it is divided into Eastern, Southern, Central, 
and Western branches. 

ASSOCIATION (as-so-si-a'shun), in psy¬ 
chology, the mental process by which the mind 
unites objects or ideas in thought so that one 
tends to recall the other, especially in matters 
relating to memory. For example, in coming 
to a place where some important event occurred, 
or something unusual happened, the sight of 
the place is certain to recall the occurrence. 
Again, two objects long associated together, 
when separated, one suggests the other much 
more easily than if it had been associated with 
several different objects. This may be illus¬ 
trated by the habit of a person who is accus¬ 
tomed to wear a coat of a peculiar color; such 
a coat seen under different circumstances is 
much more liable to suggest that person than if 
similar coats were worn by a large number of 
persons. Psychologists have formulated cer¬ 
tain primary laws of suggestion, which, if un¬ 
derstood by the teacher, can be made highly 
serviceable in the instruction of pupils. By 
means of a knowledge of these laws, the mind 
may be led from things known to a wider field 
through association of similar objects, or a 
contrast of dissimilar objects. These primary 
laws include similarity, under which a precept 
tends to suggest the concept of something like 
it; contrast, by which a mansion may suggest 
a cottage; continuity of time or place, as ob¬ 
jects associated in time or place suggest each 
other; cause and effect, which tend to suggest 
that a certain instrument caused a wound. 
Under the same law the sight of a weapon 
suggests its danger. 

ASSUAN (as-swan'), a town in Egypt, lo¬ 
cated on the Nile, near the boundary of Nubia. 
It is about two miles below the first cataract, 
and is important as a station for the caravan 
trade with the Sudan. Near it is the great dam 
built across the Nile by the British govern¬ 
ment, and it has railway connection with Alex¬ 
andria and other commercial centers of Egypt. 
In its vicinity are granite quarries and the 
ruins of a town built by the Saracens. Popula¬ 
tion, 1921, 10,380. 

ASSUS ( as'sus), or Assos, anciently a city 
and seaport of Asia Minor, on the Gulf of 
Adramyttium. It was built by the Greeks and 
in its vicinity are ruins of a theater and sev¬ 
eral temples. It remained important as a ship¬ 
ping point up to the beginning of the Christian 
era. In Acts xx., 13, it is related that both 
Saint Paul and Saint Peter visited Assus on 
their way from Troas to Mitylene. 

ASSYRIA ( as-sir'i-a), an ancient country 
of Asia, in Mesopotamia. The boundary on 
the north was formed by the highlands of Ar¬ 
menia, east by Media, south by Susiana and 
Babylonia, and west by the Tigris. It is thought 


that . the larger part of the valley of the Eu¬ 
phrates was included, but the country cannot 
be accurately separated from Babylonia either 
in the light of history or geography. The his¬ 
tory of these two nations seems closely inter¬ 
twined, and to measure the power of one is to 
know the weakness of the other. However, 
each has a history common to itself. Assyria 
was known to the Hebrews as Asshur and to 
the Persians as Athurd. The region included 
in Assyria is thought to have had a length of 
about 380 miles, a breadth of 250 miles, and an 
area of not less than 100,000 square miles. It 
is known to have possessed one of the oldest 



civilizations, an extensive literature, and con¬ 
siderable advancement in the arts and sciences. 
A decipherment of the cuneiform documents, 
inscriptions that contain much valuable infor¬ 
mation, has added materially to the knowledge 
of this interesting and ancient people. Be¬ 
sides, by the discovery of certain fragments of 
literature, that lay buried underneath rubbish 
and ashes until the middle of the last century, 
and by locating the site of many of the larger 
cities, the knowledge of this nation has been 
generally widened. In the Bible we are told 
that Nineveh, the capital city, was founded by 
Asshur of Babylonia, and it is probable that 
Assyria became powerful long after Babylonia 
had risen to the dignity of a mighty empire. 

Assyria and Babylonia were interdependent, 
and the early rulers of the former were ap¬ 
pointed by the kings of Babylonia. After many 
years Assyria became independent, and by the 
year 1320 b. c. attained much power. The first 
empire was founded about 1140 b. c. by Tiglath- 
Pileser I., and under his reign Assyria ex¬ 
panded its dominion over Western Asia. He 
was succeeded by his son, who proved an in¬ 
competent ruler, and two centuries later Assyria 
was in a state of decadence. At the time of 
the decline of Assyria, the Hebrew kingdom de¬ 
veloped power under David and Solomon, but 
in the year 930 b. c. it again grew to impor¬ 
tance. With the ascension of Shalmaneser II., 
in 858 b. c., the empire reestablished its domin¬ 
ion over Western Asia. This king reigned for 





































ASSYRIA 


171 


ASTEROID 


thirty years and fought against the kings of 
Damascus, Hamath, and Israel. A Babylonian 
named Pul usurped the throne in 745 b. c. and 
assumed the Assyrian name Tiglath-Pileser II. 
However, a successful revolt occurred under 
Sargon, a great general of Assyria, who car¬ 
ried 27,000 Babylonian citizens into captivity. 
Later his son Sennacherib conquered Judaea 
and besieged Jerusalem, where a pestilence de¬ 
stroyed his army and saved the city from being 
captured. In 681 b. c. Esar-Haddon organized 
great military forces, effected internal improve¬ 
ments, made Assyria a powerful empire, and 
brought under its dominion, not only Western 
Asia, but Egypt and large portions of Northern 
Africa. This monarch reigned thirteen years 
and was followed by three others, the last of 
whom was known as Sarakos, whose reign ter¬ 
minated in seven years with the fall of Nine¬ 
veh in 606 b. c., when it was captured by the 
allied army of the Medes and Babylonians. 

Assyria was far advanced in industry, art, 
and civilization. In its cities were many large 
buildings and palaces constructed of brick, ala¬ 
baster, and stone. The interior of many of 
these structures contained exquisite sculptures, 
principally figures in relief. They consisted 
chiefly of scenes of war and of the chase, be¬ 
sides other favorite subjects. It is evident 
from literature and ruins that have been un¬ 
covered that the Assyrians understood the con¬ 
struction of arches, tunnels, drains, and aque¬ 
ducts, and the use of the lever, the roller, and 
the pulley. They engaged in the manufacture 
of various ornamental figures and articles of 
household utility, such as jars and dishes of 
metal, porcelain, and glass. They were ac¬ 
quainted with the lens, practiced the arts of 
inlaying and enameling, designed ornaments of 
ivory, bronze, gold, and silver with marked 
skill, and displayed a rare taste in designing 
and making household furniture. To the As¬ 
syrians is ascribed considerable knowledge in 
astronomy, since they made star charts, divided 
the year into twelve months, naming them after 
the signs of the zodiac, and divided the week 
into seven days, observing the seventh as a day 
of rest. Records were kept of the eclipses of 
the sun and moon, which they learned to fore¬ 
tell with considerable accuracy, and there is 
evidence that they studied the transits of stars. 
An astronomical work, entitled “The Illu¬ 
mination of the Bell,” is an Assyrian publi¬ 
cation, copies of which are now in several 
European museums, and in which are treated 
the motions of Mars and Mercury, the north 
polar star, the phases of the moon, the con¬ 
junction of the sun and moon, and several 
planets observed anciently. A department of 
knowledge termed Assyriology relates to the 
modern study of Assyrian antiquities. For¬ 
merly our fund of knowledge in relation to 
Assyrian history was based largely upon Jew¬ 
ish records and the writings of Herodotus, but 


since 1842 many extensive explorations and 
excavations of ancient ruins have added ma¬ 
terial of considerable extent and value. 

That the Assyrians possessed an extensive 
literature is evidenced by various explorations 
of their ruined cities and excavations leading to 
a restoration of numerous sculptures and mon¬ 
uments. The most important objects of dis¬ 
covery were several palaces, including the pal¬ 
ace of Asshurbanipal at Nineveh, where the 
remains of a large library were found. The 
contents included numerous tablets, text-books 
—some of these relating to mathematics, zool¬ 
ogy, and astronomy—and various devices for 
representing geographical and astronomical phe¬ 
nomena. The literature included many poetic 
productions and extensive and interesting 
mythological writings. There were included 
descriptive works in geography, botany, history, 
architecture, chemistry, and various other lines 
of study, though in some of the theories held a 
marked similarity was shown to those enter¬ 
tained by other ancient nations. This circum¬ 
stance is evidenced by the story of a flood rep¬ 
resented to have destroyed all forms of life, 
the description being quite similar to that of 
the flood mentioned in the Scriptures, and they 
possessed a history of the creation quite like 
that described in Genesis. Though many of 
the writings were produced in the reign of 
Asshurbanipal, about 650 b. c ., many seem to 
date from an earlier period. 

ASTER (as'ter), a genus of plants of the 
Compositae order, so called from the close re¬ 
semblance of the expanding leaves to a star. 
These plants are native to America and Eura¬ 
sia. Many species have been developed under a 
long line of cultivation, some including beauti¬ 
ful flowering forms. The flowers are greatly 
variegated in color, including purple, white, 
blue, yellow, and reddish, and from their ten¬ 
dency to flower late in the season, together with 
their resemblance to the daisy, they are fre¬ 
quently called Christmas daisies. Though sev¬ 
eral American species are counted among the 
finest, the China aster, a double flowering 
species, is generally admired as the most beau¬ 
tiful and showy. 

ASTEROID (as'ter-oid), or Planetoid, the 
name of any individual of a great group of 
small planets known to exist between the orbits 
of Mars and Jupiter. Their origin is thought 
to be due to the influence of gravity exercised 
by Jupiter in the early formative stage, by 
which the formation of a separate planet was 
prevented according to the general principles of 
the evolution of planets, and as a result a 
large number of small bodies were composed of 
the existing materials. The asteroids are not 
evenly distributed, but occupy a position at ir¬ 
regular intervals, either separately or in 
groups. Bode’s law, which indicates that a 
large planet should lie between Mars and Ju¬ 
piter, led to an association of twenty-four as- 


ASTHMA 


172 


ASTROLOGY 


tronomers in 1800, whose object was to search 
for the missing body. The first discovery was 
made by Guiseppe Piazzi (1746-1826) of Sicily 
in January, 1801, when he located an asteroid 
which he named Ceres. Three others, named 
Pallas, Juno, and Vesta, were discovered in 
1807. A fifth was discovered in 1845, and since 
1847 new bodies have been found almost every 
year, the whole number now being placed at 
about 500. They revolve around the sun at a 
distance of from 200,000,000 to 300,000,000 miles. 
Their total mass is equal to about one-fourth 
the mass of the earth. The asteroid Flora 
revolves around the sun once every 1,191 days 
and Hilda completes one revolution in 2,868 
days, and the length of the year of the others 
is between these extremes. 

ASTHMA (az'ma), a disease character¬ 
ized by shortness of breath, and whose effects 
are spasmodic after intervals of comparatively 
good health. In common asthma the lining 
membrane of the air passage is affected some¬ 
what similarly to the affections experienced in 
chronic bronchitis, but the affection of the 
mucous membrane is seated farther down in 
the bronchial tubes and lungs. Chronic asthma, 
though disagreeable and weakening, seldom 
shortens life. Asthma is most common among 
persons advanced in years, and frequently af¬ 
fects those of a nervous temperament. It is 
more common among men than women and 
frequently follows attacks of measles and bron¬ 
chitis. 

ASTIGMATISM (a-stig'ma-tiz’m), a de¬ 
fect in eyesight, which arises from the defect¬ 
ive structure or malformation of the eye. It 
results in defective vision by inclining the af¬ 
fected individual to fail to see objects in the 
same place, though they really may be so. This 
is due to the rays of light converging to a point 
on the retina, thereby forming a line of light 
instead of a circular apparition. It can be rem¬ 
edied by the use of glasses. 

ASTOR (as'ter), John Jacob, merchant 
and financier, born near Heidelberg, Germany, 
July 17, 1763; died in New York City, March 
29, 1848. He was the youngest son of a peas¬ 
ant, and passed his boyhood on his father’s 
farm, and in 1783 came to America, settling in 
New York City, where he soon became inter¬ 
ested in an extensive fur trade. In 1811 he 
founded the settlement of Astoria, near the 
mouth of the Columbia River, where he estab¬ 
lished a central depot for the fur trade between 
the Pacific and the Great Lakes. Subsequently 
he engaged in gigantic speculative schemes, and 
at his death had an estate valued at $20,000,000. 
He established a hospital at the village of Wal¬ 
dorf, Germany, and made a gift of $400,000 to 
found the Astor Library in New York. This 
collection of books was subsequently enlarged 
by his son, and now contains about 300,000 
volumes. 

ASTOR, William Waldorf, capitalist and 


publisher, born in New York City, March 13, 
1848. He descended from John Jacob Astof 
(q. v.), of whom he is a great grandson. He 
graduated from Columbia College in 1875, 
served as United States minister to Italy in 
1882-85, and in 1891 removed to England, where 
he devoted much time to literary research. Hav¬ 
ing inherited a large fortune, he undertook 
many extensive and successful business specu¬ 
lations, and ranks among the wealthiest men of 
the world. Among his writings are several ro¬ 
mances. He published various periodicals, in¬ 
cluding the Pall Mall Gazette and the Pall Mall 
Magazine. He died Oct. 18, 1919. 

ASTORIA (as-to'ri-a), a port city of Ore¬ 
gon, county seat of Clatsop County, on the 
Columbia River, seventy miles northwest of 
Portland. It is situated on the Astoria and 
Columbia River Railroad, has an excellent har¬ 
bor, and is surrounded by a cereal and fruit¬ 
growing country. The industries include a 
large trade in lumber, salmon packing, and 
manufactures of furniture, clothing, machin¬ 
ery, and earthenware. It has several excellent 
public school buildings, a fine county court¬ 
house, a public library, a United States custom 
house, and a hospital. Electric lights, pave¬ 
ments, telephones, waterworks, and sewerage 
are among the facilities. Astoria was founded 
by John Jacob Astor in 1811 and was chartered 
as a city in 1876. Population, 192b, 14,027. 

ASTRAKHAN (as-tra-kan'), a city of 
Russia, capital of a government of the same 
name, situated on an island at the mouth of 
the Volga, about twenty miles from the Caspian 
Sea, on which it is the principal Russian sea¬ 
port. It has traffic connections by railroads 
and steamboat lines, electric street railways, 
and numerous schools, hospitals, and churches. 
The city has extensive stockyards, engages 
largely in manufacturing, and is important as 
a commercial city. Among the chief manufac¬ 
tures are clothing, machinery, cured meat, and 
canned fish. Salt is obtained in large quantities 
in the marshes of the steppes, near the city. 
Population, 1921, 167,142. 

ASTRINGENT (as-trin'jent), in medicine, 
an agent which causes contraction in the or¬ 
ganic tissues and canals of the body, and used 
to check discharges and excessive purging. The 
astringents include both vegetable and animal 
substances. Vegetable astringents used com¬ 
monly are derived from blackberry root, kino, 
oak bark, rhatany, and logwood. The chief 
mineral astringents are nitrate of silver, ace¬ 
tate of lead, alum, carbonate of lime, and the 
sulphate and chloride of iron. 

ASTROLOGY (as-trol'o-jy), a term mean¬ 
ing originally the knowledge of the stars, but 
later limited to the practice of predicting future 
events from the position of the heavenly bodies. 
In ancient times the practice of undertaking to 
foretell the fortunes of men and nations was 
looked upon as a real science, while the mere 


ASTRONOMY 


173 


ASTRONOMY 


knowledge of the fixed stars and the planets, 
and of their motion and volume, was considered 
secondary. Astrology was one of the most ex¬ 
tensive forms of ancient superstition, and had 
a wide foothold at the dawn of early history 
among the Egyptians, Chaldaeans, Hindus, Chi¬ 
nese, and other people of Asia and Africa. 
From the East this superstition spread to West¬ 
ern Asia and Europe, and became firmly lodged 
at Rome at the beginning of the Christian era. 
Old writings cannot be well understood with¬ 
out a knowledge of astrology, while the Bible 
contains many allusions to this so-called science. 
The utter fallacy and worthlessness of this 
study or science was not discovered until some 
advancement had been made in astronomy. By 
the so-called “viewers of the heavens” the 
successes or misfortunes of a nation were pre¬ 
dicted, this depending upon the signs that pre¬ 
railed at the time of its founding, and the tem¬ 
perament of a child was designated from the 
planet under which it was born, as jovial from 
Jupiter. The medicinal virtue of herbs was 
supposed to be due to their ruling planets, and 
phases of the moon were taken as the index 
of the future greatness of a newborn child. In 
some countries almanacs are still published 
that contain astrological predictions, though the 
“science” has fallen into disrepute, and the 
authors themselves do not believe in them. 

ASTRONOMY (as-tron'6-my), the sci¬ 
ence which investigates the distances, magni¬ 
tudes, motions, and various other phenomena 
of the heavenly bodies. While the parent of 
all the sciences, it is truly the most perfect and 
beautiful. Besides, it is a science both old and 
ancestral, coming with resistless progress from 
shepherds of the Orient watching their flocks 
by night, thence passing to the rulers of ancient 
empires and the giants of modern thought un¬ 
til to-day it has attained a state which com¬ 
bines the beauty of poetry and the exactness of 
geometry. It has caused the civilized world 
to be dotted with observatories in which a 
great variety of instruments are utilized for 
weighing, measuring, and studying the celestial 
bodies, each striving for new discoveries and 
greater knowledge of the infinite space that 
surrounds us. 

The ancient nations, including Assyria, China, 
Hindu, Egypt, Chaldaea, and Greece, had made 
material progress in studying this science long 
before the Christian era. A law of China 
required the astronomer to foretell eclipses 
under penalty of death. The Chinese thought 
that the eclipse represented a great monster, in 
deadly conflict with the sun, and to drive him 
off it was necessary to employ the gong and 
other instruments to frighten him away. Thales, 
a Grecian astronomer of 640 b. c., is regarded 
the early founder of the science, since he was 
among the first to teach that the earth is a 
sphere, and gave valuable aid to navigation by 
pointing out that the Lesser Bear is a better 


guide upon the sea than the Great Bear. In 
the year 500 b. c. Pythagoras taught that the 
sun is the center of the universe, around which 
the earth circulates. By demonstrations he 
made it clear that a morning and an evening 
star may be the same body, the difference being 
due to a change of position. The history of 
astronomy proper begins with Hipparchus, who 
lived in the 2d century b. c. His observations 
enabled him to make a chart of the heavenly 
bodies, which included 1,081 stars. He was 
succeeded by Ptolemy in the 2d century a. d., 
who published a book called the “Almagest,” 
in which the Ptolemaic system was explained. 
He erroneously taught that the earth is the 
center of the universe and that the heavens 
revolved around it, each period of revolution 
occupying twenty-four hours. 

Copernicus in the 16th century disproved the 
teaching of Ptolemy, and held that many of 
the theories of Pythagoras are true. His sys¬ 
tem places the sun as the center of the uni¬ 
verse, from which the planets receive light and 
heat in their revolution around it. At that 
time his discovery could not be clearly demon¬ 
strated, and for this reason it was not gener¬ 
ally accepted. Later Kepler announced his 
famous laws, and Galileo studied the heavens 
with a telescope. Newton won fame and added 
the greatest assistance to promulgate scientific 
study by the discovery of gravitation. By 
means of this discovery it became possible to 
account for the revolutions of the planets and 
satellites, and to assign a cause for their occu¬ 
pying exact positions in space. The satellites 
of Jupiter and the rings of Saturn were ob¬ 
served by Laplace, who also gave much valua¬ 
ble assistance by the publication of many works 
of merit. Since that time, especially during the 
latter part of the last century, divers notable 
discoveries have been made through the medi¬ 
um of improved instruments. 

Astronomy is a very useful science, since a 
knowledge of the natural phenomena govern¬ 
ing the sun, planets, and stars has made it pos¬ 
sible to fix disputed dates of ancient battles 
and of the reigns of kings. It has enabled us 
to establish definitely the exact length of the 
units of time requisite for the calendar, and 
has aided in navigation by making it possible 
to guide ships from port to port at a smaller 
cost and a material saving of human life. As¬ 
tronomy has given us a knowledge of the exact 
size of the earth, thereby enabling us to make 
accurate maps of the continents and oceans, 
and it is of material value in general survey¬ 
ing. It has enabled us to determine the exact 
units of time, which has made it possible to 
construct clocks and watches with such a de¬ 
gree of exactness that we may be guided by 
them without error in all parts of the earth. 

Astronomy is interested chiefly in a consid¬ 
eration of the earth, sun, moon, satellites, plan¬ 
ets, comets, meteors, and fixed stars. It teaches 


ASUNCION 


174 


ATCHAFALAYA 


that the sun is the center of the universe, from 
which all other bodies in our solar system re¬ 
ceive light and heat, as they revolve around 
it in regular orbits under the laws of gravita¬ 
tion. There are eight so-called planets, includ¬ 
ing Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Sat¬ 
urn, Uranus, and Neptune, the first two having 
their orbits within that of the earth, and the 
last five having orbits larger than that of our 
planet, and to these Vulcan, a supposed in¬ 
ferior planet, is sometimes added. Various 
symbols are used to express in an abbreviated 
form certain astronomical terms and the names 
of the sun, satellites, and planets. Below is a 
list of the more important symbols: 

© =The sun. H=The ascending node. ’ 

G = The moon. 5 = Mercury. 

®=The new moon. 9 —Venus. 

0=The full moon. ©=The earth. 

6—Conjunction. cf = Mars. 

□= Quadrature, or differ- Jupiter. 

ing 90°. h —Saturn. 

8 — Opposition, or differ- 5—Uranus, 
ing 180. V = Neptune. 

With the invention of elaborate instruments 
and the construction of gigantic observatories, 
great strides of advancement have been made, 
both in the discovery of heavenly bodies and in 
their measurements and analysis. This has 
caused astronomy to be divided into several 
branches. Astronomical geography treats of 
the earth, and uranography of the heavens. The 
study of the fixed stars is called sidereal as¬ 
tronomy. Physical astronomy not only inves¬ 
tigates, but accounts for the facts observed. 

Several observatories have been giving con¬ 
siderable attention to the study of sun spots. 
The authentic records of meteorological re¬ 
search do not extend back more than about 
fifty years, and in the study of solar phenomena 
the investigator is still more restricted. There 
is no record of solar prominences earlier than 
1872. The largest sun spot has a diameter of 
70,000 miles, and two other large spots have 
each a diameter of 40,000 miles. It has been 
found that the spots vary periodically in size, 
the cycle being 11.1 years, and there is also a 
marked variance in the number of spots visible 
at different times. When examined through 
a telescope spots appear like large irregular 
holes in the surface of the sun, and it is rea¬ 
sonably certain that they are cavities and not ele¬ 
vations. The sloping sides, when seen through 
a large telescope, seem to be made up of white 
filaments, while the central part resembles a 
great flame ending in fiery spires. It cannot 
be doubted that these solar phenomena have 
an influence on terrestrial life, but science has 
yet to discover their effect and purpose. See 
Earth, Sun, Asteroids, Moon, Jupiter, Satel¬ 
lites, etc. 

ASUNCION (a-soon-se-on'), the capital and 
most important city of Paraguay, on the 
Paraguay River, 645 miles north of Buenos 
Ayres. It is the converging center of several 
railroads, and has a number of fine public build¬ 


ings and modern municipal improvements. A 
college, the custom house, a hospital, a cathe¬ 
dral, and the national capitol are among the 
chief buildings. It has an important trade by 
steamship navigation on the Paraguay River 
and by railroads with the interior. The man¬ 
ufactures include clothing, machinery, tobacco, 
and textiles. Among the chief articles of com¬ 
merce are cereals, lumber, hides, tea, coffee, 
and fruits. It was founded on Assumption day 
in 1536, hence its name, and in 1869 was occu¬ 
pied by a Brazilian army. Population, 1915, 
60,259. 

ATACAMA (a -ta-ka'ma), a vast desert re¬ 
gion on the west coast of South America, be¬ 
longing to Chile. It is rich in gold, silver, 
iron, nickel, copper, lead, and cobalt mines, and 
there are deposits of guano on the coast. The 
district has an area of about 66,000 square 
miles. The occupation of this region has caused 
some contention between Chile and Bolivia, 
from which several wars have resulted. For¬ 
merly it belonged to Bolivia, but it was ceded 
to Chile in 1884. The area is about 28,500 
square miles. 



ATAHUALPA. 


ATAHUALPA (a-ta-wal'pa), the last of 
the Incas rulers. He succeeded his father to 
the throne of Quito in 1529, while his brother 
H u a s c a r ascended 
the throne of Peru. 

After these two rul¬ 
ers engaged in wars 
and the latter was de¬ 
feated, the Spanish 
under Pizarro defeat¬ 
ed the Incas and ex¬ 
terminated the lead- j 
ing princes. Atahual-^-- 
pa was captured, and, 
although he paid a 
vast ransom in gold 
and professed Chris¬ 
tianity, yet he was ex¬ 
ecuted by strangling 
in 1533. The history 
of the Spanish conquest of the Incas is told in 
Prescott’s “Conquest of Peru.” 

ATALANTA (at-a-lan'ta), in Greek myth¬ 
ology, a famous huntress of Arcadia, the 
daughter of Jashus, and noted as the most 
swift-footed of mortals. It was agreed that the 
suitor who could outstrip her in a race was to 
obtain her in marriage, but the penalty of fail¬ 
ure was death. Among numerous suitors was 
Meilanion who had obtained from Venus three 
golden apples and as Atalanta distanced him 
he threw one in her path. Each time the fair 
maid was charmed by their beauty and stopped 
to pick them up, and thereby lost the race. 

ATCHAFALAYA (ach-af-a-ll'a), the name 
of a river and bayou in Louisiana, serv¬ 
ing as a secondary channel of the Mississippi. 
It is connected with the Mississippi near the 
mouth of the Red River, and after a course of 




ATCHISON 


175 


ATHENS 


225 miles toward the south enters the Gulf of 
Mexico by Atchafalaya Bay, 120 miles west of 
the main outlet of the Mississippi. Some geog¬ 
raphers assert that the Atchafalaya constitutes 
the old bed of the Red River, its . name signi¬ 
fying lost river. 

ATCHISON (ach'i-son), a city in Kansas, 
county seat of Atchison County,^ on the Mis¬ 
souri River, forty-eight miles north of Kansas 
City. It is on the Missouri Pacific, the Chicago, 
Burlington and Quincy, and other railroads, 
has steamboat connections with Mississippi 
River and Gulf ports, and enjoys a large com¬ 
mercial trade. The manufactures include flour, 
machinery, hardware, clothing, tobacco prod¬ 
ucts, and earthenware. It is the seat of the 
State Soldiers’ Orphans’ Home. Besides an 
excellent public school system, it has several 
colleges and private schools. Electric lights 
and street railways, waterworks, pavements, sev¬ 
eral libraries, and a public park are among the 
utilities. The city has a fine county courthouse 
and other substantial buildings. The first set¬ 
tlement in its vicinity was made in 1854 and it 
was incorporated in 1858. Population, 1904, 
16,925; in 1920, 12,630. 

ATHABASCA (ath'a-bas-ka), formerly a 
district of Canada, but in 1905 divided and 
made a part of the two provinces of Alberta 
and Saskatchewan. See Alberta, Saskatch¬ 
ewan. 

ATHABASCA, or Elk, a river in Canada, 
rises in the Rocky Mountains, near Mount 
Brown, and has a length of 630 miles. The 
general course is toward the northeast until 
it reaches Fort McMurray, where it receives 
the Clearwater River, and thence flows north 
and passes through the west end of Lake Atha¬ 
basca. About 35 miles beyond Lake Athabasca, 
which is sometimes called the Rocher River, it 
unites with the Peace River to form the Slave 
River. 

ATHABASCA LAKE, a large body of 
fresh water in the Dominion of Canada, situ¬ 
ated in the northern part of Alberta and Sas¬ 
katchewan. The length from southwest to 
northeast is 200 miles and the breadth is about 
30 miles. Surrounding the lake is a timbered 
country, mostly of poplar, fir, and spruce. It 
receives the water from the Athabasca River 
and by that stream, or the Rocher River, dis¬ 
charges through the Slave River into Great 
Slave Lake. 

ATHALIAH (ath-a-ll'ah), the daughter of 
Ahab, King of Israel, and wife of Jehoram, 
King of Judah. Her marriage led to the in¬ 
troduction of idolatry into Judah, and, after 
the death of Jehoram, she caused many mem¬ 
bers of the royal line to be slain and declared 
herself sovereign. After a reign of six years, 
she was dethroned by the armed Levites and 
killed. Handel’s “Athalie” is based on the story 
of her life. 

ATHANASIUS (ath-a-na'zhi-us), Saint, 


theologian, born at Naucratis, Egypt, in 293; 
died in 373. He descended from Christian 
parents and was brought up for service in the 
church, and in 319 was ordained by the Arch¬ 
bishop of Alexandria. In 325 he attended the 
council of Nice, in which he became noted as 
an opponent of Arianism, and the following 
year was elected Archbishop of Alexandria. 

ATHEISM (a'the-Iz’m), the doctrine that 
disbelieves or denies the existence of God. 
Among the Greeks and other ancient people 
atheism consisted of a denial, or nonrecognition, 
of the gods of the state. Some writers have 
doubted whether there ever were any atheists, 
since the doctrine of atheism is contrary to the 
instincts of man. 

ATHELSTAN (ath'el-stan), King of Eng¬ 
land, born about 895; died Oct. 27, 940. He 
was a grandson of Alfred the Great, and in 
925 was crowned at Kingston in Surrey. He 
was the first sovereign who called himself King 
of England, and during his reign succeeded 
in uniting a number of states and bringing all 
of the island under his dominion, except Wales 
and Scotland. His government was liberal and 
friendly to education, and he is reputed the 
wisest of the Anglo-Saxon kings. 

ATHENS (ath'enz), a city in Georgia, 
county seat of Clarke County, on the Oconee 
River, and on the Central of Georgia, the 
Southern, and the Seaboard Air Line railroads. 
It is surrounded by an agricultural and fruit¬ 
growing country and has a large trade in cot¬ 
ton and merchandise. The manufactures in¬ 
clude flour, paper, ironware, cotton goods, to¬ 
bacco products, and machinery. Besides hav¬ 
ing a fine public school system, it is the seat 
of the Lucy Cobb Institute, the State Normal 
School, the University of Georgia, and the 
State College of Agriculture. Electric lights, 
street railways, pavements, several libraries, 
and a fine county courthouse are among the im¬ 
provements. Athens was founded in 1800 as 
the seat of the State University. Population, 
1900, 10,245; in 1920, 16,748. 

ATHENS, county seat of Athens County, 
Ohio, 40 miles southwest of Marietta, on the 
Hocking River and on the Baltimore and Ohio 
and other railroads. The features include the 
high school, court house, federal building, city 
hall, brick paving, public library, and many 
manufacturing plants. It is the seat of the 
Ohio State University, founded in 1809. It 
was settled in 1797. Population, 1920, 6,418. 

ATHENS, the capital of ancient Attica, 
the center of Greek culture, now the capital 
of the kingdom of Greece. It is situated in 
the Plains of Attica, four miles from the 
Saronic Gulf, a branch of the Aegean Sea, 
and about an equal distance from the port 
town of Piraeus. The city is built around a 
central rocky height, called the Acropolis, 
an elevation about 300 feet high, and rising 
600 feet above the Mediterranean. Around 


ATHENS 


176 


ATHLETICS 


it are grouped the Areopagus, or the Hill of 
Mars; the Manseion, or the Hill of the 
Muses; the hill of the Nymphs; and the Hill 
of Pnyx. The Plains of Attica are bounded 
by hills, through which flow the Ilissus and the 
Cephisus rivers. According to tradition the 
city was founded in 1550 b. c. by Cecrops, 
a mythical hero, and was originally named 
Cecropia, but the name was afterward 
changed to Athens in honor of the goddess 
Athena. King Theseus, a mythical king, was 
an incentive to the building of the ancient city, 
while the great Solon made it famous for its 
democratic government and led to the erection 
of many magnificent buildings, among them 
the Temple of Zeus, known as the Olympium, 
of which ruins still remain. 

When Europe was overrun by the Persians, 
the city was burnt, but, after the victories of 
Salamis and Plataea, Athenian ascendancy 
caused it to be rebuilt in great splendor. In 


the days of Themistocles were built the walls 
surrounding the Acropolis and many massive 
towers and gates, and the city was inclosed 
with impregnable walls. Its greatest glory 
was attained in the time of Pericles, when it 
was beautified by splendid architecture and 
sculpture. Important schools of history, phi¬ 
losophy, and poetry flourished in the time of 
Herodotus, Socrates, and Simonides. This 
period witnessed the construction of its beau¬ 
tiful monuments and public buildings, among 
them the Parthenon. 

The decline of Athens began with the close 
of the Peloponnesian wars. At that period its 
walls were destroyed, many beautiful struc¬ 
tures demolished, and, worst of all, the spirit 
of Grecian ambition broken. True, Demos¬ 
thenes and Lycurgus still defended the freedom 
of the city and constructed amphitheaters for 
the entertainment of thousands of people, but 
the spirit of her greatness was largely lost. 


When Athens became a part of Macedonia, it 
continued to be the seat of philosophy and 
rhetoric, and, when conquered by Rome in 146 
b. c., it became the teacher of that great na¬ 
tion. It enjoyed periods of prosperity and de¬ 
pression successively on account of its con¬ 
quest by the Romans, Goths, Christians, and 
Turks. Greece was freed from Turkish do¬ 
minion in 1833, since which time it has been 
a kingdom with its seat of government at 
Athens. 

Modern Athens is alike prosperous in its 
industries and material growth, and in the de¬ 
velopment of the arts, sciences, and general 
education. The National University, founded 
in 1837, is attended by about 3,000 students, 
and is equipped with extensive laboratories and 
a library of 225,000 volumes. It is the seat 
of the National Museum, located in the Poly¬ 
technic School, and of schools for the study 
of antiquities under the direction of French, 
English, American, and Ger¬ 
man societies. Chief among 
the public buildings is the 
royal palace, constructed in 
the modern Greek style and 
decorated with fine paintings 
and frescoes. The city is 
traversed by electric street 
cars, both urban and interur- 
ban, and has railroad connec¬ 
tion with the principal cities 
of Greece. Municipal systems 
of gas and electric plants and 
public waterworks, which in¬ 
clude the ancient aqueduct of 
Hadrian, and other public fa¬ 
cilities, are maintained. It is 
the financial center of the na¬ 
tion, the seat of its art and 
learning, and does not engage 
extensively in manufacturing 
enterprises. Those maintained 
are operated by private companies and make 
clothing, chemicals, musical instruments, earth¬ 
enware, and spirituous liquors. Trade is chiefly 
in silk textiles, rugs, wearing apparel, and 
cereals used in domestic consumption. Popula¬ 
tion, 1921, 170,125. 

ATHLETICS (ath-let'iks), the general name 
applied to a large variety of sports which are 
recognized as contests of physical skill, or are 
played for the purpose of developing physical 
strength. In a wider sense, the term embraces 
polo, baseball, basketball, lacrosse, and other 
games that are played extensively as sports and 
for profit The term athletics in a narrower 
sense is applied more generally to the sports 
which hold a prominent place among the games 
played by students in the schools and the higher 
institutions of learning. Those who engage in 
athletics for pay are usually spoken of as pro¬ 
fessionals, while all others, including the ath¬ 
letes of schools and colleges, are termed aina- 



'i/i 









ATHLETICS 


177 


ATLANTA 


tears. Indeed, it is the object of the educa¬ 
tional institutions to encourage athletics only in 
the line played by amateurs, since the sports are 
intended especially for the development of a 
degree of physical strength which is essential in 
the educational growth of the student. 

The games recommended for the educational 
institutions are very numerous. They include 
those that are fitted for the gymnasium in the 
winter and for the campus and the green sward 
in autumn and spring. Another distinction is 
made in regard to the sexes, the games for both 
male and female being numerous and well 
understood. In most institutions the various 
games are promoted by organizations, fre¬ 
quently including one or more complete teams. 
The most skillful team is constituted of the 
best players, who are selected after competitive 
tests have been made, and it devolves upon this 
team to play competitive games with the select 
teams of other schools and colleges. The mem¬ 
bers of the select team have the benefit of 
training by the coach, who strives to bring out 
the greatest possible skill with the least neces- 
ary expenditure of energy. In most cases suit¬ 
able clothing or specially designed suits are 
worn in the competitive games. The suits de¬ 
pend upon the game to be played, but usually 
include a light leather shoe, tight stockings, 
knee pants of light cloth, and a loose fitting 
shirt or waist. 

The popular sports that belong essentially to 
athletics are classified as those of the field and 
those of the track. These terms have reference 
to a circular track and the inner field inclosed 
by the same. Among the field events are hur¬ 
dling, pole vaulting, broad jumping, high jump¬ 
ing, hammer throwing, and discus throwing. 
The track events consist of sprinting, including 
sprints from fifty yards to 440 yards for short 
distances and from a half mile to two miles for 
long distances. The rules for playing are ex¬ 
tensive and vary somewhat according to the 
age and experience of the players. Several 
competitive games are played each year by the 
unions and associations of school and college 
athletes. The national and intercollegiate 
games are usually played in May or in Sep¬ 
tember. 

The annual games of the Canadian Amateur 
Athletic Union have been played a number of 
years with marked success. This association 
held its championship games at Montreal on 
Sept. 21, 1917, and in the pole vault made a 
record of 11 feet 5 inches. The Intercollegiate 
Athletic Association of the United States is 
one of the organizations that has been hold¬ 
ing annual games for many years. It held its 
forty-second annual game at Cambridge, Mass., 
in 1917, at which time it made a pole vault 
record of 12 feet 9 inches. At the same meet¬ 
ing the 120-yard hurdles were run in fifteen 
seconds, which is the world’s record, but it was 
not accepted as such because a strong wind was 


blowing at the time. Other associations of the 
United States include the New England Inter¬ 
collegiate Association, the Western Intercolle¬ 
giate Games, and the National Amateur Ath¬ 
letic Union. 

ATHOL (ath'ol), a town of Massachusetts, 
in Worcester County, 22 miles west of Fitch¬ 
burg. It has railroad and suburban electric 
railway facilities, and is a manufacturing center 
of furniture, utensils, clothing, and cotton 
goods. A high school and several fine churches 
are among the public buildings. It was known as 
Pequoig until 1762, when it was incorporated 
under its present name. Population, 1920, 9,792. 

ATHOS (ath'os), a mountainous peninsula 
of Turkey in Europe, the most easterly of the 
three peninsulas projecting into the northwest¬ 
ern part of the Aegean Sea. It is from five to 
seven miles wide, thirty miles long, and at its 
extremity is Mount Athos or Holy Mountain, 
rising 6,950 feet above the sea. When Xerxes 
invaded Greece, he cut a channel across 
the north end of the peninsula to avoid the 
dangers of sailing around Mount Athos. There 
are several famous monasteries at Mount 
Athos, some dating from the time of Con¬ 
stantine, and they are occupied by about 7,000 
monks. The occupants engage largely in gar¬ 
dening, fishing, bee-keeping, and the manufac¬ 
ture of rosaries, amulets, crucifixes, images, and 
furniture. The monasteries have valuable 
libraries containing considerable treasures in lit¬ 
erature and manuscripts. All the monasteries 
are associated with the Greek Church. 

ATITLAN (a-te-tlan'), a lake of Central 
America, in Guatemala, probably formed by 
the crater of an ancient volcano. It is ten 
miles wide, twenty miles long, and of consider¬ 
able depth. Though several small streams flow 
into it, there is no visible outlet to the sea. 
Near the lake is Mount Atitlan, an active vol¬ 
cano, 12,160 feet high. 

ATKINSON (at'kin-son), Edward, econ¬ 
omist, born in Brookline, Mass., Feb. 10, 1827; 
died Dec. 11, 1905. He took a course at Dart¬ 
mouth College, and attained considerable 
eminence as a writer on economic questions. 
His chief writings and addresses are devoted 
to the labor question and in favor of a bimetal¬ 
lic monetary standard. In the presidential cam¬ 
paign of 1900 he became knt>wn extensively by 
the publication of various circulars relating to 
the Philippine War. Among his best known 
works are “Industrial Progress of the Nation,” 
“Labor and Capital,” “Railroads in the United 
States,” “Science of Nutrition,” and “Cost of 
a National Crime.” 

ATLANTA (at-lan'ta), the capital of 
Georgia, county seat of Fulton County, famil¬ 
iarly called the “Gate City to the South.” It 
is situated in the northwestern part of the 
State, about 100 miles northwest of Macon, and 
it is the focus of a network of railroads that 
furnish transportation facilities to many points 


12 


ATLANTA 


178 


ATLANTIC OCEAN 


north and south, including the Southern, the 
Seaboard Air Line, the Western and Atlantic, 
the Central of Georgia, and a number of others. 
The city is platted in the form of a circle, with 
an area of about 12 square miles, and is the 
largest and most important commercial center 
of the State. Many of the streets are paved 
with stone and asphaltum, and avenues of trees 
ornament the residential centers. Piedmont 
Park, the site of the Atlanta Exposition in 
1895, is a beautiful and interesting tract of 
land. Several memorial buildings and monu¬ 
ments, including one erected to the memory 
of H. W. Grady, adorn public places. Elec¬ 
tric street railways traverse the principal thor¬ 
oughfares, and interurban lines furnish facili¬ 
ties to reach many points in the vicinity. Grant 
Park is popular as a place of recreation. Fort 
McPherson, four miles distant, is a government 
army post. 

As an educational center Atlanta takes high 
rank, being the seat of numerous societies and 
educational institutions. Atlanta University, 
Atlanta Baptist College, Clark University, Gam¬ 
mon Theological Seminary, Morris Brown Col¬ 
lege, and a number of professional and business 
colleges are among the educational institutions. 
It is the seat of the Georgia School of Tech¬ 
nology, a branch of the State University at 
Athens. A Carnegie library and the State 
library have collections of well-selected books 
and documents. The Grady Hospital, the Pres¬ 
byterian Hospital, a Florence Crittenden home, 
an orphan asylum, and other charitable insti¬ 
tutions are maintained. The State capitol, built 
of limestone and decorated with Georgia mar¬ 
ble, cost about $1,000,000. Other public build¬ 
ings include the custom house, the county court¬ 
house, the city hall, a Federal prison, a fine 
union passenger station, and many modern busi¬ 
ness blocks. The manufactures are extensive 
and consist chiefly of cotton goods cotton-seed, 
oil and cake, earthenware, machinery, hard¬ 
ware, cigars, and farming implements. A large 
export trade is carried in live stock, especially 
horses and mules, and in cotton and raw and 
manufactured tobacco. 

The first settlement on the site of Atlanta 
was made in 1836, but it was some time before 
many business establishments located here. In 
1843 it was incorporated as Marthasville and 
two years later the name as changed to At¬ 
lanta. In 1861, at the beginning of the Civil 
War, the population was about 11,000. The 
Confederates fortified it strongly and held it 
until 1864, when it was captured by General 
Sherman and nearly destroyed by fire. Soon 
after the close of the war it began to rebuild, 
and its growth and development have been 
constant since that time.. It was made the 
capital of the State in 1878. Conveniently lo¬ 
cated, having numerous substantial institutions, 
and being the center of a large trade, its future 
prosperity is assured. Population, 1920, 200,616. 


ATLANTIC (at-lan'tik), a city in Iowa, 
county seat of Cass County, on the East Nish- 
nabotna River, and on the Chicago, Rock Isl¬ 
and and Pacific Railroad. It is surrounded by 
a fertile farming and dairying country, and has 
manufactures of canned goods, ironware, and 
machinery. Among the chief buildings are the 
county courthouse, the high school, and sev¬ 
eral churches. It has electric lights, sewerage, 
and waterworks. Atlantic was incorporated in 
1869. Population, 1905, 5,180; in 1920, 5,329. 

ATLANTIC CABLE (ka'b’l), a cable line 
laid from America to Great Britain. The 

project of providing means to communicate by 
cable connections with Europe was successfully 
completed in 1866, though two attempts had 
failed previously. The Great Eastern laid 1,200 
miles in 1865, when the cable broke, but the 
next year connection was established. The 

cable line connects Heart’s Content, Newfound¬ 
land, with Valentia, Ireland, a distance of 2,300 
miles. Since then other lines have been laid 
to Europe, and there are numerous similar lines 
in different parts of the ocean. In 1908 there 
- were twenty cables at the bottom of the At¬ 
lantic. It is now possible to effect rapid com¬ 
munication with practically all important parts 
of the earth. 

ATLANTIC CITY, a city of New Jersey, 
in Atlantic County, on the Atlantic seacoast, 
sixty miles southeast of Philadelphia. It is 
situated on the Pennsylvania and the Reading 
railroads, and has transportation by a network 
of electric lines. The city is located on Abse- 
com Beach, an island about ten miles long and 
three-fourths of a mile wide, and is popular as 
a pleasure and health resort. The manufactures 
include clothing, tobacco products, machinery, 
earthenware, and canned fruits and fish. Elec¬ 
tric lights, pavements, waterworks, and a pub¬ 
lic library are among the facilities. The prom¬ 
inent institutions include the Children’s Sea¬ 
shore Home, the Atlantic City Hospital, and 
the Mercer Memorial Home for Invalid Wo¬ 
men. The first settlement was made in 1780, 
but its prosperity dates from 1854, when the 
Camden and Atlantic Railroad was completed. 
During the summer it has a transient popula¬ 
tion of about 275,000, for which there are ample 
hotel and villa accommodations. Population, 
1905, 37,539; in 1920, 50,682. 

ATLANTIC OCEAN, the great expanse 
of sea between the western coasts of Europe 
and Africa and the eastern coasts of North 
and South America, and extending from the 
Arctic to the Antarctic Ocean. Its width 
between Norway and Greenland is 930 miles, 
between Brazil and Africa, 1,600, and from 
North Africa to Florida, 4,250, and its area ag¬ 
gregates about 30,000,000 square miles. The 
shape of its shore line is that of a long trough¬ 
like valley with nearly parallel sides. It has a 
broad connection with both polar oceans, and 
forms the only open channel for the intermin- 


ATLANTIS 


179 


ATMOSPHERE 


gling of warm and cold currents. By recent 
soundings, it has been found that the Atlantic 
possesses a large submarine plateau, extending 
in mid-ocean parallel to the coasts of the con¬ 
tinent, from the southern portion of Africa 
to Iceland, thus dividing the basin into eastern 
and western valleys. The western valley is the 
deeper, the average depth of the two being 
18,000 and 13,000 feet respectively. From New¬ 
foundland to Ireland extends a remarkable pla¬ 
teau across these valleys, known as the Tele¬ 
graph Plateau, on which a number of cable 
lines are located. The general depth along 
this swell ranges from 10,000 to 13,000 feet. 

The true bed of the Atlantic Ocean com¬ 
mences some distance from the eastern coast 
of North America. Tts depth for a distance of 
seventy-five to one hundred miles is about 600 
feet, but from this region it descends to great 
depths. A large submerged plateau connects 
the British Isles with the continent of Europe, 
which passes through the North Sea, and 
extends for a considerable distance off the 
western and southern coasts. The greatest 
depth yet discovered in the Atlantic is north 
of Porto Rico, where it exceeds 27,300 feet. 
While the Atlantic is smaller than the Pacific 
Ocean, it is much stormier and vastly more im¬ 
portant to trade, for the reason that the great 
commercial nations of the world occupy its 
shores. Thousands of ships sail upon it, and 
from its ports extend steamboat lines to all 
parts of the world. This has caused many im¬ 
provements in the form of lighthouses to be 
made, and its shores and important points in 
mid-ocean have been carefully surveyed. 

The Atlantic is divided into, the North At¬ 
lantic and the South Atlantic by the Equator, 
the former containing in the neighborhood of 
17,000,000 square miles, and the latter about 13,- 
000,000. Nearly one-half of the water dis¬ 
charged by the rivers of the world flows into 
it. Through it flow many useful warm and 
cold currents, which have been carefully sur¬ 
veyed and are extensively utilized in commerce. 
They have much value in tempering the climate 
of various countries. The most important is 
the Gulf Stream. This makes a bold curve 
from the Gulf of Mexico, flows northward in 
high ocean, modifies the climate of Newfound¬ 
land, and then divides. From its division one 
current passes to the vicinity of Iceland and 
the British Isles, and the other returns to the 
tropical seas by the way of Spain and Africa. 
Thus, it has a favorable effect upon the former 
as a warming influence, and upon the latter as 
a moderating factor of the tropical climate 
prevailing along its western coast. 

ATLANTIS (at-lan'tis), an island men¬ 
tioned by Plato as the home of a great nation, 
and which was submerged in the sea. It was 
said to have existed several thousand years be¬ 
fore the time of Plato, in the Atlantic, west 
from the Strait of Gibraltar, and in size was 


larger than Libya and Asia Minor. It was the 
reputed home of a great nation that conquered 
western Europe and Africa, and, to relieve hu¬ 
manity, the gods sent an earthquake to sub¬ 
merge it in the sea. By some the legend has 
been accepted as true, and the shallowness of 
the ocean at that point is cited in proof, while 
others think it refers to an early discovery of 
America. 

ATLAS (at'las), in Greek legend, the hus¬ 
band of Pleione and the father of the Pleiades. 
He became a Titan leader and tried to storm 
the heavens, for which he was condemned by 
Zeus to support the vaults of heaven on his 
head and neck. In the 16th century Gerald Mer¬ 
cator first used the figure of Atlas bearing the 
globe on a title page of a collection of descrip¬ 
tive maps and charts, from which such works 
have since been commonly known by that name. 

ATLAS, a chain of mountains in North 
Africa, between the Mediterranean and the 
Sahara Desert. They start near Cape Nun, 
on the Atlantic coast, and extend to Cape 
Bon, passing through Morocco, Algeria, and 
Tunis, a distance of about 1,500 miles. There 
are two parallel ranges called the Little and the 
Great Atlas; the former is nearest the coast, 
and the latter borders on the desert. Mount 
Jehel Ayashi, in Morocco, attains a height of 
14,600 feet above sea level and is the highest 
peak. Fine forests and vegetation common to 
Europe abound, the former including the oak, 
pine, ash, cork oak, and poplar. They yield 
large quantities of valuable minerals, including 
gold, silver, coal, copper, iron, lead, and anti¬ 
mony. In 1900 valuable petroleum wells were 
found in Algeria. In some of the valleys are 
fine cities, and there are several railroads cross¬ 
ing different sections. 

ATMOSPHERE (at'mos-fer), the invisible 
elastic envelope that surrounds the earth, but 
the term is applied to the gaseous envelope sur¬ 
rounding any heavenly body. The atmosphere 
consists of gaseous matter extending from thir¬ 
ty-five to 200 miles above the surface, and is 
of varying density, this property depending 
upon its height. The lower layers are more 
dense than the others because they bear the 
weight of those above them, and the density 
diminishes rapidly as we ascend. It presses 
uniformly in all directions, and for this reason 
its weight remained longer undiscovered. Tor¬ 
ricelli, an Italian philosopher and a pupil of 
Galileo, discovered its weight by the use of an 
instrument called the barometer. That the at¬ 
mosphere possesses weight can be proven suc¬ 
cessfully by filling a bottle with air, weighing 
it, then extracting the air by means of an 
air pump, and when weighed it will be sensi¬ 
bly lighter than at first. 

The pressure of air at the level of the sea 
is 14.73 pounds per square inch, and the total 
weight of the atmosphere is 11F 2 trillions of 
pounds, or about rrsMrtar.imj’ of the total weight 



ATOLLS 


180 


ATTACHMENT 


of the earth. This enormous pressure is ex¬ 
erted on the human frame and all objects on 
earth’s surface. The pressure sustained by a 
single individual is estimated at fourteen tons, 
but, as it is exerted equally and in all directions 
and permeates the whole body, no inconvenience 
is caused by it. The more striking phenomena, 
which are to a large extent dependent upon the 
atmosphere, include animal and vegetable life, 
disintegration of rocks, polar and terrestrial radi¬ 
ation, storms and weather, twilight, and the 
propagation of sound. The atmosphere contains, 
among other constituents, oxygen, nitrogen, ar¬ 
gon, aqueous vapor, carbonic acid gas, and 
ozone. In general it contains more or less 
sulphuric acid gas and hydrogen. Nitric acid 
is often noticeable in the atmosphere after 
thunder storms. It also contains minute par¬ 
ticles of organic and inorganic substances. See 
Air. 

ATOLLS (a-tols'). See Coral. 

ATOM (at'um), according to some philoso¬ 
phers, the primary part of molecules not fur¬ 
ther divisible. The atomists believe that atoms 
are unalterable in size and shape; that they 
cannot be cut nor scratched by the sharp¬ 
est tools; neither can they be twisted, flexed, 
or bent by the most powerful forces, and are 
not affected by cold or heat. They reason that 
in each kind of elementary substance the atoms 
have the same weight and size, but that in dif¬ 
ferent kinds of elementary substances the atoms 
are of different size and weight. Thus, all 
atoms of gold are of the same weight and size, 
no matter from what part of the earth the gold 
may come. In like manner, the atoms of 
iron are of the same weight and size, but 
the atoms of gold are not of the same weight 
and size as the atoms of iron. Among the 
chief writers of ancient times who held to 
this theory are Moschus of Sidon, Epicu¬ 
rus, Democritus, and Lucretius, and they be¬ 
lieved that atoms possessing various proper¬ 
ties and motions are found in all substances. 
Newton thought original matter to consist of 
impenetrable, inactive, and immutable particles. 

ATOMIC THEORY (a-tom'ik the'6-ry), 
the theory according to which all the ele¬ 
ments in compound bodies combine in certain 
uniform proportions. According to this view 
it is assumed that all bodies are composed of 
ultimate, indivisible atoms, the weight of which 
varies with the different kinds of matter. The 
opposite of this theory is that bodies, particu¬ 
larly those having no apparent organization, 
such as water, are continuous and homoge¬ 
neous, and may be divided and subdivided in¬ 
definitely. The atomists assert that after a 
definite number of subdivisions the parts can 
no longer be divided, as each of the primary 
parts constitutes an atom. The theory owes its 
origin to John Dalton (1766-1844), who pub¬ 
lished his “New System of Chemical Philoso¬ 
phy” in 1807. He held that the atoms of each 


element are incapable of being subdivided, 
and that each has a definite relative weight, 
which is as one compared to hydrogen. While 
some of his theories are not well established, 
many chemists have followed him in adopting 
the terms used by him; namely, atom and 
atomic weight, in preference to proportion, com¬ 
bining proportion, and equivalent. 

ATOMIC WEIGHTS, the proportions by 
weight in which chemical elements unite. Chem¬ 
ists, after carefully weighing numerous com¬ 
pounds, have determined the weight of the dif¬ 
ferent elements as compared with the weight 
of the atom of hydrogen, which is taken as 1. 
All the other elements are represented by a 
quantity equal to the minimum amount in which 
they unite with 1 of hydrogen. A committee of 
German chemists prepared the standard system 
of atomic weights now in general use, in which 
the atomic weight of hydrogen is 1 and that 
of oxyden 16. See Chemistry. 

ATONEMENT (a-ton'ment), literally at- 
one-ment, the act of reconciling persons at va¬ 
riance with each other, or the reconciliation of 
God to men, and men to God. The term is 
also used to designate the means by which the 
reconciliation is accomplished. It is used fifty- 
eight times in the Old Testament, and all but 
five of the places where it is found occur in 
the Pentateuch. 

ATRATO (a-tra'to), a river in Colombia, 
in South America, which rises near the Cor¬ 
dilleras and flows into the Gulf of Darien. Its 
course pf about 400 miles is northward, and 
it is navigable about half that distance. For¬ 
merly the Atrato was considered in connection 
with the construction of a canal between the 
Atlantic and the Pacific, but surveys made in 
1870 proved it unsuited and the project was 
abandoned. 

ATROPHY (at'ro-fy), a morbid condition 
in plants and animals, causing a waste or de¬ 
crease in size of a part or of the entire body. 
It causes interference in nutrition, hence the 
substance in the parts affected either decays 
or is wasted. Atrophy occurs normally in old 
age, when all of the organs undergo atrophic 
changes, but young life is affected by it through 
severe exposure, unwholesome food, impure 
air, and arsenic and other poisons. 

ATTACHMENT (at-tach'ment), a legal 
process issued by a court, under which the 
sheriff or a like officer is directed to seize a 
person or property. A writ of attachment is 
issued in connection with an action at law, 
and the person or property taken into custody 
is held until the proceedings are completed and 
final judgment is rendered, when disposition 
is made under an order of the court. Writs of 
this character were formerly issued against per¬ 
sons by most governments, but they have been 
discontinued in many countries, and writs to 
seize property are used chiefly as a means of 
protection against fraud, to prevent their re- 


ATTAINDER 


181 


ATTILA 


moval before a debt or judgment can be satis¬ 
fied. 

ATTAINDER (at-tan'der), a legal term 
used to designate a special act of a legislative 
body inflicting capital punishment, or declar¬ 
ing a forfeiture of civil rights, upon a person 
for high crimes, without having been first con¬ 
victed in a court of law. The person against 
whom such an act is passed is said to be at¬ 
tainted. As a result the person attainted for¬ 
feits his property and is debarred from inher¬ 
iting from any one. These laws do not exist 
in highly civilized countries. The Constitution 
of the United States contains the following 
provision: “No bill of attainder shall be 

passed, and attainders of treason, in conse¬ 
quence of a judicial sentence, shall not work 
corruption of blood or forfeiture except dur¬ 
ing the life of the person attainted.” 

ATTAR (at'ter), a name used in the East 
Indies to designate a perfume made from flow¬ 
ers. The name is generally applied to attar or 
ottar of roses, which is an oil extracted from 
the petals of roses. It is secured largely from 
the musk rose and the damask, and is very ex¬ 
pensive owing to the difficulty of obtaining it. 
Fifty thousand roses yield only about ninety 
grains of attar. It is manufactured in Cash- 
mere, Damascus, and Rumelia, where large rose 
farms are profitably cultivated. The oil is of 
various tints, usually yellow, green, or red, and 
liquifies at about 84°. An adulterated form is 
made by adding geranium, sandalwood, and 
rhodium. The pure oil is expensive, usually 
selling at about $40 per ounce. 

ATTENTION (at-ten'shun), the act of 
fixing the mind upon any one object or class 
of objects, or directing the energies of the 
mind to a definite purpose. It is voluntary or 
involuntary, and may be trained and its power 
of concentration increased by practice. Volun¬ 
tary attention is controlled by the will and re¬ 
quires effort, while involuntary attention is 
without effort and predominates in young chil¬ 
dren. Memory depends in a large measure 
upon attention, and the power to recall at will 
our mental Impressions and acquisitions is 
perhaps directly in proportion to the attention 
given to the subject at the time mental effort 
was put forth. The mind has imperfect con¬ 
trol of its thoughts when the attention, while 
directed to some subject of study, was feeble, 
loose, or accidental, and formed with little voli¬ 
tion. Since attention is the foundation of all 
knowledge, it requires careful training and 
exercise, else the mind will be wanting in the 
chief quality of a sound intellectual character. 

Attention is dependent in a large measure 
upon the physical condition. When the body 
has been exhausted by labor, either bodily or 
mentally, or is weakened by disease, it is not 
possible to concentrate the attention upon an ob¬ 
ject of thought. An effort to exercise the at¬ 
tention under such conditions causes nervous¬ 


ness. If trained rightly during childhood and 
youth, the power to fixed the attention upon ob¬ 
jects for a definite purpose becomes habitual, 
and this training, combined with healthful phy¬ 
sical functions and the selection of worthy ob¬ 
jects of thought, make easy the accomplishment 
of difficult tasks. Attention is dependent in a 
large measure upon interest. 

ATTICA (at'tT-ka), a state of ancient 
Greece, including an area of 840 square miles, 
and lying east of the Saronic Gulf. The sur¬ 
face is diversified by several mountain ranges, 
which rise to heights approximating 4,600 feet, 
though the mountain slopes and intervening val¬ 
leys possess considerable fertility. This region 
was cultivated to fruits and cereals in the time 
of Solon, and still yields considerable quanti¬ 
ties of olives, figs, grapes, cereals, goats, sheep, 
and cattle. At present Attica and Boeotia form 
a state in the kingdom of Greece, which has an 
area of 2,475 square miles and a population of 
313,069. 

ATTICUS (at'ti-kus), Titus Pomponius, 
eminent Roman, born in 109 b. c. ; died in 
32 b. c.. He possessed great wealth and dur¬ 
ing the civil wars between Sylla and Marius 
resided in Athens, where he received the sur¬ 
name Atticus. Sulla recalled him in 65 b. c. to 
Rome, where he became celebrated for his hos¬ 
pitality and for his friendship with Caesar, 
Pompey, Brutus, Cicero, and Antony. Several 
letters were addressed to him by Cicero as a 
mark of friendship, and he wrote a general his¬ 
tory extending over a period of about 700 
years. 

ATTILA (at'til-a), king of the Huns, born 
about 406 a. d. ; died in 453. He and his 
brother Bleda succeeded Roas, his uncle, as 
leader of the Huns about 434, when the 
dominions of this people extended from the 
Rhine to the Volga. The Christians looked 
upon him with fear and dread, but he was 
held in high esteem by his own people. He 
laid claim to having discovered the sword of 
the Scythian god of war, boasted that where 
his horse had set foot grass never grew, and 
alluded to himself as the scourge of God. His 
dominions were extended from the Rhine to 
the northern frontier of China, largely through 
the instrumentality of awe and confidence in¬ 
spired among his soldiers. In the year 450 
he carried successful wars to the region 
lying between the Black Sea and the Mediter¬ 
ranean, and in 451 fought a decisive battle 
against the Romans on the field of Chalons,- 
in the region where Chalons-sur-Marne, France, 
is now situated, where the latter under Actius 
were aided by the Gothic king, Theodoric, and 
Attila was defeated with gigantic losses. The 
fearful slaughter attending the contest was the 
means of saving Christianity and Aryan civil¬ 
ization to Europe. In the following year, still 
burning with revenge, Attila crossed the Alps 
and descended into Italy, where he conquered 


ATTLEBORO 


182 


AUDUBON 


city after city, spreading destruction with the 
torch. While marching upon Rome, he was 
met by Pope Leo I., who visited the barbarian in 
his camp to plead that the city might be spared. 
Overcome with the majestic mien of the pope 
and the glory of Rome, he agreed to spare the 
city and returned to the banks of the Danube. 
His death occurred on the night of his mar¬ 
riage to Hilda, at his capital, Pannonia, from 
the effects of bursting a blood vessel, though 
some writers think that he died by violence 
through the treachery of his newly wedded 
wife, whose people, the Burgundians, had suf¬ 
fered by his marauding raids. Attila was of 
Kalmuck-Tartar origin, bore a large head and 
broad shoulders, and animated his soldiers with 
his stately walk and brilliant eyes. No traces 
were left by him in history aside from the ruins 
he had wrought. 

ATTLEBORO (at't’l-bur-ro), a town of 
Massachusetts, in Bristol County, thirty miles 
southwest of Boston, on the New York, New 
Haven and Hartford Railroad. It is an im¬ 
portant manufacturing center, producing con¬ 
siderable quantities of textiles, buttons, braid,- 
jewelry, clothing, and machinery. The public 
library has about 9,750 volumes. It contains an 
almshouse and the Attleboro Home Sanitarium. 
The city has an extensive system of electric 
railways, pavements, electric lights, and sew¬ 
erage. The first settlement was made in 1669 
and it was incorporated in 1694. Population, 
1905, 12,702; in 1920, 19,731. 

AUBER (o-bar'), Daniel Francois Esprit, 
composer, born at Caen, France, Jan. 29, 1782; 
died May 12, 1871. He studied music under 
Cherubini and produced many operas remarka¬ 
ble for grace and originality. In 1829 he was 
elected a member of the Institute. “Emma," 
an opera which is much admired, is one of his 
chief works. 

AUBURN (a'burn), a city in Maine, county 
seat of Androscoggin County, on the Andros¬ 
coggin River and on the Grand Trunk and 
the Maine Central railroads. The river sup¬ 
plies an abundance of water power for manu¬ 
facturing purposes, and the surrounding coun¬ 
try is generally fertile. The manufactures in¬ 
clude boots and shoes, cotton and woolen goods, 
flour, earthenware, and machinery. Among the 
chief buildings are the county courthouse, the 
public library, and several schools and churches. 
Electric street railways, waterworks, and sew¬ 
erage are among the public utilities. Lake Au¬ 
burn, Lewiston Falls, and Poland Springs are 
scenic points near the city. The first settlement 
was made in 1786 and it was incorporated in 
1842. Population, 1900, 12,951; in 1920, 14,114. 

AUBURN, a city in New York, county seat 
of Cayuga County, on the outlet of Owasco 
Lake, and on the Lehigh Valley and the 
New York Central railroads. . It is handsomely 
built, has extensive water power, and is the 
seat of numerous factories. The chief products 


include threshing machines, harvesters, mowers, 
textile fabrics, earthenware, tobacco products, 
and machinery. The surrounding country is 
farming and dairying, and contains extensive 
orchards and vineyards. Auburn is the seat of 
a State prison, at which the silent system of 
discipline was first inaugurated, so named be¬ 
cause the prisoners are not permitted to talk to 
each other while at work and at other times 
are confined in separate rooms. Other insti¬ 
tutions located here include an asylum for the 
insane, an armory, and the Auburn Theological 
Seminary. Auburn was the home of William 
H. Seward and has a bronze statue of him. 
Gas and electric lights, street railways, water¬ 
works, a public library, and a number of parks 
are among the conveniences. The first settle¬ 
ment was made in 1792, when the place was 
called Hardenburgh’s Corners, from Capt. John 
L. Hardenburgh. In 1805 it became the county 
seat and was named Auburn from the village 
described in Goldsmith’s “Deserted Village.” 
Population, 1905, 31,423; in 1920, 36,192. 

AUCKLAND (ak'land), an important city 
of New Zealand, in the province of Auckland, 
and formerly the capital of New Zealand. It 
is supplied with excellent railroad facilities, has 
regularly platted streets, and enjoys a consider¬ 
able export and import trade. It has a number 
of fine school buildings and churches, and it is 
the seat of Saint John’s College. A public 
library, sewerage, waterworks, and electric street 
railways are among its utilities. The manufac¬ 
tures include clothing, earthenware, machinery, 
and railroad cars. The city was founded in 1840, 
and its rapid growth dates from 1857, when val¬ 
uable deposits of gold, copper, iron, and coal 
were discovered in the vicinity. Population, 
including suburbs, 1921, 132,676. 

AUCKLAND ISLANDS, a group of vol¬ 
canic islands lying about 180 miles south of 
New Zealand. The soil is generally fertile. 
They have extensive forests, productive fish¬ 
eries, and a considerable trade. The entire 
group includes a large number of islands, but* 
only three are of considerable extent. Auck¬ 
land, the largest island, is thirty miles long and 
fifteen miles wide. These islands were discov¬ 
ered by Captain Briscoe in 1806, and are mainly 
important as a whaling station in the south 
seas. 

AUDUBON (a'du-bun), John James, emi¬ 
nent naturalist, born on a plantation in Louis¬ 
iana, May 4, 1780; died in New York City, 
Jan. 27, 1851. He descended from French par¬ 
entage, his father being an officer in the French 
navy, and at an early age manifested much 
interest in birds and plants. His early training 
was obtained in America, but in 1797 he studied 
painting in France, and subsequently settled 
on a farm near the Schuylkill River, in Penn¬ 
sylvania. There he came in contact with nature 
studies, accumulating a large stock of speci¬ 
mens of birds and plants, and in 1810 descended 


AUER 


183 


AUGUST 



JOHN JAMES AUDUBON. 


the Ohio, settling in Kentucky. In 1824 he made 
partial arrangements for the publication of the 
results of his labors, for which purpose he went 

to Philadelphia 
and New York 
City, but was 
unable to 
finance the en¬ 
terprise. H e 
exhibited 4 5 0 
colored plates 
of birds, drawn 
by himself, in 
England, in 
1826, where he 
published h i s 
great work en- 
titled “The 
Birds of America.” This work consists of five 
volumes and is illustrated with 148 beautiful 
colored plates of 1,065 species ,of birds in the 
natural size. He made extensive explorations in 
America in 1829, visiting the forests and coasts 
from Canada to Florida, and soon after pub¬ 
lished “Ornithological Biography.” After 1839 
he resided on the Hudson River, at Minnies- 
land, now Audubon Park in New York City. 
With Dr. Bachman he published “The Quadru¬ 
peds of North America.” The Audubon Soci¬ 
ety, an association to protect and study birds, 
was named in his honor. 

AUER (ou'er), Alois, printer, born in Weis, 
Austria, May 11, 1813; died July 10, 1869. He 
became a printer and a student of languages. In 
1841 he was appointed director of the state 
printing plant in Vienna, one of the largest es¬ 
tablishments of the kind in Europe. He in¬ 
vented several presses and discovered what is 
known as spontaneous impression in photogra¬ 
phy. His chief publications are “The Lord’s 
Prayer in 206 Languages,” in the national al¬ 
phabets,” “The Lord’s Prayer in 608 Lan¬ 
guages,” in Roman type, and “The Discovery of 
Spontaneous Impression.” 

AUERBACH (ou'er-bak), Berthold, author, 
born in Nordstetten, Germany, Feb. 28, 1812; 
died in Cannes, France, Feb. 8, 1882. He studied 
at Tubingen, Munich, and Berlin, and devoted 
himself to philosophy and literature. A number 
of his writings have been translated into various 
languages, some of' them attaining a permanent 
place in literature. In 1870-71 he accompanied 
the German army into France as a reporter. 
While most of his works are somewhat over¬ 
weighted with philosophical passages, his “On 
the Heights” is a delightful and entertaining pro¬ 
duction. His chief writings include “Village 
Stories Told of the Black Forest,” “Judaism and 
the Newer Literature,” “Villa on the Rhine,” and 
“Master Bieland.” 

AUGEAS (au'geas), in Greek mythology, 
the son of Helios and the King of Elis. It is 
reputed that he had 3,000 oxen in his stables, 
which had not been cleaned for years, and the 


task of removing the accumulation in a single 
day was one of the labors of Hercules, who 
turned the Alpheus River and removed the mass 
by having the current of water sweep away the 
ordure. Augeas was slain by Hercules when he 
refused to pay the wages stipulated. 

AUGER (a'ger), a tool used for boring 
holes larger than those bored by a gimlet. The 
auger is drawn into the wood by a screw at 
the point, above which, at each side, is a cutting 
lip and a spiral pod, the cutting lip to cut and 
the spiral groove to discharge the chips. At 
the upper end is a handle placed crosswise by 
which the auger is turned with both hands. The 
smaller augers usually consist of bits that fit 
into a brace or bitstock, and have the advantage 
of being more easily handled. 

AUGSBURG (owks'boorg), a city of Ger¬ 
many, in Bavaria, at the confluence of the 
Lech and Wertach rivers, thirty-two miles 
northwest of Munich. It is the converging cen¬ 
ter of several important railroad lines and has 
a considerable commercial trade. Within the 
last decade it has grown rapidly as an industrial 
center. The manufactures include machinery, 
paper, jewelry, musical instruments, and cloth¬ 
ing. Augsburg has long ranked as an impor¬ 
tant money market of Europe, and as the seat 
of extensive book-printing establishments. It 
has electric street railways, sewerage, stone and 
asphalt pavements, a large public library, and 
several fine parks. Among the chief buildings 
are the Church of Saint Anna, the memorial 
chapels of the Fugger family, the Church of 
the Holy Cross, the city hall, and the theater. 
Many of the streets are adorned with fine 
fountains and statues. The city is famous as 
the place where the Confession of Augsburg 
was concluded, which constitutes the confession 
of faith adopted by the Protestants on June 25, 
1530. The first settlement was established on 
the site of Augsburg by Augustus in 12 b. c., 
when that Roman general conquered the Vin- 
delicians. Population, 1920, 102,293. 

AUGSBURG CONFESSION, the first 
Protestant confession of faith, containing the 
doctrinal definition of the Lutheran Church, 
and adopted at Augsburg, Germany, June 25, 
1530. 1 he confession was prepared by Me- 

lancthon and approved by Luther, and was read 
in a diet convened by the German princes and 
estates. It was written in Latin and German 
and read aloud before the diet in German, but 
both have probably been lost. In this document 
the belief of its supporters is set forth in a 
terse and dignified manner in twenty-one arti¬ 
cles. This confession and the two catechisms 
written by Luther constitute the accepted con¬ 
fessional theology of the Lutheran Church. 

AUGUST (au'gust), the eighth month of 
the Gregorian year, so named in honor of Em¬ 
peror Augustus. In the Roman calendar it 
was the sixth month, hence was named Sex- 
tilis. 


AUGUSTA 


184 


AUGUSTUS 


AUGUSTA (a -gus'ta), a city in Georgia, 
county seat of Richmond County, on the Sa¬ 
vannah River, 135 miles northwest of Charles¬ 
ton, S. C. It is situated on the Central of 
Georgia, the Southern, and other railways, and 
has a large trade in cotton, cereals, and mer¬ 
chandise. The streets are broad and well im¬ 
proved by pavements, sewerage, waterworks, 
electric lights, and avenues of shade trees. 
Transportation to urban and interurban points 
is by an extensive system* of electric railways. 
Among the noteworthy institutions are the 
Medical College of Georgia, the Richmond 
Academy, the Masonic and Odd Fellows’ halls, 
the Louise King Home, the Paine’s Institute 
for Colored Students, and the Augusta Orphan 
Asylum. It has a number of parks, a 
Confederate soldiers’ monument, and a monu¬ 
ment dedicated to the Georgia signers of the 
Declaration of Independence. The public li¬ 
brary contains 12,500 volumes. It has a fine 
courthouse and many large business buildings, 
such as the Cotton Exchange and the Georgia 
Railroad Bank. The Augusta Canal, a water¬ 
course about nine miles long, supplies an 
abundance of water for city use and for 
manufacturing purposes. The chief manu¬ 
factures are cotton and woolen goods, cloth¬ 
ing, tobacco products, machinery, and earthen¬ 
ware. The city w r as platted under a royal char¬ 
ter in 1735, and is one of the oldest cities in 
the State. In the Revolutionary War it was 
captured by the British and held for two years, 
but was recaptured in 1781 by Gen. Henry Lee 
after a siege of thirteen days. Population, 1900, 
39,441; in 1920, 52,548. 

AUGUSTA, the capital of Maine, county 
seat of Kennebec County, at the head of tide 
water on the Kennebec River. It is on the 
Maine Central Railroad and has connection by 
steamer with Boston and Portland. The city 
is finely situated and improved by an abundance 
of shade trees, and the river is crossed by 
a handsome bridge. The river furnishes an 
abundance of water power, thus giving it con¬ 
siderable advantage for manufacturing pur¬ 
poses. The chief products include paper, cot¬ 
ton and woolen goods, furniture, clothing, and 
machinery. Electric street railways, water¬ 
works, pavements, and sewerage are among the 
utilities. The capitol building is the most 
prominent structure and is built of granite. 
Other buildings include the county courthouse, 
the post office, the city hall, and the United 
States Arsenal. It is the seat of Saint Cather¬ 
ine’s School, an institution for the education of 
young ladies. In 1831 it was made the cap¬ 
ital of the State. Population, 1920, 14,114. 

AUGUSTINE (au'gus-tin), Aurelius Au¬ 
gustinus, Saint, an eminent father of the 
Latin church, closely associated in church his¬ 
tory with Ambrose, Jerome, and Gregory the 
Great, born in Numidia, in Africa, Nov. 13, 
354; died Aug. 28, 430 a. d. Tagaste, a small 


town of Numidia, was his nativity, where his 
father, a pagan nobleman of moderate for¬ 
tune, owned an estate. He attended the best 
schools of Madaura and Carthage, whence he 
proceeded to Milan for the purpose of instruct¬ 
ing in rhetoric. While there he met Ambrose, 
then Bishop of Milan, who became his close 
friend. In 396 he was converted to Christianity 
and became Bishop of Hippo, in North Africa, 
where he ministered to the wants of a church 
until his death, a period of thirty-five years. 
Soon after reaching his charge he was made 
assistant bishop, but later became bishop, and 
showed remarkable diligence in preaching and 
writing. He did not only exercise a lasting 
influence on the church, but is regarded one of 
the most profound thinkers among the early 
writers. Among his best-known writings are 
“Remarks on the Four Gospels,” “The City of 
God,” “Confessions,” and “Epistles.” 

AUGUSTINE, or Austin, Archbishop of 
Canterbury, called the Apostle of England, born 
in the first half of the 6th century, died at 
Canterbury, May 26, 604. He is first mentioned 
as a Benedictine monk in the monastery of Saint 
Andrews at Rome. Pope Gregory I. sent him 
with forty monks to England, where he was de¬ 
tailed to work among the Saxons. The latter 
not only received him with kindness, but gave 
marked heed to his teachings, and many were 
baptized into the faith. A large number of the 
heathen temples were converted into Christian 
churches under his direction. 

AUGUSTULUS (au-gus'tu-lus), Romulus, 
the last Roman emperor of the West, ascend¬ 
ing the throne in 475. He succeeded his father, 
Orestes, but was overthrown by Odoacer, a year 
after taking charge of the government, and was 
banished to the castle of Lucullus in Campania. 

AUGUSTUS (aw-gus'tus), Caius Julius 
Caesar Octavianus, first emperor of Rome, 
born Sept. 23, 63 b. c. ; died at N,ola, Aug. 
19, 14 a. d. Fie was 
the son of Caius 
Octavius and Atia, 
a daughter of Julia, 
the youngest sister 
of Julius Caesar, by 
whom he was adopt¬ 
ed as son and heir. 

After the assassina¬ 
tion of Caesar, he 
returned to Rome to 
claim Caesar’s prop¬ 
erty, which Mark 
Antony yielded after 
some hesitation. In 
43 he was chosen 
praetor and formed 
the first triumvirate 
with Antony and 
Lepidus, which re¬ 
sulted in the assassination of 300 senators and 
2.000 knights of the opposition party. He and 




AUGUSTUS I. 


185 


AURELIAN 


Antony defeated the army of the republic under 
Cassius and Brutus at Philippi in 42. The 
victors divided the Roman dominion among 
themselves, the west falling to Augustus, the 
east to Antony, and Africa to Lepidus, but Au¬ 
gustus and Antony soon secured absolute sway 
over the entire Roman world. Antony, while 
in Africa, gave himself up to luxury and dis¬ 
sipation, and estranged himself from the Ro¬ 
mans on account of having made an alliance 
with Cleopatra. Augustus declared war against 
the queen largely with the intention of defeat¬ 
ing her and Antony, and thus to secure com¬ 
plete control of Rome. In the celebrated naval 
battle at Actium in 31 b. c., Augustus gained 
a brilliant victory, and returned to Rome two 
■years later to celebrate his triumph with much 
pomp and splendor. Though first named Octa¬ 
vius, his name had been changed to Octavianus, 
and now the senate bestowed on him the name 
Augustus, meaning the venerated or sanctified. 

Once master of Rome, Augustus carried on 
successful wars in Gaul, Spain, Asia, and Af¬ 
rica, but later his general, Varus, was defeated 
by the Germans under Armenius with great 
loss. A period of peace now followed, and Au¬ 
gustus turned his attention to the improve¬ 
ment of internal affairs, particularly those of 
the capital, beautifying the city and construct¬ 
ing many highways to facilitate its commerce. 
It is said of him, “He found Rome of brick, 
and left it of marble,” so extensive were his 
adornments and improvements. The period in¬ 
cluded in the reign of Augustus is one of the 
most important in Roman history, and is spoken 
of as the Augustan Age of Literature, being 
associated with such eminent patrons of learn¬ 
ing as Virgil, Ovid, Cicero, Horace, and Catul¬ 
lus. The Roman people erected altars to his 
honor and changed the name of the month 
Sextilis to Augustus, now our August. Though 
his early life is marked by crafty traits of 
character, he displayed much generosity and 
liberality in the latter period of his reign. Leav¬ 
ing no direct heir, he was succeeded by his step¬ 
son, Tiberius, the son of Livia, whom he had 
married after she was divorced by her hus¬ 
band. 

AUGUSTUS I., Frederick (Augustus II. 
of Poland), elector of Saxony and King of 
Poland, born at Dresden, Germany, May 12, 
1670; died Feb. 1, 1733. In 1694 he succeeded 
his brother as elector of Saxony, and three 
years later was elected King of Poland, suc¬ 
ceeding John Sobieski. He formed an alli¬ 
ance with Peter the Great against Charles XII. 
of Sweden, by whom he was defeated at Pul- 
tava and soon after renounced the crown of 
Poland. After the defeat of Charles XII. by 
the Russians, in 1709, Augustus was recalled to 
the crown of Poland. He was succeeded as 
elector of Saxony by his son, Augustus II. 

AUGUSTUS II., Frederick (Augustus III. 
of Poland), elector of Saxony and King of 


Poland, born at Dresden, Germany, Oct. 7, 
1696; died Oct. 5, 1763. He succeeded his father 
as elector of Saxony in 1733 and was chosen 
King of Poland by part of the nobility. In 
1742 he concluded an alliance with Maria The¬ 
resa against Frederick the Great, who prompt¬ 
ly invaded Saxony and captured Dresden. His 
misfortunes in the Seven Years’ War caused 
him to become unpopular and he was obliged 
to flee to Poland. His son, Frederick Chris¬ 
tian, succeeded him as elector of Saxony, and 
Poland chose Stanislas Poniatowski as king. 

AUK (ak), the name of several sea birds, 
including a large number of species, of which 
the great auk and the little auk are the best 



GREAT AUIC. 


known. The great auk is about three feet high 
when sitting in an upright position. It has 
short wings, which are almost useless in flight, 
but they aid the bird to move with great rapid¬ 
ity in the water. At present it is found only in 
North America, but bones discovered in Den¬ 
mark and other regions of Europe indicate 
that it was formerly common to Western 
Europe. The little auk is about the size of a 
large pigeon, and is met with in great numbers 
in the Arctic seas, where it nests in crevices 
of the bare rocks. The razorbill is allied to the 
auk, and like the great auk frequents the cran¬ 
nies of rocks. The young razorbills feed from 
the crop of the parents even after they are able 
to move about quite freely. Auks yield feathers 
of much value for bedding, for which purpose 
they are hunted with considerable persistency, 
while their flesh and eggs are eaten by the 
Eskimos and other peoples of rK^zhsTn fegions. 
These bird* migrate in early winter from the 
land to the open sea, where they float on the 
water or perch on the drifting ice. 

AURELIAN (au-re'li-an), Lucius Dom- 
itius Aurelianus, emperor of Rome, born in 


















AURELIUS 


186 


AURUNGZEBE 


Pannonia about 212; assassinated in 275 a. d. 
He was of humble origin, distinguished himself 
in the Roman army, and succeeded Claudius II., 
in the year 270, as emperor. He is noted chiefly 
for his gallant defenses of Rome against the 
Goths and the German tribes, particularly the 
Alemanni, and his defeat of Zenobia, Queen of 
Palmyra, then a magnificent city. He was a 
leader in many reforms, restored civil organi¬ 
zation, and made extensive internal improve¬ 
ments. The senate conferred upon him the title 
of “The Restorer of the Empire.” His assassi¬ 
nation occurred while he was conducting an ex¬ 
tensive expedition against the Persians. 

AURELIUS (au-re'li-us), Antoninus Mar¬ 
cus, Roman emperor and philosopher, known 
in history as Marcus Aurelius, born in 121; 
died March 17, 180 a. d. He is counted the 
crown and flower of Stoicism, the noblest of 
all pagans, and was the adopted son and the 
son-in-law of Antoninus Pius, whom he suc¬ 
ceeded on the throne in 161. At the early age 
of seventeen he gained the favor of Emperor 
Hadrian. He was a pupil of Sextus, of the 
orator Herodes Atticus, and of Mecianus, an 
eminent jurist, through whom he formed the 
acquaintance of many learned men, and be¬ 
came an advocate of Stoic philosophy. He 
distinguished himself as sole commander of 
the army as early as 169, in which capacity he 
prosecuted with great vigor successive cam¬ 
paigns against the barbarians, and finally com¬ 
pelled them to sue for peace. Subsequently he 
conducted effective warfare in Asia, and, while 
in the East, visited Egypt and Northern Africa, 
and before returning home made an extended 
visit to Greece. On reaching Rome he was 
again compelled to take the field against new 
invasions of the savage Marcomanni and de¬ 
feated the enemy several times, but was taken 
sick and died at Vindobona, now the city of 
Vienna. Although he possessed great liberality, 
a wide knowledge of philosophy, and magna¬ 
nimity of character, he persecuted the Chris¬ 
tians ; not that he desired to suppress their 
worship, but rather that he feared .their doc¬ 
trines would hinder good government, and 
thought them enemies of the empire. While 
he was noted as a philosopher and wrote much 
on scientific subjects, the only work extant is 
one written in Greek, called “Meditations.” 
This work has been translated into most mod¬ 
ern languages and has had a wide circulation. 

AURORA (a-ro'ra), the Roman personi¬ 
fication of the dawn of day, known in Greek 
as the goddess Eos. The ancients regarded 
her the daughter of Hyperion and Theia, the 
wife of Astraeus, and the mother of the winds. 
She is sometimes represented in the act of as¬ 
cending a chariot and throwing back the flowing 
veil, to indicate the opening of the gates of the 
morning. 

AURORA, a city of Illinois, in Kane Coun¬ 
ty, on the Fox River, about forty miles west of 


Chicago. It is on electric railways, the Chi¬ 
cago, Burlington and Quincy, and the Chicago 
and Northwestern railroads, and is the seat of 
important railroad shops. The manufactures 
include carriages and wagons, flour, woolen and 
cotton goods, earthenware, machinery, and 
farming implements. Among the notable build¬ 
ings are the post office, the Carnegie library, 
the high school, and the Jennings Seminary. 
The streets are handsomely paved with brick 
and asphalt, and improved by avenues of shade 
trees, electric lights, waterworks, and an exten¬ 
sive system of street railways. Population, 
1900, 24,147; in 1920, 36,397. 

AURORA, a city of Missouri, in Lawrence 
County, thirty-five miles southwest of Spring- 
field, on the Kansas City, Fort Scott and Mem¬ 
phis and the Saint Louis and San Francisco 
railroads. The surrounding country is agri¬ 
cultural and fruit-growing, and has deposits of 
lead and zinc. It has a public library, water¬ 
works, a fine high school, and a large trade in 
produce and merchandise. The manufactures 
include flour, cigars, clothing, and machinery. 
Population, 1900, 6,191; in 1920, 3,575. 

AURORA BOREALIS (bo-re-a'lis), or 
Northern Lights, a phenomenon of great 
beauty in the northern hemisphere, correspond¬ 
ing to the phenomenon occurring in the south¬ 
ern hemisphere known as Aurora Australis, or 
Southern Lights, both being called Polar Lights. 
The lights are visible in autumn and winter, 
occurring at opposite times at the two poles, 
and are of utility in aiding to illumine the long 
nights. The shapes assumed by the lights are 
infinite in number and very transient, sometimes 
appearing of an ordinary flame color and some¬ 
times assuming a greenish hue. The most fre¬ 
quent appearance is that of an arch of fire, 
from which great streamers flash towards the 
zenith, which range from a pale red or yel¬ 
lowish to a deep red color. Auroras are caused 
by the passage of electricity through the rare¬ 
fied air. of the upper regions of the atmosphere. 
This is proven by the fact that during the con¬ 
tinuance of an extensive aurora telegraph wires 
give evidence of unusual disturbances in elec¬ 
trical action, and the magnetic needle is subject 
to frequent movements. It has been proven by 
tests that an effect similar to the aurora is 
produced by the passage of electric currents 
through rarefied gases. 

AURUNGZEBE (o-rung-zeb'), the last 
emperor of the Mogul dynasty in India, called 
“Ornament of the Throne,” born Oct. 22, 1618; 
died Feb. 21, 1707. His father, Shah Jehan, 
appointed him viceroy of the Deccan, where he 
acquired both wealth and military power. Dara, 
his eldest brother, succeeded to the throne in 
1657, but Aurungzebe united with a younger 
brother in defeating Dara, and soon after 
treacherously put to death his brothers and 
their male descendants. He then assumed im¬ 
perial power, imprisoned his political opponents, 


AUSCULTATION 


187 


AUSTIN 


and extended the dominion until it included 
the entire peninsula of Hindustan. The reign 
of Aurungzebe was the most powerful and 
brilliant in the historic period of the Mogul dy¬ 
nasty in Hindustan, and he not only gave the 
country a secure government, but established 
mosques, built highways and bridges, founded 
hospitals, and patronized learning. 

AUSCULTATION (as-kid-ta'shun), the 
art of discovering diseases within the body by 
means of the sense of hearing. It involves a 
knowledge of the natural sounds produced with¬ 
in the body in health and disease, especially 
those of the thorax and abdomen. An instru¬ 
ment used in this art, to facilitate investiga¬ 
tion, is called a stethoscope. 

AUSTEN (aus'ten), Jane, novelist, born in 
Hampshire, England, Dec. G, 1775; died July 
18, 1817. She studied at the rectory of Steven- 
ton, where her father was rector, and in 1811 
published anonymously the work entitled “Sense 
and Sensibility,” a novel of considerable merit. 
Many of her novels are still widely read, being 
popular on account of their excellent and inter¬ 
esting style of description. Among her best 
known w r orks are “Pride and Prejudice,” “Mans¬ 
field Park,” and “Northanger Abbey.” 

AUSTERLITZ (as'ter-lits), a small town 
in Moravia, in the northwestern part of Aus¬ 
tria, twelve miles east of Briinn. It is cele¬ 
brated on account of Napoleon’s victory over 
the Austrians and Russians on Dec. 2, 1805. 
After Napoleon occupied Vienna, his head¬ 
quarters were fixed at Briinn, to which place 
the allied armies advanced. The French army 
numbered about 80,000, and in the battle lost 
12,000 men; while the allied forces numbered 
84,000, and sustained a loss of nearly 30,000 
men in killed, wounded, and prisoners. This 
battle resulted in the peace of Pressburg, and a 
large part of Central Europe became subject 
to Napoleon. In 1921 Austerlitz had a popula¬ 
tion of 3,980. 

AUSTIN (as'tm), a city in Minnesota, 
county seat of Mower County, on the Red Cedar 
River, about 100 miles south of Saint Paul. It 
is situated on the Chicago Great Western and 
the Chicago, Milwaukee and Saint Paul rail¬ 
roads, and is surrounded by a fertile farming 
country. The chief buildings include the coun¬ 
ty courthouse, the high school, the Carnegie 
library, and the Southern Minnesota Normal 
College. It has municipal waterworks and manu¬ 
factures of flour, machinery, and farming imple¬ 
ments. The first settlement was made in 1854 
and it was incorporated in 1873. Population, 
1905, 6,489; in 1920, 10,118. 

AUSTIN, the capital of Texas, county seat 
of Travis County, on the Colorado River, about 
200 miles northwest of Galveston. It is on the 
International and Great Northern, the Houston 
and Texas Central, and the Austin and North¬ 
western railroads. The city is surrounded by 
a fertile farming region, which produces large 


quantities of cereals, fruit, and live stock, and 
is important as a market for produce and mer¬ 
chandise. It has electric lights, electric street 
railways, waterworks, sewerage, and pavements 



of stone and macadam. The State Capitol 
building, located on Capitol Hill and built of 
Texas marble, is one of the finest structures 
of the kind in America. Austin has a large 
number of State and county buildings, a fine 
public school system, numerous churches, and 
several educational and scientific associations. 
It is the seat of the Texas Military Institute, 
the Texas State University, a Roman Catholic 
academy, and several benevolent institutions. 
The manufactures embrace clothing, machinery, 
tobacco products, vehicles, and farming imple¬ 
ments. The city was named in honor of Ste¬ 
phen F. Austin (q. v.). It became the capital 
of the Texan Republic in 1839, and in 1850 was 
made the capital of the State. Population, 1900, 
22,258; in 1920, 34,876. 

AUSTIN, Alfred, poet, born in Heading- 
ley, near Leeds, England, May 30, 1835. He 
graduated at the University of London in 
1853 and four years 
later was called to the 
bar. His father died 
in 1861, after which 
he traveled exten¬ 
sively and devoted his 
attention to literature. 

In 1896 he became 
poet laureate of Eng¬ 
land. As a critic he 
wrote in an interest¬ 
ing manner and with 
much originality. His 
“The Poetry of the 
Period” is an essay 
that contains criti¬ 
cisms on Browning 
and Tennyson. His chief works are “Songs of 
England,” “Savonarola,” “A Tale of True Love 
and Other Poems,” “England’s Darling,” “In 
Veronica’s Garden,” “English Lyrics,” “Haunts 
of Ancient Peace,” and “A Lesson in Har¬ 
mony.” He died June 2, 1913. 

AUSTIN, John, jurist, born at Creeting 
Mill, England, March 3, 1790; died in 1859. 


























































































AUSTIN 


188 


AUSTRALIA 


He studied law in London and was a friend of 
John Stewart Mill. In 1826 he was made pro¬ 
fessor of jurisprudence in the University of 
London, where he taught with much success for 
a term of six years. He takes rank as one of 
the most distinguished of English writers on 
jurisprudence. His chief work is “Province of 
Jurisprudence Determined.” 

AUSTIN, Stephen Fuller, pioneer, born in 
Wyeth County, Virginia, in 1793; died Dec. 
27, 1836. He was a son of Moses Austin, who 
projected a colony in Texas. In 1821 he lo¬ 
cated on the site of the present city of Austin, 
Tex., and in 1833 joined a number of colonists 
who held a convention to organize a separate 
State government under Mexican authority. 
A revolution in Mexico defeated the purpose 
of the convention, and he soon joined the revo¬ 
lutionists and commanded a small army. In 
1835 he went as commissioner to Washington 
to obtain recognition of Texas as an independ¬ 
ent State by the United States government, and 
died soon after returning to Texas. 

AUSTRALASIA (as-tral-a'shi-a), a divi¬ 
sion of Oceanica, located southwest of Asia. 
It comprises the continent of Australia and the 
islands adjacent to it. Among the chief islands 
of Australasia are New Zealand, Tasmania, 
New Caledonia, the Solomon Islands, the New 
Hebrides, New Britain, New Ireland, Admiralty 
Islands, the Arru Islands, New Guinea, and 
many smaller islands and island groups. It 
comprises the largest of the three portions of 
Oceanica, the other divisions being Polynesia 
and Malaysia. The area of Australasia is 
3,259,200 square miles, and the population is 
estimated at 5,275,000. 

AUSTRALIA (as-tra'li-a), the smallest of 
the six continents, located southeast of Asia 
and the East Indies. The eastern shore is 
washed by the Pacific, and the southern and 
western by the Indian Ocean. Its greatest 
length from east to west is nearly 2,500 miles, 
the greatest breadth from north to south is 
about 2,000 miles, and the area, including Tas¬ 
mania, is 2,974,581 square miles. The coast 
line is quite regular, but many islands dot the 
adjacent waters, except toward the southwest, 
where the sea is open. The most important 
Mentations include Queen’s Channel and the 
Gulf of Carpentaria on the north, Spencer 
Gulf and the Great Australian Bight on the 
south, and Shark’s Bay on the west. South 
is the island of Tasmania, separated from the 
continent by Bass Strait, and southeast is New 
Zealand. Torres Strait separates Australia 
from New Guinea and in the same vicinity, off 
the northern shore, are Arafura Sea, Timor 
Sea, and Coral Sea. North of it is the great 
island group that extends southwest of Asia, 
which includes New Guinea, Java, and Bor¬ 
neo, and many other islands and groups of 
islands dot the sea lying north. Toward the 
northeast is the Great Barrier Reef, a chain 


of coral islands and reefs extending a distance 
of 1,260 miles. The continent is divided by the 
tropic of Capricorn, though the greater portion 
lies south of that line, but it extends only to 
about 39° south latitude. Hence, the northern 
portion is located in the Torrid Zone and the 
southern part is in the South Temperate Zone. 

Physical Features. The interior of Australia 
is formed largely of sandy hillocks or plains, 
which are covered with coarse grass or brush¬ 
wood. It is generally arid and hot, though at 
different seasons occur heavy rains and hail 
storms, when shallow lakes form in the de¬ 
pressions, to which the water is carried by in¬ 
land streams. As the waters from these lakes 
evaporate they become brackish or salty, some 
yielding considerable quantities of saline prod¬ 
ucts. Along the eastern coast trend the Aus¬ 
tralian Alps, which are highest in the southeast, 
where Mount Kosciusko, about 7,000 feet high, 
forms the culminating peak of the Australian 
continent. In Victoria these mountains are 
known as the Australian Alps, or the Liverpool 
Range. Besides these mountains are various 
smaller chains and groups, most of which are in 
the interior and along the western shore. Low 
plains make up a large part of the surface along 
the southern and northern coasts. 

The Murray, which rises on the west side of 
the Australian Alps, is the largest stream and 
has a basin of about 300,000 square miles. It 
receives the drainage from the Darling and 
the Murrumbidgee rivers, and discharges into 
the Indian Ocean, near Adelaide. In the north 
is the Victoria, in the west the Murchison, and 
in the interior is the Cooper, which flows into 
Lake Eyre, a salt-water lake that has no outlet 
to the sea. A large number of rivers in the 
interior discharge into salt lakes and are of 
no service as means of communication, but may 
be utilized for irrigation purposes. In the cen¬ 
tral part is Lake Amadeus, in the south are 
lakes Eyre, Gairdner, and Torrens, and in the 
western part is Lake Austin. Most of the in¬ 
terior lakes have no connection with the ocean 
and their waters are quite brackish and salty. 

The climate is naturally hot and dry, but 
along the sea coast it is modified by healthful 
and pleasant sea breezes and rains, thus mak¬ 
ing large areas agreeable and productive. On 
the eastern and southern slopes the sea winds 
carry an abundance of moisture, and these re¬ 
gions are the most productive and densely pop¬ 
ulated. The temperature at Melbourne aver¬ 
ages about 56°, at Sidney about 63°, and at 
Palmerston, in the northern part, about 80°. 
In the interior the mean annual temperture 
ranges from 60 to 80°, and the climate is char¬ 
acterized by great changes owing to exces¬ 
sively hot winds. 

Vegetation. The soil of Australia, though 
arid and sandy in the interior regions, is as a 
whole quite fertile, and yields an abundance 
of vegetation in all districts that have an ade- 



189 




AUSTRALIA 


190 


AUSTRALIA 


quate quantity of rainfall. Many distinctive 
types of plants thrive and range from the trop¬ 
ical luxuriance of the moist east and north 
coasts to the arid interior, where vegetation 
is scant and the species are peculiarly adapted 
to endure excessive drought. Tree ferns, canes, 
palms, and bamboos thrive in the northeastern 
part, and here the forests contain many orchids 
and other parasitic plants. The bottle tree and 
the grass tree thrive here, and in the south¬ 
eastern part, especially in Victoria, are the 
eucalyptus, acacia, fan palm, honeysuckle, and 
paper-bark tree. The gum-trees are very nu¬ 
merous and more than 150 species abound, and 
there are fine forests of she oak and other 
valuable woods. Not only are the forests of 
the eastern section beautiful, but both here and 
on the fertile plains are luxuriant growths of 
grasses and flower-bearing vegetation. The 
steppes of the interior take on summer verdure 
where rain is sufficient, and in the western part 
the country is alternated with forests and 
prairies, though large tracts of Western Aus¬ 
tralia are arid and vegetation is scant. Cereals, 
vegetables, and tropical fruits thrive abun¬ 
dantly. 

Minerals. Gold is the most important min¬ 
eral and was discovered in 1823, but mining 
was not developed on an extensive scale until 
1851, when prospectors and miners in large 
numbers came to the country. The most pro¬ 
ductive fields are in the mountains of Eastern 
Australia. Victoria produced about two-thirds 
of the output, though the productions of 
Queensland and New South Wales were con¬ 
siderable. Copper is mined in South Australia 
and other states, and silver is obtained in pay¬ 
ing quantities both in Australia and in Tas¬ 
mania. Other minerals more or less abundant 
are coal, mercury, iron, antimony, zinc, bis¬ 
muth, diamonds, and manganese. Granite and 
building stone are abundant. 

Animals. The continent possesses no large 
animals, the largest being the kangaroo, of 
which a number of species abound. The mar- 
supialia or pouch mammals, which include the 
kangaroo, are represented by 30 species, and 
the monotremata, or egg-laying mammals com¬ 
mon to Australia, include the spiny ant-eater 
and the platypus or water mole. The last 
mentioned reproduces from eggs and is con¬ 
fined to Australia. Among the flesh-eating 
animals are the rat, the mouse, and the native 
cat, and the insect eaters include the bandi¬ 
coots. The kangaroo, the rock wallaby, and 
the hare kangaroo are the chief grass eaters. 
It is thought that the dingo, or wild dog, 
though sometimes classed as a native of Aus¬ 
tralia, is a descendent from the domestic dog. 
Bats are very numerous and the rabbit, which 
has been naturalized from Europe, has become 
a pest because of its rapid increase. Most of 
the animals are small and the fur-bearing 
species are limited, but the continent is espe¬ 


cially rich in birds of song and plumage. Here 
thrive the tue, emu, owl, parrot, brush turkey, 
crested pigeon, lion bird, oriole, jackass, cocka¬ 
too, crowned pigeon, parrakeet, and bird of 
paradise. The species of poisonous snakes are 
numerous, which is true of the lizards, frogs, 
and fish. Insect life is not well represented, 
though the species of butterflies, ants, bees, and 
beetles are quite numerous. 

Government. The entire continent is a co¬ 
lonial possession of Great Britain. For the 
purpose of government it is divided into five 
states. The eastern section comprises the three 
states of Queensland, New South Wales, and 
Victoria; the central part is embraced in South 
Australia, which includes the Northern Terri¬ 
tory; and the western part is the State of West¬ 
ern Australia. These five states, including Tas¬ 
mania, are organized as the Commonwealth of 
Australia. See Australia, Commonwealth of. 

Inhabitants. The population of Australia, 
including Tasmania, in 1921, was 4,872,059. This 
number included about 60,000 natives and 40,- 



AUSTRALIAN. MELANESIAN. 


000 Chinese. Fully one-third of the inhabitants 
are of foreign birth, of whom a large major¬ 
ity came from the United Kingdom and about 
50,000 from Germany. The aborigines are the 
lowest of the human races as regards intelli¬ 
gence and are of the Negroid type, resembling 
those of Africa. They are indolent, but peace¬ 
ful, and engage largely in hunting and fishing. 
Some regard them incapable of being civilized 
and educated, and there has been a steady de¬ 
crease in number for the past forty years. In 
color they are dark brown or black, have 
straight or wavy hair, sometimes curly, and 
are of medium size and inferior muscular 
strength. The favorable climate has not re¬ 
quired them to provide for heavy clothing or 
substantial shelter, hence they live in illy con¬ 
structed huts and subsist on insects, reptiles, 
roots, and the native animals. Little, if any, 
development was made in their habits or modes 
of living since Australia has been occupied by 
Europeans, though some engage in light work 
for short periods of time when they are in 
need or want. They are skillful with the 
boomerang and spear, are fond of dogs, and 
still employ wooden axes and stone hatchets 
in cutting wood and building their huts. 

History. Australia was first discovered by 
Europeans about the middle of the 16th cen- 







a 

a 

O 




















































































































AUSTRALIA 


191 


AUSTRALIA 


tury, probably about 1531. In 1542 the Portu¬ 
guese published an account of a number of ex¬ 
plorations and about that time the continent 
became known to explorers of different nations. 
Manoel Godinho de Eredia, a Portuguese navi¬ 
gator, in 1601, set foot upon the continent and 
explored a part of its coast. The Dutch sent 
an expedition from Bantam, in Java, in 1605, 
and explored a part of the northern coast lying 
immediately south of New Guinea. In 1606 
a Spanish expedition under Luys Vaez de 
Torres, from vyhom Torres Strait was named, 
sailed through the narrow neck of water be¬ 
tween New Guinea and Australia. Several 
expeditions sailed under Dutch navigators from 
Java in 1616, and named the continent New 
Holland. They surveyed a large portion of the 
northwest coast, where they planted several 
settlements. 

In 1770 Captain James Cook sailed by way of 
New Zealand and landed on the eastern coast 
of Australia, surveyed and explored a number 
of localities, and took possession for England. 
He named the region New South Wales. An 
English settlement was made at Botany Bay, 
near Sydney, in 1788, where a penal station 
was established for convicts transported from 
England by the government. Fully 150,000 
convicts were taken to Australian stations, and 
about the same time settlers began to occupy 
the coasts and to press inland. The mountains 
were not crossed until 1813, when it was thought 
a great inland sea stretched far toward the 
west, and in 1847 the German explorer, Lud¬ 
wig Leichhardt, started with a small company 
from Moreton Bay to cross the continent, but 
was not heard of again. Immigration and de¬ 
velopment began with the discovery of gold 
in 1851, and since that time there has been con¬ 
stant progress in the material industries and 
the growth of cities. The government was ad¬ 
ministered under the jurisdiction of the five 
colonies of Victoria, Queensland, New South 
Wales, South Australia, and Western Australia, 
until Jan. 1, 1901, when Tasmania joined them 
to form the Federal State known as the Com¬ 
monwealth of Australia, which see. 

AUSTRALIA, Commonwealth of, a colo¬ 
nial possession of Great Britain, consisting of 
Tasmania and the five federated states of Aus¬ 
tralia. The area, population, and natural re¬ 
sources are treated in the article entitled Aus¬ 
tralia and additional information is given under 
Tasmania, which see. 

Agriculture. Both farming and stock rais¬ 
ing began to be developed as early as settle¬ 
ments were made, but the latter enterprise re¬ 
ceived the larger share of attention. Agricul¬ 
tural products thrive abundantly where the 
rainfall is sufficient to germinate and mature 
crops, and in many sections of the interior 
arid lands have been redeemed for cultivation 
by irrigating ditches and canals which draw a 
supply of water from rivers and mountain 


streams, and in some localities artesian wells 
are utilized successfully. Victoria holds first 
rank in the number of acres under cultivation, 
but is followed closely in this respect by South 
Australia and New South Wales. Tasmania 
has a larger area of cultivated land than West¬ 
ern Australia, but is surpassed in the acres 
under cultivation by Queensland. Wheat is the 
most important cereal product and is grown on 
about half of the total acreage, and hay takes 
second rank in the value of the quantity pro¬ 
duced. Other crops are corn, barley, oats, 
sugar cane, potatoes, and tropical and semi- 
tropical fruits. Development in fruit raising 
has been constant, especially in the cultivation 
of grapes, bananas, peaches, and apples. Cof¬ 
fee is grown successfully on the coast of 
Queensland, and development in silk culture 
has stimulated attention in growing the mul¬ 
berry. 

Sheep raising has received the larger atten¬ 
tion, though it is by no means the only animal 
industry. In the number of head of sheep, 
Australia surpasses all of North America, hav¬ 
ing about one hundred million head, and the 
annual production of wool aggregates about 
five hundred million pounds. The favorable 
climate and the extensive area of grazing 
lands account for large interests in sheep grow¬ 
ing, and the quality of both wool and mutton is 
of a high class. Cattle are grown profitably 
for beef and dairy products. Horses are reared 
both for domestic use and for exportation. 
Goats, mules, poultry, and bees yield good 
returns. 

Mining. The discovery of gold in 1851 stim¬ 
ulated immigration, and from that time mining 
has continued to be an industry of much im¬ 
portance. The first mines were opened in New 
South Wales, but development was made soon 
after at Ballarat, Victoria, and in different 
parts of Queensland. The Coolgardie district of 
Western Australia and the fields of Tasmania 
were open more recently. Victoria had a larger 
output of gold up to 1899 than all the other 
states combined, but the production is now 
greatest in Western Australia. The annual 
output of gold is about $56,500,000 and of silver 
about $16,150,000. Iron ore is abundant in the 
mountains and there are extensive deposits of 
bituminous coal, particularly in New South 
Wales. Tin and copper are mined profitably 
especially in Tasmania, and there is a small 
output of antimony, bismuth, lead, and 
diamonds. 

Transportation. As the commonwealth has 
no large lakes and few streams that can be 
navigated, transportation is dependent almost 
exclusively upon the construction of highways 
and the building of electric and steam railways. 
The government owns and operates most of 
the railroads of the continent and Tasmania, 
and less than 500 miles of lines are managed 
under private ownership. In 1918 the total 


AUSTRALIA 


AUSTRALIA 


11)2 


railroad mileage was 19,500 miles, of which 
about 000 miles were in Tasmania. All the 
principal cities and many interurban points 
have electric lines, and macadamized highways 
have been constructed and are maintained 
largely by local authority. Several telegraph 
lines extend across the continent, both north 
and south, and cable lines connect the chief port 
cities with all countries of the world. 

Commerce. The trade with foreign coun¬ 
tries is very large, especially in raw materials. 
Manufacturing enterprises have not been de¬ 
veloped as extensively as mining and agricul¬ 
ture, and are confined principally to products 
used in domestic consumption. They consist 
chiefly of textiles, utensils, clothing, machinery, 
and food products, hence large quantities of 
the commodities produced are exported and 
many supplies are obtained by importation. 
Though smaller in the number of inhabitants 


than Canada, it has a larger export and import 
trade. The duties collected are uniform through¬ 
out the commonwealth. Great Britain has the 
largest share of the foreign trade, about eighty 
per cent., and next in order are the United 
States, Germany, and France. 

Education. The state of education is im¬ 
proving perceptibly, owing to a reasonable en¬ 
forcement of the compulsory school attendance 
law in all the states. In 1860 sixteen per cent, 
of the people were illiterate, but at present 
illiteracy is placed at 8 per cent., each decade 
showing a satisfactory improvement in public 
instruction. Besides public schools and numer¬ 
ous academies and colleges, there are univer¬ 
sities supported by the states at Adelaide, Syd¬ 
ney, Hobart, and Melbourne. The educational 
institutions are coeducational and are modeled 
after the English universities at Manchester 
and Liverpool. English is the spoken language, 
and the social and industrial conditions of the 
regions fairly developed are quite similar to 


those of Canada and the United States. In 
religion there is no restriction, and numerically 
the Episcopal church is the strongest. Other 
denominations represented by large numbers 
are the Presbyterians, Roman Catholics, and 
Lutherans. 

Govern ment. The commonwealth is gov¬ 
erned under a constitution which went into ef¬ 
fect in 1901. This constitution delegates to the 
central government all power not reserved by 
the state, and is modeled upon that of the 
United States rather than upon the constitution 
of Canada, in that it does not provide for a 
strongly centralized state. The governor gen¬ 
eral is appointed by the sovereign of Great 
Britain, is assisted by a ministry made up of 
members of Parliament, and has the power to 
summon and dissolve Parliament, which is made 
up of two branches, a senate and house of rep¬ 
resentatives, and is required to meet every 

year. Each state has six sen¬ 
ators, elected for six years. 
The membership in the house, 
chosen for three years, is 
twice as large as the number 
of senators, and any state 

cannot have less than five 

representatives in the lower 

house. The judicial depart¬ 
ment culminates in a high 
court of justice, to which ap¬ 
peals may be taken from the 
Federal court, from the inter¬ 
state commission, and from 

the supreme court of the Fed¬ 
eral states, and the acts of the 
highest court is subject to 

review by the British Privy 

Council, though only in ques¬ 
tions pertaining to the con¬ 
stitutional powers of the dif¬ 
ferent states or of the com¬ 
monwealth. Local government is vested in 

counties and municipalities, both politically and 
educationally, and the right of suffrage is in 
all citizens regardless of sex and cannot be 

restricted by the Federal Parliament. At pres¬ 
ent the house of representatives has a member¬ 
ship proportiond as follows: Western Aus¬ 
tralia, 5; Tasmania, 5; South Australia, 7; 

Queensland, 9; Victoria, 23; and New South 
Wales, 26. 

Canberra, in New South Wales, was made the 
capital in 1903. Brisbane, Adelaide, Sydney, 
Melbourne, and Hobart are the largest cities. 
In 1920 the area and population were given as 
follows: 



AREA. 

POPULA¬ 

TION. 

Tasmania . 

26,215 

975,920 

903,690 

670,500 

87,884 

310,372 

1Q1 OIA 

West Australia . 

288,483 

409,997 

fAA son 

South Australia. 

Queensland . 

Victoria. 

Oi*t 9 OUU 
1 'll S 747 

New South Wales. 

1,648,746 

Total . 

2,974,581 

4.468,687 



Map showing the proposed Transcontinental Railways of Australia. 





























AUSTRALIAN BALLOT 


193 


AUSTRIA-HUNGARY 


AUSTRALIAN BALLOT (as-tra'li-an), 
a ballot first used in elections held in New 
South Wales, in 1858, and subsequently in all 
the subdivisions of Australia. It has been 
modified more or less and adopted in many 
countries. In some form it is in use in nearly 
all the states and countries where the elective 
franchise is recognized. The main features are 
that ballots used in voting are printed at pub¬ 
lic expense, the different party tickets are print¬ 
ed on the ballots, and each voter is supplied 
with one copy when he presents himself at the 
polls to vote. There is a legal provision against 
electioneering near the polls, and secrecy in 
voting is guaranteed by prohibiting an elector, 
under suitable penalty, from exhibiting the 
ballot to any one after it is marked. Separate 
voting booths are provided in which the voter 
must by himself mark and prepare his own bal¬ 
lot, if he is capable to do so, otherwise it may 
be marked at his direction by two of the judges, 
who must belong to different parties, after 
which it is handed to the proper officer, by 
whom it is deposited in the ballot box. The 
system is universally popular, and has tended 
to preserve both the secrecy and sanctity of 
the ballot. 

AUSTRIA-HUNGARY (as'tn-a-hun'ga-ri), 
or Austro-Hungarian Empire, a former mon¬ 
archy in Central Europe, bounded by Germany, 
Russia, Rumania, Servia, Turkey, Montenegro, 
the Adriatic Sea, Italy, and Switzerland. It 
embraced an area of 261,034 square miles, some¬ 
what larger than any other European country 
except Russia. The monarchy embraced two 
semi-independent countries, Austria and Hun¬ 
gary, each of which had a separate local gov¬ 
ernment, but both were under the direction of a 
national parliament and an emperor. 

Description. The surface of Austria-Hun¬ 
gary is characterized by three great mountain 
systems, which, in the northwestern part, as¬ 
sume elevations vey simeilar to the mountain¬ 
ous regions of Switzerland. In the northern 
part trend the Carpathian and Moravian Moun¬ 
tains; in the southern part are the Transylva¬ 
nian Alps, which form a part of the boundary 
with Rumania; and along the Adriatic shores 
are the Austrian Alps. The Carpathians are 
connected by the Moravian Mountains with the 
Bohemian Highlands, which embrace the Rie- 
sen-Gebirge, the Bdhmerwald, and the Erzge¬ 
birge. The Austrian Alps extend from Switz¬ 
erland to the Danube and embrace the Rhaetian, 
the Noric, and the Dinaric Alps, and their 
highest peak, Ortler Spitze, has an elevation of 
12,800 feet above the sea. The Carpathian 
Mountains are less elevated, ranging from 3,000 
to 8,700 feet and culminating in the Gerlsdorfer 
Spitze, which is 8,735 feet high.. Fine scenery 
and numerous caverns and mineral springs 
abound in the highlands, making some sec¬ 
tions the most picturesque regions of Europe. 

The drainage is almost exclusively to the 

13 


southeast by the Danube and its tributaries, 
which include the Drave, the Theiss or Tisza, 
and the Save rivers. In the northern part is 
the Moldau, a tributary of the Elbe, while the 
Dniester traverses part of Galicia, and the 
Vistula forms part of the boundary between 
Galicia and Russian Poland. Other streams 
include the Adige, the Inn, and the Raab. Al¬ 
though Austria-Hungary is classed as an in¬ 
terior country of Europe, it has about 500 miles 
of sea coast along the Adriatic. Lake Balaton, 
in Hungary, is the most important inland water, 
but numerous small lakes diversify and add 
beauty to the mountain scenery. 

The uneven surface of the country causes it 
to have considerable diversity in climate. In 
the western part the rainfall is very abundant, 
about 100 inches annually, and in Moravia and 
Silesia it is not more than 25 inches, being 
limited on account of high altitudes causing 
precipitation before the moisture is carried to 
that section by the clouds. However, there is 
sufficient rainfall in all parts for the success¬ 
ful cultivation of plants adapted to the differ¬ 
ent temperatures. At Vienna the mean average 
temperature is about 50°, and in the southern 
part of Dalmatia, at Ragusa, it is 62°. 

Animals. The native animals are like those 
found in most of central Europe, but the num¬ 
ber and kind have been limited by the fact that 
the country has been populated for centuries. 
In the mountains, especially in the Alps, are a 
considerable number of ibex and chamois. 
Wolves, bears, lynxes, and other species are 
met with in considerable numbers. The fish¬ 
eries of the Adriatic Sea and of the larger 
streams yield sturgeon and other commercial 
fish. Birds of song and plumage are abundant. 
The domesticated animals consist of those com¬ 
mon to European countries. Horses and sheep 
are not reared as extensively as in former years, 
but cattle are grown in large numbers for beef 
and dairy products. Goats are reared for their 
flesh and skins, and swine are grown in all 
parts of the country, but receive special atten¬ 
tion in Hungary. Bee-keeping and silk cul¬ 
ture are important enterprises and yield large 
returns. 

Agriculture. Agriculture is the chief occu¬ 
pation, fully three-eighths of the people engag¬ 
ing in that enterprise. Hungary is noted for 
its production of cereals and exports large 
quantities to Switzerland and Germany. Oats, 
potatoes, rye, barley, and wheat are grown on 
a large acreage, and interest in the culture of 
corn, buckwheat, and millet is extensive. The 
sugar beet, tobacco, flax, and fruits are grown 
Among the chief orchard products are grapes, 
oranges, apricots, chestnuts, almonds, apples, 
and figs. Rice is cultivated in Hungary, though 
not enough for domestic consumption. 

Minerals. Mining has been an important 
enterprise in some parts of the country for 
centuries, and there are traces of mines worked 


AUSTRIA-HUNGARY 


194 


AUSTRIA-HUNGARY 


by the Celts and Romans. Almost every known 
mineral is found, and considerable deposits of 
mineral oil, precious stones, and useful earths 
exist in paying quantities. In Galicia, at Wie- 
liczka, are the most famous salt mines in the 
world, and they are controlled by the govern¬ 
ment. Salt is also derived from evaporating 
sea water on the coasts of the Adriatic and 
the waters of salt springs. Gold is produced in 
larger quantities than by any country in Europe. 
Other mine products include silver, coal, iron 
ore, copper, lead, zinc, gypsum, antimony, and 
manganese. 

Manufacturing. The last few decades have 
witnessed a marked advance in the manufactur¬ 
ing enterprises of the empire. This industry has 
been encouraged by the government through a 
reduction of freight rates on state railroads in 
favor of manufacturers and by bounties paid 
to aid new enterprises. The clothing industry 
is developed to a high extent in the western 
part, which is true also of the manufacture of 
textiles, articles of food, building materials, 
and steel and iron. Bohemia holds high rank 
in the manufacture of glass. Bohemian art 
ware is seen in large quantities at international 
expositions and sold extensively in all civilized 
countries. Hungary has the largest milling en¬ 
terprises of Europe, taking rank in the output 
of flour with Canada and the United States. 
Beet sugar, pottery, machinery, earthenware, 
firearms, and dairy products are among the 
important industrial products. 

Commerce. The country has large commer¬ 
cial interests, the exports exceeding the imports. 
A merchant marine is aided and encouraged 
by the government, though the short coast line 
on the Adriatic prevents the empire from taking 
rank with the ‘nations more fortunately sit¬ 
uated. Only 15 per cent, of the entire foreign 
commerce is carried by water, the remainder 
going by land, either to be consumed in Europe 
or shipped to foreign countries from ports 
located outside of the monarchy. Wheat, fruit, 
flour, sugar, earthenware, leather, clothing, and 
minerals are the chief articles of export. Fully 
three-fourths of the trade is with Germany, 
and the nations coming next in order are Italy, 
Great Britain, Rumania, and Russia. The trade 
with American countries is not large. 

Transportation. Railroad building did not 
receive attention until 1837, when a short line 
was built in Austria. The government nation¬ 
alized the railways in 1846, since which time 
most of the lines have been owned and operat¬ 
ed as public property. In 1917 the total rail¬ 
road mileage was 30,328 miles, exclusive of 
electric lines, which have been constructed on 
a large scale in the principal cities and through 
many sections of the country. Transportation 
by water is promoted from ports on the Adri¬ 
atic and on the Danube, which is navigable by 
steamboat throughout the course and furnishes 
a direct outlet to the Black Sea. Communica¬ 
tion by telephone and telegraph lines is ample. 


Education. While education has received 
much encouragement, there are districts in 
which illiteracy still prevails to a considerable 
extent, some regions having as high as sixty 
per cent. The highest intellectual culture of 
the people prevails in the German provinces, 
where compulsory school attendance laws have 
long been in force, and all children from six 
to twelve years inclusive are required to attend 
school. The system of schools is modeled after 
that of Germany, and embraces the gymnasia, 
the realschulen, and the higher institutions. 
The elementary schools take high rank, and 
the interweaving of practical education with 
the common school studies is an objective 
point. Articulated with the common schools is 
a system of academies and colleges, and there 
are various schools devoted to commerce, agri¬ 
culture, music, and arts, besides a number of 
well-equipped universities. The empire has 
twelve excellent universities, situated, respect¬ 
ively, in the cities of Vienna, Gratz, Innsbruck, 
Budapest, Prague, Cracow, Lemberg, Agram, 
Czernowitz, and Klausenburg. These institu¬ 
tions embrace courses in theology, political 
economy, law, medicine, philosophy, engineer¬ 
ing, and other lines of higher work. Roman 
Catholic is the state religion, but all forms of 
religious worship are permitted. The denomi¬ 
nations taking rank numerically next to the 
Roman Catholics are the Orthodox Greek, 
Protestants, Armenians, and Jews. 

Inhabitants. The people are greatly diver¬ 
sified in races and languages, and in this re¬ 
spect the monarchy resembles Russia. About 
two-fifths are German, while the remainder are 
either of Germanic, Slavonic, Magyar, Latin, 
or Hebrew origin. In Hungary the Slavs and 
the Magyars predominate and the Slavic and 
Hungarian languages are spoken. German is 
the language of the Austrian provinces, where 
the people of German descent predominate. 
Vienna, the capital of Austria and of the dual 
monarchy, is one of the largest and finest 
cities of Europe. Other cities of importance 
include Budapest, the capital of Hungary, Tri¬ 
este, Lemberg, Prague, Gratz, Briinn, Szegedin, 
Pressburg, Czernowitz, and Arad. In 1910 the 
population of the empire was 51,314,271, of 
which number 28,567,898 were in Austria; 
20,850,700, in Hungary; and 1,895,673, in Bos¬ 
nia and Plerzegovina. The total population, in 
1917, was 51,602,565. 

Defense. Austria-Hungary has long ranked 
as one of the great military powers, being 
classed among the most powerful modern na¬ 
tions of Europe! The military service was 
placed on a basis requiring universal service 
in 1889, and the armed forces comprise the 
navy, army, landwehr, and landsturm. All 
able-bodied citizens of the empire are required 
to serve in the army three years, beginning at 
the age of twenty, or in the navy four years, 
but they are not released after such service 


AUSTRIA-HUNGARY 


195 


AUSTRIA-HUNGARY 


until they have had additional practice or train¬ 
ing for a period ranging from three to twelve 
years. 1 he peace footing is 380,786 men and 
officers. There is a war footing of about 2,000,- 
000 men, but in cases of emergency fully double 
that number of reasonably well-trained soldiers 
can be placed at the disposal of the monarch. 
The navy consists of about 140 vessels, includ¬ 
ing twenty armored battleships, and 170 tor¬ 
pedo boats. The military forces are equipped 
with the most modern arms, including the 
Mannlicher rifles and modern machine guns. 

Government. The present dual government 
was adopted by the Ausgleich of 1867, under 
which the ruling sovereign is Emperor of Aus¬ 
tria and King of Hungary, which may be con¬ 
sidered two independent states, and the crown 
of both is hereditary in the house of Haps- 
burg. Legislation is vested in the Austrian and 
Hungarian diets, but two bodies known as the 
delegation control the ministries, each dele¬ 
gation consisting of sixty members. Twenty 
of the delegates are elected by the upper house 
and forty by the lower house, and in alternate 
years the delegations hold sessions in Vienna 
and Budapest. They represent the parliaments 
of the two countries and have legislative power 
relating to the army and navy, finance, foreign 
relations, diplomatic service, and other affairs 
of interest to both countries. Each country has 
an independent local pailiament, in which the 
several provinces are represented according to 
population. 

The divisions that constitute the lands of the- 
Hungarian crown, besides Hungary, are Fiume, 
Croatia, Slavonia, and Transylvania. The crown 
lands of Austria, besides Austria proper, include 
Salzburg, Styria, Carinthia, Carniola, Tyrol, 
Vorarlberg, Bohemia, Moravia, Silesia, Galicia, 
Bukowina, Dalmatia, and the coast districts of 
Gorz, Trieste, Istria, and Gradiska. The prov¬ 
inces of Bosnia and Herzegovina constitute im¬ 
perial territory of the Austro-Hungarian em¬ 
pire. Francis Joseph I. is the reigning sover¬ 
eign, whose official title is Emperor of Austria 
and King of Hungary. Financially the country 
is on a gold basis, though the krone, the stand¬ 
ard coin, is not coined in that metal. The 
monetary system is on a decimal basis or scale 
of numeration. 

The government of Austria, independent of 
Hungary, is an empire. Legislative power is 
vested in the Reichsrat, which consists of two 
branches, the herrenhaus and the abgeordneten- 
haus. The emperor has concurrent legislative 
power with the Reichsrat, and concludes 
treaties, grants pardons, issues decrees, and 
may summon or dissolve the Reichsrat, but his 
decrees and acts must be countersigned by the 
prime minister, who is held responsible to par¬ 
liament. Eight ministers, each presiding over 
a department, and two ministers at large, dis¬ 
charge the advisory functions of the executive 
department. The emperor appoints a governor 


for each province or department, which is di¬ 
vided into districts and communes. The supreme 
court of justice and cassation, located at Vi¬ 
enna, has supreme jurisdiction over the system 
of district, circuit, and inferior courts. 

In Hungary the constitution is based on the 
Golden Bull of 1222 and succeeding statutes 
and decrees relative to the autonomy of that 
country. The king does not exercise so great 
an influence in the government as in that of 
Austria, and decrees, like in Austria, become 
valid after being countersigned by a responsi¬ 
ble minister. Legislative authority is vested in 
the Parliament, which is composed of the two 
houses known as the table of magnates and the 
house of representatives. In the upper house, 
or table of magnates, the membership consists 
of the nobility, the royalty, and certain dig¬ 
nitaries of the churches, and in the lower 
house the members are elected by popular male 
suffrage. A minister president and nine minis¬ 
ters, each ruling a department, exercise execu¬ 
tive power and are responsible to the Parlia¬ 
ment. Local government is administered by 
the 63 counties, each having a governor, and 
the counties are divided into districts known 
as incorporated towns, communes, and presi¬ 
dencies. The judiciary branch of the govern¬ 
ment is modeled after that of Austria. 

History. The history of the region now in¬ 
cluded in Austria-Hungary is more or less as¬ 
sociated in its early phases with that of Rome 
and the empire of the West, and subsequently 
with the Germanic tribes that passed in succes¬ 
sive waves from the regions farther north. 
Austria as a political power may be said to have 
taken its rise in 791, when Charlemagne took 
possession of the region between the Ens and 
the Raab, driving the Avars from that terri¬ 
tory. The Hungarians invaded Germany in 
900, when part of the region now included in 
the country became subject to that people, under 
whose control it remained fifty-five years, when 
it was again united with the German Empire 
under Otho I. From 932 till 1156 it was under 
control of the counts of Babenberg, became a 
duchy in the latter year, and received additional 
territory in 1192, when Vienna became its cap¬ 
ital. In 1246 the male line of the house of 
Babenberg became extinct, and the German 
emperor, Frederick II., proclaimed the region 
hereditary property of the German sovereigns. 
It passed to the house of Hapsburg in 1282, 
whose original possessions were in Switzerland, 
and is still the ruling house of the empire. Ru¬ 
dolph of Hapsburg was one of the early sov¬ 
ereigns, was succeeded by his son Albert, who 
in 1301 obtained the Swabian Margraviate. and 
at his death in 1308 Austria had an area of 26,000 
square miles. Albert V., son-in-law of Em¬ 
peror Sigismund, is the next monarch of 
marked influence. He was complicated in the 
Hussite War, assisting Sigismund in that con¬ 
test, became Emperor of Germany in 1438. and 


AUSTRIA-HUNGARY 


196 


AUTOMOBILE 


was succeeded in 1457 by Ladislaus, his posthu¬ 
mous son, and since then the Austrian mon- 
archs are represented in an unbroken German 
line. 

The subsequent history of Austria is more or 
less closely associated with that of Prussia 
until in 1866, when the latter country established 
its preponderance of power at the Battle of 
Sadowa. Subsequently Italy, which had been 
more or less under the influence of Austria, 
became an independent and united state, and 
Prussia became the head of the German Con¬ 
federation in the North. Within the period of 
alliance between Austria and Prussia, the for¬ 
mer was involved in many noted conflicts. It 
bore a prominent part in defending Christianity 
against the advances of the Turks from Con¬ 
stantinople, was an important battle ground in 
the Thirty Years’ War, exercised a wide influ¬ 
ence in the War of the Spanish Succession, and 
shared in the Napoleonic Wars. Among its 
most eminent sovereigns are Maximilian II., 
Maria Theresa, and Emperor Francis Joseph I. 
Francis II. of Austria was the first sovereign 
to take the title of Emperor of Austria, which 
he did as Francis I. in 1804, and it was within 
the period of his reign that the German prov¬ 
inces became united and sent a powerful army 
to join the Russian and British allies against 
Napoleon, thus causing the overthrow of the 
latter. He was succeeded at his death in 1835 
by his son, who ascended the throne as Ferdi¬ 
nand I., and in 1848 succeeded in overthrowing 
the revolutionary movement led by the Hun¬ 
garians under Kossuth. Ferdinand abdicated 
in favor of his nephew, Francis Joseph I., who 
joined the German states in 1864 in taking 
territory from Denmark, but two years later 
Austria and Prussia became permanently sep¬ 
arated. 

Since the Ausgleich of 1867, the government 
has given marked attention to the internal af¬ 
fairs of the empire, encouraging railroad build¬ 
ing, the extension of educational arts, and the 
furthering of industrial and commercial enter¬ 
prises. In 1878 the domain of Austria was en¬ 
larged by the addition of the provinces of 
Bosnia and Herzegovina, this resulting in con¬ 
sequence of the war between Russia and Tur¬ 
key. These provinces were placed under the 
crown by the Treaty of Berlin for administra¬ 
tion and military occupation only, which re¬ 
mained their condition until 1908, when they 
were annexed as imperial territory by a procla¬ 
mation of Francis Joseph I. The Dreibund 
(Triple Alliance) was formed in 1882, which 
pledged friendship among Austria-Hungary, 
Germany and Italy. Archduke Francis Ferdi¬ 
nand was assassinated in 1914 and the country 
became involved in the Great European War 
dnd was supported by Germany and Turkey, 
while Italy withdrew from the Dreibund and 
in 1915 joined the Triple Entente. Francis Jo¬ 
seph died in 1916 and was succeeded by 


Charles I. as emperor. He abdicated in 1918, 
following the defeat of his armies in Italy, and 
the country was dismembered by the Paris 
Peace Congress. The literature of Austria 
proper belongs almost exclusively to the Ger¬ 
man, but there is a considerable accumulation 
of valuable writings in the Polish, Czech, and 
Bohemian, the latter having its greatest repre¬ 
sentative in John Huss. See Hungary. 

AUTODAFE (a'to-da-fa'), a public cere¬ 
mony instituted at Seville in 1481, and used in 
connection with the inquisition in Portugal and 
Spain. It consisted of a sermon preached to 
those charged with crime, and at its close the 
names of those found guilty were announced, 
while those found not guilty were discharged. 
The guilty were soon after executed. 

AUTOMATON (a-tom'a-ton), a self-act¬ 
ing machine, such as a clock or watch. The 
name is likewise applied to a figure made in 
imitation of an organic being, as a toy turtle 
with means to propel itself, or a machine per¬ 
forming actions like a human being. The con¬ 
struction of automata dates from a period far 
remote, before the Christian era, and some of 
the devices produced became noted. In 1851 
a mechanism was exhibited at London which 
fluttered its wings and imitated the note of the 
bullfinch. Another product was in the human 
form and did writing and drawing by clock¬ 
work. The famous clock at Strassburg, Ger¬ 
many, is the most noted automaton in existence. 

AUTOMOBILE (a-to-mo'bil), a vehicle 
propelled by electric power, gas, steam, or any 
other force stored or located within the ma- 



EARLY TOURING CAR (AUTOMOBILE) 


chine. These mechanical structures may be 
divided into three general classes, including 
those used on roads for carrying passengers 
or goods, those designed for vehicles to be em¬ 
ployed in place of carriages, and those in the 
form of bicycles or tricycles to increase the 
speed and relieve the rider from the exertion 
accompanying the treading of pedals. The first 
automobiles were manufactured as early as 
1860, but a high state of perfection was not 
reached until about 1898. While the early ve¬ 
hicles were too clumsy to insure great speed, 
those of recent manufacture serve a useful 
purpose by combining speed with utility. 

Automobiles are made in a great variety of 
forms and differ vastly in size and capacity. 








AUTOMOBILE 


197 


AUTONOMY 


The newer types, first introduced in 1912, have 
a dynamo to generate power for an electric 
starter and electric lighting. The electric vehicles, 
in which the current is supplied from a storage 
battery, continue to remain popular, owing to the 
movement being attended with less noise and the 
propelling force supplying power for longer dis¬ 
tance than in any other form. However, gasoline 
vehicles with magneto ignition and air or electric 
starters are used most extensively, partly from 
the fact that electric power cannot be secured 
in all places and its expense is somewhat 
greater. Electric batteries of a high class are 
capable of propelling the machine a distance of 
500 miles where reasonable precaution is used. 

Much has been done in recent years to make 
the automobile more popular and extend its 
use both in pleasure-riding and for the more 
practical purposes in business. The industry 
of manufacturing has grown to such propor¬ 
tions that it has been possible to turn out a 
standard car which is superior in construction 
and lower in price. At present the most popular 
vehicle is a four-cylinder touring car of twenty- 
four to twenty-eight horse power, weighing 
from 2,000 to 2,200 pounds, or a thirty to thirty- 
five horse power, weighing from 2,200 to 3,400 
pounds. The wheels are thirty-two to thirty- 
four inches in diameter, with large tires about 
four inches in diameter. It has a four-cylin¬ 
der motor housed in a bonnet in front, and the 
power is transmitted by shaft-drive and bevel 
gears to a live rear axle. Almost perfect lu¬ 
brication of the engines is obtained by a con¬ 
tinuous circulation secured from a mechanical 
forced-feed oiler, the oil passing through feed 
glasses carried in sight at the front of the ma¬ 
chine on the dashboard. The cone clutch has 
given place to a multiple-disk clutch, whose disks 
run continually in oil, and the clutch takes hold 
without jar or jerk. By this simple arrange¬ 
ment it is possible to start a car from a stand¬ 
still to a high speed without danger of breakage. 

Automobiles are used extensively in cities 
for draying and as passenger omnibuses. In 
some places boulevards and automobile tracks 
are maintained, and a great many sight-seers 
prefer to use automobiles rather than teams in 
pleasure-riding and touring. The speed has 
been enormously increased until now a rate of 
fifty to sixty miles an hour is considered fair 
riding in long-distance races. 

Several manufacturers brought out four-cyl¬ 
inder motor cars with twenty-five horse power, 
the touring car weighing 2,700 pounds. There 
is a manifest advantage in a four-cylinder motor 
car, since lighter weight and greater simplicity 
can be obtained. More recently larger cars with 
six, eight and even twelve cylinders have been 
introduced, having the advantage of being less 
noisy and producing greater uniformity of 
motion. Probably the two-cycle, four cylin¬ 
der, mechanically air-cooled type will be the 
popular structure for the future. However, a 


large number of cars still use water-cooling by 
means of a centrifugal circulating pump, even 
for the high-powered cars, but the combined 
air and water cooled type is now the most 
serviceable. Air-cooled motors of the two- 
cycle type, 200 horse power, are in use by rail¬ 
road companies. Several manufacturers of 
farming implements have put out a large num¬ 
ber of low-geared automobiles for farm use, 
fitted to move harrows, plows, and other farm 
implements. It is claimed by the manufacturers 
that this new departure will displace the horse 
to a large extent in the course of time. 

The sixth annual automobile race for the 
James Gordon Bennett cup took place in France, 
July 5, 1905. It was run over the Auvergne 
course, which describes a circle eighty-five and 
a half miles, the total distance in four rounds 
being 342 miles. R. B. Thery, of France, won 
the race in seven hours two minutes and forty- 
two seconds, making an average speed of 48.5 
miles an hour. The fourth race for the Van¬ 
derbilt cup was won by George Robertson, rep¬ 
resenting an American machine, Oct. 24, 1908, 
on Long Island. The total distance was 258 
miles and the winner made an average speed of 
67.6 miles per hour. Ralph De Palma made a 
notable record with a Packard car at the races in 
Chicago, Ill., in 1917, running fifty miles in 28 
minutes and .09 seconds. Records of this class 
are made in eighty to one hundred horse power 
cars. They stand as representative in the matter 
of speed and were not materially surpassed up 
to 1922. 

Long trips in motor cars have become popu¬ 
lar, and much touring is done by those who 
otherwise would travel by railway in foreign 
and remote countries. It is not uncommon for 
tourists to cross the American continent from 
the Atlantic to the Pacific, or to drive auto¬ 
mobiles long distances across plains and over 
mountains. , Among the international trips the 
run from New York City to Paris may be taken 
as the most important. Ten cars were entered 
for the trip, of which four were American and 
six of European manufacture, one German, two 
Italian, and three French. The route across 
the American continent was from New York to 
San Francisco, whence it was to be by steam¬ 
boat to Valdez, Alaska, and thence northwest 
to Bering Strait. From Bering Strait the route 
was planned through Siberia by way of Saint 
Petersburg to Paris, but deep snow in Alaska 
and Eastern Siberia made it necessary to ship 
the machines by steamboat from the Pacific 
coast to Vladivostock. The German car reached 
Paris ahead of the others, but the decision was 
given in favor of the American car, as the Ger¬ 
man driver had been required by reason of a 
breakage to ship his car by rail some distance 
in California. 

AUTONOMY (a-ton'6-my), the self-gov¬ 
ernment of a city or state. The term probably 
originated in ancient Greece, in which country 


AUTOPLASTY 


198 


AVERNUS 


most of the cities were independent for general 
purposes. 

AUTOPLASTY (au'to-plas-ty), a surgical 
operation in which lesions are repaired by using 
tissues taken from another part of the body to 
supply deficiencies caused by disease or wounds. 
Operations of this kind are performed to re¬ 
store the use of an organ or improve the ap¬ 
pearance, and the parts taken may be from the 
same or some other individual. In many cases 
the skin is taken from the body of an individ¬ 
ual to repair lesions resulting from scalds or 
burns, or in the case of hairlip. In India auto¬ 
plasty was practiced in ancient times and it is 
referred to by Celsus, but in Europe and Amer¬ 
ica the practice is comparatively recent. 

AUTUMN (au'tum), the season of the year 
which follows summer, and frequently referred 
to as fall, referring to the fall of the leaves. 
In the northern hemisphere it extends from 
about Sept. 22 until Dec. 22, from the autumnal 
equinox to the winter solstice. In England it 
embraces the months of August, September, and 
October, while in America the autumnal months 
are September, October and November. 

AUVERGNE (o-varn'y), formerly a prov¬ 
ince in Central France, now merged into Can- 
tal, part of Haute-Loire and Puy-de-Dome. The 
region is traversed by the Auvergne Mountains, 
a branch of the Cevennes Mountains, and their 
peaks are the highest of Central France. Among 
the most lofty summits are Puy-de-Dome, 4,806 
feet; Cantal, 6,095 feet; and Dore, 6,188 feet. 
Owing to peculiar volcanic and geologic forma¬ 
tions, the region is one of scientific interest, 
and has been much studied by students. There 
are deposits of coal, copper, iron, and lead, and 
numerous mineral and thermal springs. The 
mountain slopes are covered with a fine growth 
of grass, while the valleys abound in fruits, 
cereals, and live stock. 

AVA (a'va), the former capital of Burma, 
on the Irawadi River, opposite Mandalay, the 
present capital. It is surrounded by walls and 
has several Buddhist temples. Formerly it was 
a large city and commercial center, but it was 
destroyed by an earthquake in 1839. Popula¬ 
tion, 1921, 38,500. 

AVALANCHE (av'a-lanch), the name ap¬ 
plied to masses of ice or snow that slide down 
the sides of mountains to lower levels. These 
masses differ somewhat in the nature of the 
falling material, this depending upon climatic 
conditions and the season of the year. Drift 
avalanches consist of dry or loose snow set in 
motion by the wind, and in falling or sliding 
accumulate larger masses in the descent, finally 
reaching the valley in clouds of dust-like snow. 
This class occurs in the cold seasons, and is 
attended by danger on account of a liability 
to destroy animals and buildings. Avalanches 
of a somewhat different character occur in the 
spring and at the seasons of melting snows. 
These cause the sod to be detached and carried 


with the snow down the mountain side, and in 
falling frequently create a draught of wind 
sufficiently strong to destroy buildings and even 
forest trees. Ice avalanches consist of ice 
masses that detach from glaciers in upper re¬ 
gions and slide with great force down the 
mountain-sides. The latter class are most com¬ 
mon in the Alps of Europe, where much prop¬ 
erty and many lives have been lost on account 
of their damaging effects. A class of ava¬ 
lanches called snowslides occur in the Rocky 
Mountains, where they frequently form an ob¬ 
struction to railroad trains. The term is also 
applied to landslides, which arise from quan¬ 
tities of earth becoming" loosened near the upper 
part of an eminence and sliding to a lower ele¬ 
vation. 

AVE MARIA (a'va ma-re'a), meaning hail 
Mary, a form of address used among Roman 
Catholics in addressing the Virgin Mary, as 
an expression of honor and when requesting 
her intercession. It is usually coupled with the 
recitation of the Lord’s Prayer and is repeated 
three times each morning, noon, and evening 
at the ringing of the bells known as the Ave 
Maria or Angelus Domini The term came 
into use from the salutation of Mary by the 
Archangel Gabriel, Luke i., 28, and the form 
of address was sanctioned by a papal edict in 
1326. Pope Pius V. ordered the daily use of 
the whole prayer in 1658, consisting of the three 
parts: 1, “Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord 
is with thee;” 2, “Blessed art thou, among 
women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb;” 
3, “Holy Mary, mother of God, pray for us 
sinners now and in the hour of our death.” 

AVERAGE (av'er-aj), the mean proportion 
between two certain given quantities. To ob¬ 
tain the average the given number of quan¬ 
tities are added, and the sum is then divided 
by the number of quantities given. For in¬ 
stance, to find the average number of days in 
the months, add the days of the months, which, 
in a year not a leap-year, equal 365, then divide 
by twelve; the quotient is the average. In a 
similar way the averages of different quantities 
may be ascertained. 

AVERNUS (a-ver'nus), a small lake in 
Italy, about eight miles west of Naples, and 
now called Lago d’Averno. It occupies the 
crater of an extinct volcano, is a mile and a 
half in circumference, and about 190 feet 
deep. There is no natural outlet, but Agrippa 
made an artificial passage for its overflow 
into the Gulf of Baiae. Since then the passage 
has been closed up by volcanic action, and there 
is now no visible outlet. The scenery around 
the lake is wild and grand, and at various times 
sulphurous vapors arise, circumstances by which 
the people in ancient times were led to believe 
that Lake Avernus is the entrance to the in¬ 
fernal regions. It was dedicated to Proserpine, 
and, according to legend, Ulysses frequently 
visited there the ghosts of the dead. On the 


AVESTA 


199 


AXIOM 


south side of the lake is a formation mentioned 
as the grotto of the sibyl, and near it are ruins 
of a temple dedicated to Apollo. 

AVESTA (a-vest'a), or Zend-Avesta, the 
sacred scriptures of the religion of Zoroaster, 
and in use by the Parsees as their Bible. The 
French scientist, Anquetil Duperron, translated 
it in 1771. This work in size is about one-tenth 
of our Bible, and at least portions of it date 
from remote antiquity. The Avesta represents 
the oldest faith of Iran and was the law of 
ancient Media and Persia. See Parsees. 

AVIARY (a'vi-a-ry), an inclosure for breed¬ 
ing? rearing, and keeping birds. The first men¬ 
tion of aviaries is in connection with the ancient 
Persians, but later like structures were built 
in Greece and Rome, and in the 16th century 
similar inclosures were constructed in Western 
Europe. Excellent aviaries are now maintained 
in many of the zoological gardens of America 
and Europe, and in them may be seen beautiful 
birds of song and plumage from many climes. 

AVICENNA (a-ve-chen'na), or Ibn-Sina, 
physician and philosopher, born at Efsene, near 
Bokhara, about 980; died in June, 1037. He 
was a student of philosophy and mathematics, 
and took up the practice of medicine at Hame- 
dan. His “System of Medicine” is the most 
important of his numerous works, and was a 
standard of authority in the schools of Europe 
for five centuries. He studied the philosophy 
of Aristotle and tried to reconcile religion with 
the sciences. 

AVIGNON (a-ven-yoiT), a city of south¬ 
eastern France, on the Rhone River, capital of 
the department of Vaucluse. The city has ex¬ 
tensive railroad facilities, is improved by gas 
and electric lights, pavements, and several fine 
parks, and is the seat of a number of schools. 
It has many fine churches, on account of which 
it is familiarly mentioned as the “City of 
Bells.” These include the Notre Dame, a fine 
cathedral, which served as the residence of 
Pope Clement V. and six of his successors. The 
city was also the residence of Petrarch, and 
it was here that he formed the acquaintance 
of Laura, the lady whom he mentioned in sev¬ 
eral sonnets. In the 14th century the city had 
a population of fully 100,000, but it lost its 
importance through the fortunes of war. It has 
been a part of France since 1791. At present 
it has a considerable trade in silk, fruit, and 
manufactured articles. Population, 1916, 48,312. 

AVOIRDUPOIS (av-er-du-poiz'), a stand¬ 
ard of weights used for all articles of mer¬ 
chandise, except gems, medicines, and precious 
metals. The grain is the foundation of both 
the troy and avoirdupois systems. In avoirdu¬ 
pois weight the pound is divided into 16 
ounces, the ounce into 16 drams, and the dram 
into 27 11-32 grains. 

AVON (a'vun), the name of several rivers 
in Europe, including one in France and several 
in the British Isles. The most important is 


the Avon River in England, which rises in 
Leicestershire, flows past Stratford, the birth¬ 
place of Shakespeare, and enters the Severn 
at Tewkesbury. It has a length of 100 miles, 
and its valley is noted for fertility. 

AVOSET (av'6-set), or Avocet, the name of 
a bird belonging to the order of the grallatores, 
and represented by one species in America and 
one in Europe. The structure is quite similar 
to that of the snipe. The bill is long and feeble, 
the legs are long, the feet are webbed, and the 



plumage is variegated with black and white. 
These birds frequent low and marshy places, 
where they feed on worms, insects, mollusks, 
and aquatic animals. The avoset is a common 
bird in many parts of the United States and 
Canada, but is met with most extensively in the 
regions of large marshes. The flesh is highly 
prized as food. 

AX (aks), an instrument for cutting or 
chopping wood or timber, usually made with an 
iron head and a handle of wood. One edge 
is sharp for cutting. The ax is used with both 
hands, but a smaller instrument called a hatchet 
is intended for one hand. It has been in use 
from remote times, forming a useful implement 
for savage and civilized people. The first axes 
were made of flint rock, later of bronze, and 
finally of iron. In modern times axes came to 
be made of wrought iron with a cutting edge 
of steel, while some kinds have two cutting 
edges. The American Indians made hammers 
and hatchets of stone, the latter being popu¬ 
larly known as tomahawks. The adz, a tool 
used by carpenters for smoothing timber, has 
a chisel-shaped edge from four to five inches 
long. 

AXIOM (aks'i-um), a general statement 
which admits of no demonstration, and is taken 
for granted as a self-evident truth. Funda¬ 
mental propositions and established principles 

































AXIS 


200 


AZORES 


underlie every science, and are to be taken by 
the student without proof as a basis for further 
argument. That he who admits a principle ad¬ 
mits its consequences is an axiom in logic. 
Again, that the whole is greater than its parts 
is an axiom in geometry. 

AXIS (aks'is), a straight line, either real 
or imaginary, drawn through a body, around 
which that body may revolve. The term is ap¬ 
plied in geometry to a line imagined drawn 
through a plane figure, about which the parts 
of the figure or body are symmetrically ar¬ 
ranged. In botany the term is applied to the 
central portion of the higher plant, on which 
are borne the appendages or lateral members. 
The root is termed the descending axis , and the 
stem the ascending axis. 

AYACUCHO (i-a-koo'cho), a city of Peru, 
capital of a department of the same name, 240 
miles southeast of Lima. It is located on a 
tributary of the Mantaro River, about 7,500 
feet above the sea, and the surrounding coun¬ 
try is agricultural. A fine church building, a 
university, and the government house are the 
chief public improvements. In 1824 it -was the 
scene of a battle between the allied forces of 
Peru and Colombia and the Spaniards, in which 
the latter were defeated. Population, 1900, 
22,000; in 1917, 23,875. 

AYE-AYE (ai'ai), a small quadruped na¬ 
tive to Madagascar, so named from its peculiar 
cry. It belongs to the lemur family, is about 
the size of a hare, and has a long bushy tail. 



The fingers are long, which it uses to secure 
the grub of wood borers, upon which it feeds, 
but it also eats fruits and the tender part of 
plants. During the daytime it sleeps and at 
night it goes out in search of food. 

AYR (ar), a seaport of Scotland, in Ayr¬ 
shire, at the mouth of the Ayr River. It is 
located about 35 miles west of Glasgow, with 
which it has connection by railway. The build¬ 
ings includes an academy, a public library, and 
several churches. The manufactures include 
carpets, boots and shoes, textiles, and earthen¬ 
ware. Having a good harbor on the Firth of 
Clyde, it exports coal and imports grain and 
iron ore. The cottage in which Robert Burns 
was born is about two miles south of Ayr, and 


near it are the Alloway Church and the Doon 
of Tam o’Shanter. Population, 1911, 32,985. 

AZALEA (a-za'le-a), a genus of plants of 
the heath family, many species of which are 
cultivated in greenhouses and flower gardens 
for their beautiful 
and fragrant 
flowers. Fully 100 
species have been 
described, though 
only a small pro¬ 
portion has been 
developed into 
cultivated plants. 

The flowers form 
i n profuse u m - 
belled clusters and 
in color are either 
purple, orange, 
white, or varie¬ 
gated. They thrive 
best in a sandy 
soil of peat or 
loam, and are well 
adapted to culti¬ 
vation in shaded 
places. The aza¬ 
leas are native to America and Eurasia; all the 
American species are deciduous. 

AZARIAH (az-a-ri'ah), a name in common 
use among the Jews, and applied in history to 
a number of Hebrew rulers. The most im¬ 
portant personage bearing this name was Uzziah, 
the tenth King of Judah, who reigned about 
809 b. c. In Scripture the name is also applied 
to a Chaldean friend of Daniel, to a high 
priest who aided Hezekiah in the temple wor¬ 
ship, and to a prophet who met Asa after the 
latter won a victory over the King of Ethiopia. 

AZOIC. See Archaean. 

AZORES (a-zorz'), an island group in the 
Atlantic Ocean, situated west of Portugal, and 
forming a part of that kingdom. The islands 
nearest Portugal are about 800 miles west from 
the coast, but the entire group is considered as 
belonging to Europe. These islands are of vol¬ 
canic origin and are subject to earthquakes. 
Pico Alto, the highest volcanic summit, has a 
height of 7,540 feet. Pico, Sao Miguel, Santa 
Maria, and Terceira are the most important 
islands, and the entire group embraces an area 
of 1,005 square miles. The chief productions are 
tropical fruits, cereals, vegetables, and live stock. 
Vegetation partakes of luxuriant forms, the soil 
possesses fertility, and the climate is favorable 
to Europeans. The larger part of the inhabit¬ 
ants are Portuguese and Spaniards, most of 
whom are quite poor. The government has pro¬ 
moted the building of several railroad lines, and 
it has a number of canal and harbor improve¬ 
ments. Cabral discovered the Azores about 
1431, claiming them in the name of Portugal. 
At that time they were entirely uninhabited by 
man, but plants, birds, and small quadrupeds 














AZOV 


201 


AZYMITES 


were abundant. A species of hawks, called 
agores by the Portuguese, gave the name to the 
islands. Ponta Delgada is the capital and chief 
town, but Angra is the usual residence of the 
governor. Population, 268,590. 

AZOV (a-zov'), or Azof, an inland sea of 
Southern Russia, forming a branch of the Black 
Sea, with which it is united by the Strait of 
Kertch. Though the sea is comparatively shal¬ 
low, it is valuable for navigation by vessels of 
small draught, and yields an abundance of fish. 
Its greatest length is about 230 miles; breadth, 
112 miles; and area, 14,000 square miles. The 
water is nearly fresh, owing to the large in¬ 
flow from the Don River and several minor 
streams. In the Crimean War, in 1855, the Sea 
of Azov was the seat of great naval activity, 
which was directed with the view of cutting 
off the food supply and otherwise affecting 
Sebastopol. 

AZTECS (az'teks), the name of the inhab¬ 
itants of Mexico at the time of the Spanish 
invasion in 1513. Though the name is fre¬ 
quently applied to all the native inhabitants of 
Mexico at that period, it strictly belongs to only 
one of a number of tribes. According to tra¬ 
dition, the Aztecs came from a country which 
they named Aztlan, a region reputed to be sit¬ 
uated northwest of Mexico, though its exact 
location has never been ascertained. The date 
of the exodus from Aztlan is fixed at 1164 a. d., 
and their arrival in the valley of Mexico is 
placed at 1216, when they succeeded the Toltecs, 
a superior race. In 1325 they founded the City 
of Mexico, naming it the City of Tenochtitlan 
from their chief Tenoch. 

At the time of the Spanish invasion the City 
of Mexico offered considerable resistance to the 
Spaniards, owing largely to strong natural 
and artificial fortifications, and partly to the 
overwhelming numbers of the Aztecs. After 
successive assaults the city was occupied by the 
invading army under Cortez. At that time the 
people were given to war and idolatry, but they 
had obtained marked advancement in astrology 
and astronomy, taught the arts of reading and 
writing, and possessed considerable knowledge 
of architecture. They maintained many temples, 
which were built on substantial terraced py¬ 
ramidal bases, numerous ruins of which still 
remain. The horse, ox, and other domestic 
animals were unknown to them, but, notwith¬ 
standing this disadvantage, they evidenced ma¬ 
terial advancement in agriculture, and cultivated 


large tracts of land in maize and agave. They 
possessed material skill in weaving, feather 
work, pottery, and metal work. 

Much of the history of the Aztecs was re¬ 
corded in hieroglyphics on the walls of tem¬ 
ples and pyramids, and they not only prepared 
lunar calendars, but devised astronomical appa¬ 
ratus and designs of considerable value. How¬ 
ever, they were given to superstition, and sacri¬ 
ficed human beings to their gods. Their legen¬ 
dary was quite extensive, containing numerous 
interesting details and accounts of heroes, teach¬ 
ers, and priests. The education of the young 
devolved on a priesthood, which they supported 
by tithes. Their last ruler, Montezuma, was 
reigning when the Spanish made their invasion 
under Cortez. He was imprisoned and after¬ 
ward killed by the Aztecs in their revolt against 
Spanish dominion. These people are of great 
interest to the student of history, since their 
civilization and government, though springing 
up mysteriously, resembled in many respects the 
archaic oriental institutions. Bancroft’s “Na¬ 
tive Races of the Pacific States” and Mara L c . 
Pratt’s “Cortez and Montezuma” contain inter¬ 
esting accounts of the earlier inhabitants of 
Mexico. 

AZURITE (azh'Q-rlt), a carbonate of cop¬ 
per, found as an ore of copper and as an orna¬ 
mental stone. It is crystalline, deep blue in 
color, and not hard enough for jewelry. Depos¬ 
its of it occur in Arizona, where it is found in 
limestone and is accompanied by other ores of 
copper, such as limonite and malachite. It oc¬ 
curs in small quantities near Lyons, France, and 
in Siberia. The Siberian azurite is cut in slabs 
and used for table tops. Some grades are use¬ 
ful as a pigment and others are quite hard and 
suitable for settings in jewelry. 

AZYMITES (az'i-mites), the name used by 
the Greek Church to designate the Roman Cath¬ 
olic Church, because the latter had decided that 
unleavened bread should be used in the sacra¬ 
ment. The controversy as to whether leavened 
or unleavened bread should be used began about 
1045, when Michael Caerulairus, patriarch of 
Constantinople, designated the use of unleav¬ 
ened bread as a remnant of Judaism. To 
this the Latin Church retorted by calling the 
adherents of the Greek Church Pro-zymites and 
Fermentarians. The unleavened bread or wafer 
is still used by the Roman Catholic Church, 
while many of the Protestant churches use the 
leavened bread. 


B 


BABINGTON 



B, the second letter and the first consonant 
in the English alphabet, and in that of most 
Indo-European languages. It is a sonant ele¬ 
ment of speech of the class known as labial 
mutes. In some languages it is interchangea¬ 
ble with p, especially when it occupies a terminal 
position in a word or syllable. It is produced 
mostly by the lips, and combines the utterance 
of voice and breath. In music B is the seventh 
note of the diatonic scale of C, in which con¬ 
nection it is termed the leading note, calling for 
the octave C to follow it. 

BAADER (ba'der), Franz Xaver von, emi¬ 
nent philosopher and theologian, born in Mu¬ 
nich, Germany, March 27, 1765; died May 23, 
1841. He was the discoverer of a new method 
of employing salts instead of potash in making 
glass, and received a prize of 12,000 gulden, 
about $5,000, as a reward. He published a num¬ 
ber of works on religion, and attained much 
celebrity by lecturing against church interfer¬ 
ence in civil matters. Baader ranks as the great¬ 
est speculative theologian of modern Cathol¬ 
icism. His best known work is “Speculative 
Dogmatism.” 

BAAL (ba'al), or Bel, a Hebrew and gen¬ 
eral Semitic term which implies lord, and used to 
designate different divinities. It was the name 
of the principal god worshiped in the nations of 
Canaan and Phoenicia, with whom Ashtoreth 
ranked as the principal goddess. These people 
regarded Baal the god of the sun, ruler and 
life-giver to the universe, and opposed to Mo¬ 
loch, who ranked as the god of destruction. 
Worship was at first conducted on the mountain 
tops among the Midianites, Moabites, and other 
peoples of Western Asia. In Greece the prac¬ 
tice of mountain worship was attached to 
Hercules. Baal was an important divinity 
among most Semitic peoples, even among the 
children of Israel, from whose midst his wor¬ 
ship was ultimately banished under severe pun¬ 
ishment. From the word Baal other words 
commonly used have originated, among them 
Baalgad, Jezebel, Hannibal, Asdrubel, and Bel¬ 
shazzar. 

BAALBEK (bal-bek'), an ancient city in 
Syria, forty miles northwest of Damascus, 
famous for its ruins of magnificent structures 
of antiquity. One of the chief temples was 


dedicated to the sun. In its construction blocks 
of stone twelve feet thick and sixty feet long 
were used, as is evident from some of the col¬ 
umns and walls that are still standing. In the 
time of Julius Caesar the city formed a Roman 
possession. It was sacked by the Arabs in 
748, pillaged by Timur in 1400, and completely 
destroyed by an earthquake in 1759. Some of 
the ruins are the most massive as well as ex¬ 
tensive in the world, among them those of the 
temple of Jupiter, which is still larger than the 
Parthenon at Athens. 

BABBITT METAL (bab'bit met'al), a soft 
alloy made by melting together two parts of cop¬ 
per, six parts of tin, and four parts of antimony, 
and then adding six parts more of tin. A little 
powdered charcoal is used to prevent the metal 
from oxidizing. Babbitt metal was first made 
by Isaac Babbitt, a goldsmith in Boston, and is 
used to reduce friction, abrasion, and heat in 
the bearings of axles and journals. 

BABEL (ba'bel), Tower of, a great tower 
mentioned in Genesis xi. It was situated 
in the land of Shinar, Mesopotamia, and was 
built by the descendants of Noah. The tower 
was to reach unto heaven, but the language of 
the builders was confused by God, so they could 
not understand each other, and the work was 
abandoned. The Babylonians and Greeks had 
a similar account of a great tower. It is said 
that when the giants sought to scale the heavens 
they were overthrown by Zeus. Several ancient 
writings make it probable that the Tower of 
Babel was located at Babylon, and that it was 
completed by Nebuchadnezzar, the great king. 
Tourists are referred to several ruins on the 
site of the ancient city; those most probably 
authentic are at a place called Amram, and form 
a mound 150 feet high, with a base over 3,000 
feet long and 2,500 wide. 

B A B-E L-M A N D E B (bab-el-man'deb), 
meaning Gate of Tears, a cape and strait in the 
southern extremity of Arabia. The strait is 
fifteen miles wide, and connects the Red Sea 
with the Arabian Sea and the Indian Ocean 
through the Gulf of Aden. The island of Perim 
divides the strait into two channels, the western 
of which is twelve and the eastern two miles 
wide. 

BABINGTON (bab-Tng-tun), Anthony, pub- 

202 

























BABIRUSSA 


203 


BABYLON 


lie man, born at Dethik, England, in 1561; 
executed Sept. 20, 1586. He became a page to 
Mary Queen of Scots, at the time of her con¬ 
finement at Sheffield, and entered a conspiracy 
to release Mary and murder Queen Elizabeth. 
The plot was discovered and Babington and sev¬ 
eral others implicated were executed about four 
months before the execution of Mary. It is 
thought that the latter was implicated and ap¬ 
proved of the conspiracy, but this she denied. 

BABIRUSSA (bab-i-robs'sa), or Babyrussa, 
a wild hog native to the islands of Burn and 
Celebes. It has slender legs, is almost without 
hair or bristles, and feeds upon fruits and plants 
instead of rooting in the ground. In the male 
the canine teeth grow upward and form tusks, 
sometimes from eight to ten inches in length, 
and curve backward like horns. The flesh is 
eaten by the natives. 

BABISTS (bab'ists), the name of a sect of 
Mohammedans founded in 1843 by Ali Moham¬ 
med ibn Redha. Babism teaches that Christ, 
Moses, and Mohammed were prophets and fore¬ 
runners of the Bab, who is considered the 
greatest of the prophets. It recognizes the 
equality of the sexes in social matters, opposes 
polygamy, and permits the remarriage of the 
divorced women, though in spirit it opposes the 
granting of divorces. A civil war resulted from 
the agitation of the Babists, who secured many 
adherents, and the Bab was captured and shot 
at Tabriz in 1850. The total numbef of Babists 
is estimated at several million. 

BABOON (bab-oon'), the name applied to 
a division of apes and monkeys found in Asia 
and Africa. They are among the largest of 
this class of animals and possess great strength. 
Most species have long, abrupt muzzles, like a 
dog, short tails, deep eyes, large eyebrows, and 
strong teeth. They belong to the quadrupeds, 
run swiftly on all fours, and cannot maintain 
themselves with ease in an upright posture. 
They are fierce, ugly, cunning, and dangerous 



BABIRUSSA. 


when attacked. Their size is that of a large 
dog, but the mandrill, a species of baboon, is 
about the size of a man when standing erect. 
These animals live in colonies or herds, have 


recognized leaders, and carry on warfare against 
kindred herds and against other wild animals. 
Their food consists of twigs, roots, fruits, and 
grasses, but they sometimes eat lizards, birds ; 



BABOON. 


and similar small animals. The common bab¬ 
oon is found in large parts of Northern Africa, 
the gelada in Abyssinia, the chacma in Southern 
Africa, and the black baboon in Celebes. In 
many localities incessant war is waged against 
them on account of their ravages in th* gar¬ 
dens, cultivated fields, and meadows. 

BABYLON (bab'i-lon), the capital of the 
Babylonian Empire, on the Euphrates River, 
anciently one of the largest and most beauti¬ 
ful cities of the world. It was founded by 
Queen Semiramis, who spent many years 
and employed thousands of workmen in its 
improvement. Mention is made of it as a 
great city as early as 1500 b. c., but its im¬ 
portance dates from about 680 b. c., when it 
was reconquered by Sennacherib, and made 
one of the two capitals of Assyria. After 
the fall of Nineveh, in the time of Nebu¬ 
chadnezzar, it was improved in magnificent 
style, and at that time attained its greatest 
glory. The city was built in the form of a 
square, each side of which was fifteen miles 
long. High and massive walls fortified it 
against its enemies, while in it were the most 
beautiful edifices, terraced structures, pleas¬ 
ure gardens, verdant parks, and the hanging 
gardens, one of the seven wonders of the 
ancient world. The celebrated Tower of 
Babel, or Temple of Belus, a remarkable struc¬ 
ture of brick and stone, stood within the city, 
and was 625 feet high. The surrounding coun¬ 
try was beautified by gardens, orchards, canals, 
and commercial highways. Both sacred and 
profane history make mention of this city as the 
most beautiful and one of the greatest of re¬ 
mote antiquity. 

Babylon was conquered by Cyrus, King of 
Persia, in 538 b. c., who entered it by the 
river channel, having previously turned the 






BABYLONIA 


204 


BABYLONIA 


water from its course by a great canal. It 
then became a part of the Persian dominion, 
and with this conquest began a rapid decline. 
When Alexander the Great led his expedition 
into Asia, he found the city greatly damaged, 
but still beautiful. He undertook to rebuild 
it with 10,000 men, but after two months’ 
labor gave up the enterprise. Subsequently, 
the city declined rapidly, crumbling away 
on account of successive wars. In its ruins 
were found many curious and valuable relics, 
among them divers cuneiform inscriptions and 
casts, some of them throwing much light upon 
ancient history. Most of the material, such as 
brick and stone, was used in building up the 
new City of Seleucia, which was founded by 
Seleucus, the successor of Alexander the Great. 

BABYLONIA (bab-i-lo'ni-a), the name of 
an ancient country on the Lower Euphrates; 
the region occupied by it is now called Irak- 
Arabi. Ancient writings indicate that the em¬ 
pire was located south of Mesopotamia, west of 
Assyria, north of the Gulf of Persia, and east 
of the Desert of Arabia, but during its greatest 
prosperity it included Assyria, Mesopotamia, 
and practically all of Western Asia. In sacred 
history it is referred to as the land of the 
Chaldees, and also mentioned as Babel and 
Shinar. The region has ranked for ages as 
one of the most fertile districts in Southwestern 
Asia. Anciently its fertility depended, not alone 
upon nature, but a large number of irrigating 
canals and aqueducts were maintained to supply 
the soil in arid districts with moisture sufficient 
to insure production. From the Grecian his¬ 
torian, Herodotus, who made several visits to 
the site of this once great empire, we learn that 
it supplied its own people and one-third of the 
population of Persia with corn and other ce¬ 
reals. Its civilization is as ancient as the civi¬ 
lization of Egypt, perhaps, beginning with the 
year 4000 b. c., but historic records reveal noth¬ 
ing back of the year 2400 b. c. 

People. The inhabitants of Chaldea consisted 
of a mixture of Hamites, Semites, and other 
classes. Their languages and races were mixed 
at all times. One of their earliest leaders was 
a noted hunter named Nimrod, who organized 
separate tribes under a single government. Later 
Abraham, the first of the Israelite fathers, as¬ 
cended the Euphrates and subsequently the As¬ 
syrians built great cities on the Middle Tigris. 
Some writers regard the Babylonians as a 
branch of the Semitic stock and class the non- 
Semitic elements as primitive Aryan tribes. 
They assert that the inscriptions found on mon¬ 
uments prove beyond a doubt that the cunei¬ 
form writing was first used for a non-Semitic 
language. This language they term Sumerian 
and trace it to the Aryans, whom they regard 
the real fathers of Babylonian culture. Baby¬ 
lon, known to the Hebrews as Shinar, was the 
capital and largest city of Babylonia. It was 
the center of Babylonian culture and influence. 


Besides Babylon, the principal cities were 
Eurech, Ur, Calneh, Nippur, and Sippara. 

History. Little is known of the early his¬ 
tory of the Babylonians, though they possessed 
many works in geography, history, astronomy, 
and poetry, and accumulated extensive libraries. 
The earliest writer of whom we have any in¬ 
formation is Berosus, a priest, who lived in the 
time of Alexander the Great, and wrote a his- 
tory of his 
country largely 
from the rec- 
o r d s of the 
Temple of Be- 
lus. While this 
work is lost, 
portions were 
quoted in other 
books, and 
from them we 
have secured 
considerable in¬ 
formation o f 
the early his¬ 
tory and cus¬ 
toms. Accord¬ 
ing to this 
source o f in¬ 
formation, the 
Chaldean dyn¬ 
asty reigned] 
from 2001 to) 

1543 b. c., the* 

Arabian dynas¬ 
ty from 1543 to 
1298, and the 
dynasty of for¬ 
ty-five Assyrian 
kings fro m 
1298 to 772, and 
that the reign 
of Pul extended from 772 to 747 b. c. From 
this history and the descriptions of Herodotus 
we learn that successive wars brought Babylon 
and Nineveh into close relationship. Pul 
reigned twenty-five years as Emperor of As¬ 
syria and Babylonia, and was known in the 
former by the name of Tiglath-Pileser ITT. and 
in the latter by the name of Pul. 

In 722 Assyrian sovereignty was thrown off 
under the leadership of Baladan II., but twelve 
years later Babylonia was again conquered. 
When the northern neighbor declined, Baby¬ 
lonia regained his power and rose to a height 
never before attained. Nebuchadnezzar was its 
greatest king. He reigned from 604 to 561 
b. c., reconquered lost provinces, rebuilt canals, 
erected palaces and temples, constructed great 
aqueducts and lighthouses, and made Babylon, the 
capital, once more the greatest city of the na¬ 
tions. He conquered Jerusalem, carried the king 
and a large portion of his subjects into captivity, 
and later destroyed the Jewish capital. To 
gratify his Median wife and remind her of her 



# VGA -fAr 


OBELISK OF NIMROD. 



















































BABYLONISH CAPTIVITY 


205 


BACHE 


mountain home, he built great towers, the hang¬ 
ing gardens, and beautiful parks, and ornamented 
them with rare trees, grasses, foliage, and flow¬ 
ers. After the death of this mighty king, the 
empire survived but twenty-four years, when 
Nabonidus and Belshazzar were conquered by 
Cyrus the Great, King of Persia, in 538. About 
two centuries later, in 328, it was made a part 
of the dominion of Alexander the Great, who 
undertook to rebuild the capital city, and sub¬ 
sequently was conquered by rulers of Syria, 
Parthia, Rome, and the caliphs of Bagdad. 
Later it fell under the dominion of the Turks 
and Tartars. The only remains that mark the 
once powerful empire are scattered tribes who 
descended from the ancient Babylonians and 
the ruins of its great cities. 

BABYLONISH CAPTIVITY (bab-i-lo'- 
nish cap-tiv'i-ty), the deportation of a large 
portion of the leading inhabitants of Judah, un¬ 
der Nebuchadnezzar, in 588 b. c., after the fall 
of Jerusalem. The term is likewise applied to 
a prior captivity, in 597, when many Israelites 
were deported to Babylonia. While the princi¬ 
pal part of the Jews were in captivity, Zedekiah 
became king over the remainder, but he was 
vanquished and the kingdom of Judah was 
brought to an end by the powerful Chaldeans. 
While in captivity, they were allowed religious 
freedom. At this time Ezekial, one of the great 
prophets, gave spiritual inspiration to the de¬ 
spondent people, and they were finally liberated 
when Cyrus overthrew the Babylonian Empire 
in 538 b. c. 

BACCALAUREATE (bak-ka-la're-at), the 
degree of bachelor of arts, which is the lowest 
of the academical .degrees conferred by the in¬ 
stitutions of higher learning. A baccalaureate 
sermon is a farewell discourse to a class of 
graduates, usually delivered the last Sunday be¬ 
fore graduation. 

BACCHUS (bak'kus), also called Dionysus, 
in Greek mythology, the son of Zeus and Sem- 
ele. He was the god of wine and personification 
of the blessings of vegetation generally. He 
was snatched by Zeus from the devouring flame 
in which his mother perished, when she beheld 
that deity in all his divine glory. The mother¬ 
less child was intrusted to Hermes and later 
taken in charge by Silenus, the son of Pan, and 
brought up by the nymphs. He led great armies 
and conquered Damascus and the Amazons. It 
is related that he taught the culture of the vine 
and the art of making wine, which soon became 
a favorite beverage. He was worshiped by 
many ancients, including Midas, the wealthy 
king of Phrygia. Being the god of wine, he 
was calculated to promote sociability, and is 
represented in statuary in company with Bac¬ 
chantes, satyrs, and mountain nymphs. The 
Romans had a divinity called Liber who presid¬ 
ed over vegetation. He was identified with the 
Greek Bacchus and was celebrated at festivals 
called Liber, on the 17th of March. 


BACH (bak), Johann Sebastian, eminent 
musician, born in Eisenach, Germany, March 
2i, 1685; died July 30, 1750. He was the 
son of a musician, 

Johann Ambrosi- 
us, who instructed 
him in that art at 
an early age, and 
later he studied at 
Luneburg and 
Hamburg. He was 
engaged as a 
player at Weimar 
in 1703, and the 
next year became 
an organist at Arn- 
stadt. While here 
he came into 
prominence by the composition of numerous 
cantatas. Subsequently he was organist at the 
court of Weimar for nine years, where he 
studied Italian music during his leisure hours, 
and composed many musical productions still 
popular. Later he secured an appointment at 
Leipsic, where he wrote many choruses and 
composed extensively. By special invitation of 
Frederick the Great he paid a visit to Potsdam, 
where he was received with royal favor and 
accorded marked honors. Among his most fa¬ 
mous productions are “Musical Offering” and 
“The Art of Fugue.” His compositions are 
largely devoted to religious subjects, and in¬ 
clude both vocal and instrument pieces on the 
piano, organ, and stringed instruments. They 
aggregate a large collection of cantatas, ora¬ 
torios, and passion music. To him is due the 
method of piano tuning, by which musicians 
can play all the keys and make use of all 
the fingers. More than fifty noted musicians 
have come from his family, which consisted of 
twenty-one children. Among his chief compo¬ 
sitions are “The Contest of Phoebus and Pan,” 
“Herewith I Come Before Thy Throne,” and 
“The Well-tempered Clavichord.” 

BACHE (bach), Alexander Dallas, physi¬ 
cist, born in Philadelphia, Penn., July 19, 1806; 
died in Newport, R. I., Feb. 17, 1867. 
He was a grandson of Sarah, the only daugh¬ 
ter of Benjamin Franklin, who had married 
Richard Bache in 1767. In 1825 he graduated 
with the highest honors at West Point, where 
he became an instructor, and at the same time 
held a commission as lieutenant of engineers. 
From 1827 to 1836 he held the professorship of 
mathematics, and was then made president of 
Girard College. In 1843 he became superin¬ 
tendent of the United States Coast Survey. His 
contributions to scientific journals were numer¬ 
ous, and he labored earnestly to elevate the 
position of physical science in America. He 
was connected with many scientific societies of 
America and Europe, whose work he promul¬ 
gated with considerable vigor, and bequeathed 
large sums of money for educational purposes. 



JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH. 


/ 




BACHELLER 


206 


BACON 


BACHELLER (bach'el-ler), Irving, author, 
born at Pierrepont, N. Y., Sept. 26, 1859. After 
attending the public schools of his native 
town, he took a course at Saint Lawrence Uni¬ 
versity, where he graduated in 1882, and en¬ 
gaged for some time as a newspaper writer. He 
was editor of The Pocket Magazine and served 
on the staff of the New York World . Besides 
contributing many thoughtful articles to news¬ 
papers and magazines, he published “Eben 
Holden,” “The Master of Science,” “The Still 
House of O’Darrow,” and “Darrel of the 
Blessed Isles ” 

BACHELOR (bach'e-ler), a male of mar¬ 
riageable age, but who is unmarried. When 
he passes the age at which most men are 
married, thirty years, he is called an old bach¬ 
elor. In many countries a special tax is im¬ 
posed upon male celibates, on the ground that 
every citizen should bring up legitimate children 
as a support of the State. In Greece and 
Rome bachelors were denied many of the 
privileges accorded citizens.—Bachelor of Sci¬ 
ence (b. s.), Bachelor of Arts ( b. a.), and 
other similar terms are used to designate the 
completion of certain college or university 
courses of study. 

BACKGAMMON (bak'gam-un), a game 
played with dice upon a board or table made 
for the purpose. The table has two compart¬ 
ments, each with twelve points, six points on 
each side, or twenty-four in all, and the points 
are colored alternately red and black. Two 
persons play the game, each of whom has a 
dice, which is thrown with the view of mov¬ 
ing the “men” or checkers, of which there are 
fifteen for each player, onward or in such a 
manner as to bring his own men into his 
own inner table and to prevent his adversary 
from doing the same. The game requires skill 
and has long been a favorite pastime in En¬ 
gland, where it is said to have originated. 

BACON (ba'k’n), the name of a kind of 
cured pork, taken from the sides and back of 
the hog. It is cut in large pieces and salted in 
a dry condition, after which it is smoked. The 
best grade is derived from the part of the hog 
in which the fat is mixed with lean meat. Large 
quantities of bacon are prepared in packing 
houses and sold in markets or exported, and 
considerable is packed in sealed tin cans ready 
for domestic consumption. Bacon is either 
boiled or fried before being served. It is a 
favorite article of food, especially when fried 
with eggs. 

BACON, Augustus Octavius, public man, 
born in Bryan County, Ga., Oct. 20, 1839. He 
graduated at the University of Georgia in 1859, 
was admitted to the bar, and served in the 
Confederate army during the Civil War. Sub¬ 
sequently he had an extensive law practice at 
Macon, and in 1870-93 was a member of the 
State Legislature. He was elected United 



FRANCIS BACON. 


States Senator in 1895 and was reelected in 1901, 
1907 and 1913. He died Feb. 14, 1914. 

BACON, Francis, scholar and statesman, 
born in London, England, Jan. 22, 1561; died 
April 9, 1626. He was the youngest son of 
Sir Nicholas Bacon, a 
lawyer and statesman, 
and was endowed with 
much natural talent. 

At the age of twelve 
years he began the 
study of philosophy and /4 
languages at the Uni- ^ 
versity of Cambridge, 
and wrote a number of 
papers against the 
theories of Aristotle 
four years later. He 
soon became prosper¬ 
ous as a lawyer, but 
proceeded to Paris, 
where he was occupied with diplomacy and 
scientific investigations until 1579, when he re¬ 
turned to England on account of the death of 
his father. In 1603 he was knighted and ap¬ 
pointed counsel to the crown, and in 1613 be¬ 
came attorney general, in which position he 
appeared in an unfavorable light on account of 
allowing Peacham, a clergyman, to be tortured 
by the rack. In 1617 he became keeper of the 
great seal; in 1619, lord chancellor, with the title 
of Lord Verulam; and the next year was made 
Viscount Saint Albans. Bacon abused his high 
position by increasing his personal income, and 
became involved in a great scandal. Parlia¬ 
ment authorized an inquiry in 1621 on an ac¬ 
cusation of bribery. He confessed to twenty- 
three acts of corruption, was fined $200,000, im¬ 
prisoned in the Tower during the pleasure of 
the king, and banished from court for life, and 
from official employment. Plis fine was remit¬ 
ted after an imprisonment of two days. Later 
he was put on a pension of $6,000 a year. This 
enabled him to devote himself to science and 
literature. At the time of his death his debts 
amounted to $110,000. 

While the life of Lord Bacon in public 
office is clouded with dishonor and meanness, 
his scientific and literary work is illumi¬ 
nated with his intellect, which towered far 
above that of other men of his time. His most 
popular works are “Essays,” “History of the 
Reign of Henry VII,” “Advancement of Learn¬ 
ing,” “Wisdom of the Ancients,” and “Ser- 
mones Fideles.” His works relate to all sub¬ 
jects from jurisprudence to morality and medi¬ 
cine. The only science with which he was un¬ 
acquainted is mathematics. His writings teem 
with the most profound thought, gifted lan¬ 
guage, and energetic style. Determined in his 
researches, he spared neither exertion nor time 
to fathom a scientific proposition or a rhetorical 
statement to its elements. Pope said of him 


BACON 


207 


BACTERIOLOGY 


that he constituted “the wisest, brightest, and 
meanest of mankind.” 

BACON, Josephine Daskam, author, born 
at Stamford, Conn., Feb. 17, 1876. She gradu¬ 
ated at Smith College in 1898, and five years 
later married Sheldon Bacon. Her writings 
consist largely of fiction and short poems. 
Among her books are “The Imp and the Angel,” 
“Smith College Stories,” “Whom the Gods De¬ 
stroyed,” “Middle Aged Love Stories,” “The 
Madness of Philip,” “Fables for the Fair,” and 
“Memoirs of a Baby.” 

BACON, Leonard, clerg vman, born in De¬ 
troit, Mich., Feb. 19, 1802; died Dec. 24, 1881. 
In 1820 he graduated from Yale, and in 1825 
became pastor of the First Congregational 
Church of New Haven. From 1866 until 1871 
he was professor of theology at Yale. He con¬ 
tributed many excellent articles to the N civ 
Englander and the Christian Spectator, and es¬ 
tablished the New York Independent in 1847. 
His son, Leonard Woolsey Bacon, was born in 
New Haven, Conn., Jan. 1, 1830. He studied 
at Yale and Andover, served as pastor in New 
York, and subsequently held charges in other 
cities. From 1872 to 1877 he studied in Europe, 
much of the time in Geneva, and after his re¬ 
turn to America preached the gospel, wrote 
church hymns, and published numerous works 
on religion. His writings include “Sunday Ob¬ 
servance and Sunday Law,” “The Vatican 
Council,” and “The Simplicity that is in Christ.” 

BACON, Nathaniel, colonial leader, born In 
Suffolk, England, Jan. 2, 1647; died in Virginia, 
Oct. 29, 1676. In 1670 he came to America, 
joining the Virginia settlement. He practiced 
law for some years, became a member of the 
governor’s council and acted a prominent part 
in the early history of Virginia. In 1676 he 
put down an Indian uprising, and soon after 
became complicated with Governor Berkeley, 
who had restricted the franchise and instituted 
high taxation. He made an attack upon James¬ 
town, in which he was aided by many of the 
people, and compelled Berkeley to grant re¬ 
forms. This is known in history as Bacon’s 
Rebellion, and the laws dictated by him are 
described as Bacon’s Laws. His premature 
death was followed by a repeal of the latter, 
and Berkeley caused some of the prominent 
participants in the affair to be executed. 

BACON, Roger, an English monk, born in 
1213; died in 1294. He entered the University 
of Oxford and later studied in Paris, where 
he received the degree of doctor of theology. 
He wrote an important work called “Opus Ma- 
jus,” in which he pointed out the need of nature 
and science studies in the schools. It was, 
in fact, an encyclopaedia of scientific subjects 
as well as a treatise on important topics and 
how to teach them. Bacon was one of the 
most profound and original thinkers of his 
time. He was acquainted with geography and 
astronomy, and added much of value to human 



knowledge. He was kept in confinement in 
France on account of suspicions held against 
him by his coworkers, who accused him of 
practicing magical arts. The time of his con¬ 
finement occupied a period of over ten years. 
The Franciscan monks forbade the distribution 
of his books. 

BACON S REBELLION. See Bacon, Na¬ 
thaniel. 

BACTERIOLOGY (bak-te-ri-Sl'o-gy)* the 
division of botany that treats of bacteria, which 
are minute vegetable organisms. Few sciences 
have more prac¬ 
tical value to man¬ 
kind, since a 
knowledge of it 
tends to promote 
the protection of 
the human body, 
as well as that of 
plants and ani 
mals. There are 
many species o f 
bacteria, some 
harmless and oth¬ 
ers harmful to 
man, but all are of 
more or less value 

in the economy of „ .... t ,, -r, „ , 

nature. They are be, blood corpuscles, 

extremely minute 

organisms, consisting of single cells; either sin¬ 
gle spherical, rod-shaped, oval, corkscrewlike, 
or of aggregates of such cells. They multiply 
by transverse division and by spores, some spe¬ 
cies increasing so rapidly that a single bacillus 
will produce several million new organisms in 
twenty-four hours. These forms of life are 
not only among the smallest, but also among the 
simplest. The spherical bacteria appear as mere 
specks of protoplasm under the microscope, in 
which it is impossible to detect either cell wall 
or nucleus. This class include the micrococci, 
many of which are colored, and some cause 
dreaded diseases in man and the lower animals. 
Such diseases include erysipelas and acute 
croupous pneumonia. Measles, yellow fever, 
cerebro-spinal meningitis, typhoid fever, diph¬ 
theria, leprosy, consumption, and tetanus are 
other diseases due to different forms of bac¬ 
teria. 

Bacterium and bacillus are generic names of 
most of the straight-rod forms, spirillum is 
a long wavy form, and vibrio is a curved 
form. The form that causes the Asiatic 
cholera is shaped like the comma of punctu¬ 
ation, and is called bacillus comma. A form 
of bacillus about a third longer and more 
slender causes the disease known as con¬ 
sumption, and may be seen by examining the 
sputum of a consumptive. Saprophytic bacilli 
are organisms that live on dead organic matter. 
They are of great value in the economy of na¬ 
ture in that* they resolve the tissues of dead 






BACTRIA 


208 


BADEN 


matter into simple compounds, as water, am¬ 
monia, and carbonic acid, thus supplying these 
necessary substances lor growing plants. 

Bacteria are widely diffused in the air, 
water, soil, clothing, mucous membrane, and 
on the surface of bodies. The poisonous 
effect is due to the growth of bacteria, 
the poisons being known as ptomaines , or 
saprophytic, and tox-albumins, or parasitic. 
As an example of the former we have the 
poisoning caused by eating sausage and ice 
cream; and of the latter, the poisonous effect 
of the toxin to which diphtheria is due. The 
forms of bacteria which cause putrefaction 
are convenient in laboratory study, but dif¬ 
ferent forms may be artificially cultivated. 

For the study of the life history of these or¬ 
ganisms, the bacillus of hay is commonly sug¬ 
gested. If a quantity of hay be moistened with 
water, it will become cloudy in a few days. The 
microscope will reveal an innumerable num¬ 
ber of bacilli swimming in a drop of the 
water, but after several days the solution 
will become clear and all evidences of life 
cease. However, it will be found that long 
threadlike forms have gathered in the scum, 
each thread consisting of a number of cells. 
The cell walls of these threads break after 
some time and sink to the bottom along with 
the spores that have developed. These spores 
remain at rest as long as they are not taken 
out of the solution in which they are formed. 
They now constitute a jellylike mass, which is 
called the soogloea stage. In this spore form 
the mass will stand drying, and small particles 
may be carried as dust in the atmosphere, thus 
giving rise to infection. 

Most forms of bacteria are destroyed by boil¬ 
ing a few minutes, but some kinds, as certain 
bacilli, in the spore form resist a temperature 
of 212° Fahr. several hours. Bacteriology as a 
study had its beginning in 1675 when important 
discoveries were announced by Anthony Leeu¬ 
wenhoek (1632-1723), a native of Delft, Hol¬ 
land. However, it was not fully grounded as 
a science until 1881, when Dr. Koch (q. v.) 
gave the world important reports of discoveries 
regarding bacillus tuberculosis, the causal agent 
in the disease tuberculosis. 

BACTRIA (bak'tri-a), or Bactriana, the 
name of an ancient country of Asia, located 
between the Amu or Oxus River and the Hin- 
du-Kush Mountains. It is supposed to have 
been identical with the modern province of 
Balkh, and is regarded the native country of 
the Aryan people. In the 3d century b. c. Bac- 
tria was a powerful kingdom, and was ruled by 
a dynasty of Greek origin. Buddhism obtained 
a strong foothold at the beginning of the Chris¬ 
tian era. Subsequently it became subject to 
Bokhara and with it passed under the dominion 
of Russia in 1868. 

BADAJOZ (ba-da-hos'), a town in Spain, 
capital of a province of the same name, on the 


Guadiana River. It is near the boundary of 
Portugal, 130 miles east of Lisbon, with which 
it has connection by railway. An old cathedral, 
a Moorish castle, and several monasteries are 
among its buildings. The manufactures consist 
chiefly of delftware, woolens, and leather goods. 
Wellington captured it in 1812. Population, 
1900, 30,899; in 1920, 33,160. 

BADEN (ba'den), a watering place in Aus¬ 
tria, 15 miles southwest of Vienna. It is noted 
for the warm sulphur springs in its vicinity, 
whose temperature ranges from 72° to 97°. The 
town has a number of fine buildings and fash¬ 
ionable hotels, and near it is the royal hunt¬ 
ing lodge known as Meierling. The springs 
were known in the time of the Romans and a 
number of coins and antiquities of Roman ori¬ 
gin have been found in the vicinity. Population, 
1916, 18,750. 

BADEN, or Baden-Baden, a city of Ger 
many, in the duchy of Baden, famous as a sum¬ 
mer resort. It is situated eighteen miles south¬ 
west from Carlsruhe, on the hills of the Black 
Forest. Near it are some of the most noted 
and healthful thermal baths' in Europe. These 
cause it to be visited by many thousands annu¬ 
ally. The city is well known in history, hav¬ 
ing been founded by the Roman Hadrian fin the 
2d century, when it was known as Civitas Aure¬ 
lia Aquensis (watering-place of Aurelius). Its 
springs were famous throughout the Middle 
Ages, and long attracted all classes who were 
in search of pleasure or health. The springs 
have a temperature of from 100° to 150°, and 
discharge about 4,500 cubic feet of water daily. 
The water is used for bathing, manufacturing, 
and shipping purposes. It is applied medicin¬ 
ally in cases of gout, skin diseases, rheumatism, 
and other ailments. The city has fine public 
promenades and gardens, and the highways 
are ornamented with flowers and foliage. From 
the heights near the city may be seen the waters 
of the Rhine. Population, 1920, 22,066. 

BADEN, Grand Duchy of, a state in the 
southwestern part of Germany. It is bounded 
on the north by Bavaria and Ifiesse-Darmstadt, 
east by Wurttemberg and Bavaria, south by 
Switzerland, and west by Rhenish Bavaria, Al¬ 
sace, and Lorraine. Toward the south of it 
flows the Rhine, which separates it from Swit¬ 
zerland. The area is 5,821, exclusive of Lake 
Constance, and in size it takes fourth rank 
among the states of Germany. It contains the 
Black Forest, or Schwarzwald, on the high¬ 
lands of the southern part, and its northern 
portion is a plain. The drainage is to the North 
Sea by the Rhine, and to the Black Sea by the 
Danube. The soil is fertile, especially along 
the Rhine valley. Its highlands abound in 
valuable minerals, including iron, zinc, coal, 
nickel, salt, and limestone. Mineral and ther¬ 
mal springs are abundant at Baden and in the 
highlands. 

Baden is governed under a constitution that 


BADEN-POWELL 


209 


BAFFIN 


dates from 1818, and by which the sover¬ 
eignty is vested in the eldest of the male line. 
The grand duke and one-third of the inhab¬ 
itants are Protestants, while two-fifths are 
Roman Catholics. Two universities are main¬ 
tained at Freiburg and Heidelberg, with an at¬ 
tendance of 2,500 students, and the public 
school system is on a popular and progressive 
basis. The state has extensive railroad lines, 
well built highways, many manufacturing 
cities, and large vineyards. The manufactures 
consist of woolen and silk goods, beet sugar, 
musical instruments, machinery, wine, soap, and 
earthenware. Large interests are vested in the 
manufacture of clocks, employing about 12,000 
people. The government of the state is under 
a duke and a Parliament located at Carlsruhe; 
the latter consists of two departments, but is 
limited in its legislative powers by the consti¬ 
tution of the German Republic. 

In early history Baden was inhabited by 
savage tribes classed with the Alemanni, who 
were subdued by the Romans under Hadrian. 
The controlling house now in power began in 
the 11th century. In 1815 Charles Ludwig 
joined the German Confederation, in which 
Baden held the seventh rank. In 1866 it sided 
with Austria against Prussia, but was united 
soon after with the North German States. 
When the Franco-Prussian War broke out, in 
1870, Baden took an active part against France, 
and was restored to the German Empire on 
Nov. 15, 1871. Carlsruhe is the capital, and 
Mannheim is the chief commercial center. Pop¬ 
ulation, 1920, 2,141,832. 

BADEN-POWELL (ba'den-po'el), Sir 
George Smyth, author and diplomat, born at 
Oxford, England, Dec. 24, 1857; died Nov. 20, 
1898. He was educated at Baliol College, Ox¬ 
ford, traveled extensively in New Zealand and 
Australia, and contributed to various periodi¬ 
cals, among them the London Times. In 1887 
he became private secretary to the governor of 
Victoria, traveled in the West Indies in 1880- 
81, and in 1885 was elected to Parliament as a 
Conservative. The following year he was sent 
to Canada to draw up reports on the fisheries 
question, the issues of which were settled in 
1891. He was knighted for his services to the 
public in publishing reports on the West Indies. 
His numerous writings include “Protection and 
Bad Times,” Truth about Home Rule,” “State 
Aid and State Interference,” and “Saving of 
Ireland, Industrial, Financial, Political.” 

BADGE (baj), a mark, sign, or token worn 
on the dress to show the relation of the wearer 
to the government, or to some society or or¬ 
ganization. It is either conferred by the State 
or assumed by the individual for the purpose 
of distinction. The garter of the English 
knight was conferred by public authority, so 
also were the golden fleece of the Spanish 
grandee and the button of the Chinese man¬ 
darin. Societies, as the Good Templars, the 


Grand Army of the Republic, and civic societies, 
confer badges as marks of distinction. Many 
conventions, notably those of political parties, 
authorize badges as a symbol to distinguish 
delegates claiming seats. 

BADGER (baj'er), a quadruped mammal 
common to America and Eurasia. It is clumsy 
and awkward in its movements. The legs are 



thick and short and the feet are straight, while 
the forefeet are armed with long claws. Among 
the typical species are the American, the Euro¬ 
pean, and the balisaur, or sand badger, of 
India. The American badger is grizzled-gray 
with one or more white stripes on the face. 
It is about two feet long, including the tail, 
which is short. It burrows in the ground and 
spends the days in sleeping, but comes out at 
night to feed upon roots, small animals, and 
insects. Its fur is a valuable article of com¬ 
merce and its flesh is eaten. This animal was 
once very abundant in Wisconsin, hence its 
popular name—Badger State. The European 
badger resembles the American in size and 
color, but the balisaur is larger and resembles 
a small bear. 

BAD LANDS (bad landz), a region of 
North America, situated principally in the upper 
drainage basin of the Missouri River. The sec¬ 
tion of country designated as bad lands is made 
up largely of sand and gravel, with here and 
there rocks and irregular horizontal strata of 
clay and limestone, and is peculiarly destitute 
of vegetation. The rainfall is scant, though 
small grasses are met with in some sections, 
and in others the vegetation consists largely 
of sage brush. Medora, N. D., is surrounded 
by bad lands, and from that point they extend 
north and south. Tracts of considerable size 
that may be classed as bad lands occur in the 
vicinity of the Black Hills, and in some sec¬ 
tions of Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, Nebras¬ 
ka, and Colorado. 

BAFFIN (baf'fin), William, navigator, 
born in London, England, in 1584; died May 23, 
1622. He accompanied James Hall in 1612 on 
an Arctic expedition, and in 1616 discovered 
Baffin’s Bay. He wrote an account of his 















BAFFIN BAY 


210 


BAHAMA 


travels and explorations and prepared maps 
and tables of the regions in the Arctic visited 
by him. In 1622 he took part in an expedition 
against the Portuguese and was killed at the 
siege of Ormuz, in the Persian Gulf. 

BAFFIN BAY, a gulf or sea on the north¬ 
east coast of North America, extending be¬ 
tween British America and Greenland. It is 
about 800 miles long, has an average breadth of 
280 miles, and a depth of about 7,000 feet. It is 
connected with the Atlantic Ocean by Davis 
Strait, and with the Arctic Ocean by Lancas¬ 
ter and Smith sounds. Through it pass cur¬ 
rents to the south, but at least one is known to 
move northward around Cape Farewell. The 
tide waters rise about ten feet. Its shores are 
steep and lofty, and are inhabited by fur-bear¬ 
ing animals common to the northern climates, 
and thousands of gulls and sea-fowls. It was 
discovered in 1616 by William Baffin, after 
whom it was named. It is navigable only four 
months in the summer, owing to its waters 
being frozen. The bay is valuable for whale 
fishing, and the adjacent region is rich in min¬ 
erals and fur-bearing animals. 

BAFFIN LAND, an island west of Green¬ 
land, a colonial possession of Great Britain, and 
a part of the Canadian district of Franklin. 
The climate is severe, similar to that of Green¬ 
land, and the surface is mountainous. Along 
the coasts are a few settlements of Eskimos, 
but there are few inhabitants and the area is 
unknown. 

BAGATELLE (bag-a-tel'), a game played 
on a cushion-rimmed table with a cue and 
spherical balls. It resembles billiards. The 
table is about seven feet long and three feet 
wide. Nine cups or sockets large enough to 
receive the balls are at the end, and the game 
consists of driving the balls into the openings. 

BAGDAD (bag-dad'), or Baghdad, the seat 
of government of a vilayet of the same name, 
in the southeastern part of Asiatic Turkey. It 
is situated on the banks of the Tigris River, 
which is crossed by several pontoon bridges. 
The city is surrounded by a wall forty feet 
high, with four gates, and is otherwise well 
fortified. It was founded about 762 a. d., and 
built of material taken from the ruins of Seleu- 
cia. The streets are mostly narrow and illy 
paved, but some of the bazaars are large de¬ 
positories of Asiatic and European manufac¬ 
tures. Among the chief buildings are the cita¬ 
del, the governor general's palace, and many 
mosques. Bagdad was enlarged in the 9th 
century by Plarun-al-Rashid, who built a pal¬ 
ace for himself, and a tomb for his favorite 
wife, Zobeide. He erected numerous edifices 
and bridges. In the 10th century it was rav¬ 
aged by the Turks, and in the 14th century by 
Timour. Subsequently it passed over to Per¬ 
sia, and then back to the Turks, who have had 
it under sway since the 18th century. The 
inhabitants engage largely in trade and pro¬ 


duce a variety of manufactures, such as silk, 
carpets, drugs, and ornaments. They consist 
chiefly of Turks, Arabs, Jews, Hindus, Afghans, 
Persians, and Armenians. The city is impor¬ 
tant on account of its location on the Tigris, 
which affords a highway for navigation to the 
sea and many interior points. It forms the 
principal telegraphic connection between West¬ 
ern Asia and British India. Its manufactures 
are developing under European stimuli, and 
it is the seat of a large trade. The British, under 
General Maude, captured it in 1917. Population, 
1922, 232,675. 

BAGEHOT (bag'ut), Walter, economist 
and publisher, born in Langport, England, Feb. 
3, 1826; died March 24, 1877. He studied at 
the University College, London, where he won 
distinction in philosophy and political economy. 
In 1848 he was admitted to the bar, but instead 
of practicing that profession he went into the 
banking business with his father. He contributed 
to several periodicals, including The Economist, 
a free-trade organ, and was regarded as an 
authority on finance and banking. His chief 
publications are “Estimates of Some English¬ 
men and Scotchmen,” “Count Your Enemies 
and Economize Your Expenditure,” “The Eng¬ 
lish Constitution,” “Lombard Street,” and 
“Physics and Politics.” 

BAGPIPE (bag'pip), a musical instrument 
of unknown antiquity. Up to the 18th century 
it was used in all the countries of Eurasia, and 
it is still popular in Scotland, France, Spain, 
Italy, and many countries of Asia. It consists 
of a leather bag, generally covered with cloth, 
which is inflated by the player blowing with 
his mouth through a tube. Three or four pipes 
are connected with the bag, through which the 
wind is forced by pressing the bag under the 
arm. The player uses one of the pipes, called 
the chanter, which is supplied with finger holes, 
and serves for playing the tune. The three or 
four others, called drones, sound a continuous 
low tone. The instrument is still used exten¬ 
sively by Asiatic people, and is seen at all the 
great expositions where Turks and others make 
exhibits. 

BAHAMA (ba-ha'ma), a group of islands 
in the West Indies, nearly 600 miles long, and 
located southeast of the coast of Florida. The 
total area is 5,450 square miles. The group 
includes nearly 700 islets and islands and over 
2,000 coral reefs. Among the principal islands 
are Andros, New Providence, Grand Bahama, 
Great and Little Abaco, Crooked Island, Great 
Exuma, San Salvador, or Watling Island, Great 
Inagua, and Harbor Island. About twenty of 
the islands are inhabited. The leading products 
include cotton, sugar, maize, cocoanuts, sponges, 
and a great variety of fruits. In recent years 
the culture of sisal fiber has been largely de¬ 
veloped and is a growing industry. The ex¬ 
ports from these islands aggregate about $1,050,- 
500 annually; the imports, $1,725,525. Mail 


BAHIA 


211 


BAILEY 


steamship service is maintained among the 
islands and with American and European ports. 
Many of the islands are noted for their fine 
climate and are visited by tourists and pleasure 
seekers. The history of the Bahamas dates 
from Oct. 12, 1492, when Columbus discovered 
them, the first land viewed by him in America. 
These islands now form a British colony. The 
government is administered by a local depart¬ 
ment under the direction of the English Par¬ 
liament. Nassau, on New Providence, is the 
capital. In 1921 the entire group had a popula¬ 
tion of 55,735. 

BAHIA (ba-e'a), or Sao Salvador, the sec¬ 
ond city of Brazil, on the Bay of All Saints, 
and capital of the province of Bahia. It occu¬ 
pies a fine site, and has one of the most com¬ 
modious harbors in the world. The principal 
streets are substantially paved with stone and 
asphalt, and the city has gas and electric lights, 
drainage, and waterworks. It is the seat of a 
university, an arsenal, and the palace of an 
archbishop. It has railroad connection with 
the interior, and submerged telegraphic com¬ 
munication with Europe. Intercommunication 
is provided by an extensive system of electric 
railways, with which suburban and interurban 
lines are connected. The manufactures include 
leather, tobacco, sugar, clothing, lumber prod¬ 
ucts, and machinery. It has a large export 
trade in cotton, sugar, rice, live stock, minerals, 
and fruits. Bahia was founded in 1549 and was 
the capital of Brazil until 1763. Population, 
1906, 230,120; in 1919, 252,684. 

BAHIA HONDA (on'da), a seaport of 
Cuba, in the province of Pinar del Rio, about 56 
miles west of Havana. The harbor is about 
two miles distant and is one of the best in 
Cuba. It is five miles long by three miles wide, 
with an average depth of 28 feet. The surround¬ 
ing country produces sugar cane and has cop¬ 
per and coal mines. Population, 1921, 1,680. 

BAHR (bar), Herman, author and journal¬ 
ist, born at Linz, Austria, in 1863. After secur¬ 
ing a liberal education by attending universi¬ 
ties at Vienna, Gratz, and Berlin, he traveled 
extensively and returned to Vienna, where he 
made his permanent residence. He became 
associate editor of the Free Stage in 1890 and 
subsequently was editor and critic of several 
periodicals. In 1894 he founded The Times, in 
which enterprise he became known as an acute 
critic and a skillful writer. The numerous 
books published by him include “New Studies,” 
“Critic of the Modern,” “The Good School,” 
“The Newer Mankind,” and “The Home-like 
Wife.” 

BAIAE (bi'e), or Baja, an ancient town of 
Italy, located on a bay in Campania, 10 miles 
west of Naples. In the time of the Romans it 
was popular as a watering place and contained 
the villas of many wealthy citizens, who were 
fond of its pleasant climate and warm mineral 
springs. The society of Baiae was noted for 


its luxury and dissolution. Many ruins of 
Roman baths and temples are on the site of the 
town. 

BAIKAL (bl-kal'), a large fresh water lake 
in Siberia, near the Chinese frontier, about 
400 miles long and from ten to fifty miles wide; 
area, 14,000 square miles. The greatest depth 
is 4,500 feet. It is located among great moun¬ 
tain peaks, which yield valuable minerals. In 
the summer season large vessels sail upon it, 
and in winter it is crossed on the ice. Salmon, 
pike, sturgeon, and seals abound. Immediately 
south of the southern shore passes the great 
Trans-Siberian railway from Saint Petersburg 
to Vladivostock, and on its southwestern coast 
is the city of Irkutsk, the seat of a govern¬ 
ment of the same name. The Angara River, a 
tributary of the Yenisei, is the outlet of Lake . 
Baikal. 

BAILEY (ba'li), James Montgomery, 

journalist, born in Albany, N. Y., Sept. 25, 1841; 
died March 4, 1894. He worked at the trade of 
a carpenter for some time, served as a volun¬ 
teer in the Civil War, and in 1870 established 
the Danbury Nezvs, in which he published many 
humorous sketches and made his paper known 
throughout the.country. In 1873 he published 
“Life in Danbury,” which consisted chiefly of 
articles selected from his newspaper. Other 
books published by him are “England from a 
Back Window,” “Mr. Phillips’s Goneness,” and 
“The Danbury News Man’s Almanac.” 

BAILEY, Joseph, soldier, born in Salem, 
Ohio, April 28, 1827; killed in Missouri, March 
21, 1867. He entered the United States mili¬ 
tary service in 1861, displayed skill in engineer¬ 
ing the enterprise of deepening the Red River 
in Louisiana so the Mississippi flotilla could 
pass over the rapids, and rendered valuable 
service in the Red River expedition. Congress 
extended a vote of thanks to him and made him 
brigadier general. He was killed while sheriff 
of Newton County, Missouri, by a desperado. 

BAILEY, Joseph Weldon, public man, born 
in Copiah, Miss., Oct. 6, 1863. He received a 
public school education and in 1883 was ad¬ 
mitted to the bar. In 
1884 he was elected a 
presidential elector on 
the Democrat tick- 
et, and the following 
year removed to 
Gainesville, Tex., 
where he practiced 
law. He was a pres¬ 
idential elector at 
large in 1888 and in 
1891 was elected to 
Congress, serving 
continuously until 
1901, when he was 
elected to the United 
States Senate for a full term, and was reelect¬ 
ed in 1908. His influence in State and national 



JOSEPH WELDON BAILEY. 



BAILEY 


212 


BAKER 


politics has been recognized by men in all 
parties. 

BAILEY, Philip James, poet, born at Bas- 
ford, England, April 16, 1816; died in 1902. 
He studied at Glasgow and was admitted to 
the bar, and in 1839 published his most popu¬ 
lar poem, entitled “Festus.” This poem was 
widely read because of containing pleasing 
passages and being written in a fine style of 
rhetoric. His later publications are “The Mys¬ 
tic,” “The Angel World,” and “The Univer¬ 
sal Hymn.” 

BAIN (ban), Alexander, metaphysical writ¬ 
er, born in Aberdeen, Scotland, in 1818; died 
Sept. 18, 1903. He was educated in his native 
town and was for a time professor of natural 
philosophy at Anderson University in Glas¬ 
gow. In 1860 he was made regius professor 
of logic in the University of Aberdeen, in 
which institution he became lord rector in 1881. 
For some time he was examiner in logic and 
moral philosophy in the University of London. 
Besides contributing to Westminster Review 
and Chamber’s Papers for the People, he pub¬ 
lished numerous works on psychology. Many 
of his writings and several text-books on psy¬ 
chological subjects have been read extensively 
in Canada and the United States. Flis princi¬ 
pal writings embrace “Emotions and the Will,” 
“Mental and Moral Science,” “Relation of 
Mind and Body,” “Senses and Intellect,” “Study 
of Character,” and “Compendium of Psychol¬ 
ogy and Ethics.” 

BAINBRIDGE (ban'brij), William, naval 
officer, born at Princeton, N. J., May 7, 1774; 
died in Philadelphia, July 28, 1833. At the 
age of eighteen years he was mate, and the 
next year became captain of a merchant ves¬ 
sel. In 1798 an appointment as lieutenant com¬ 
mandant was given him, and in 1800 he became 
commander of the frigate George Washington, 
which conveyed the commercial tribute levied 
by the dey of Algiers. He commanded the 
Essex, which cruised in the Mediterranean, 
and later the Philadelphia in the war with 
Tripoli in 1803. In the War of 1812 he com¬ 
manded the squadron consisting of the Hornet, 
Constitution, and Essex. On December 26 of 
that year he captured the Java off the coast of 
Brazil. For this service the crew was voted 
$50,000 by Congress as prize money and he 
received a gold medal. Later he commanded 
the Mediterranean squadron, and became pres¬ 
ident of the board of navy commissioners. 

BAIRD (bard), Spencer Fullerton, natural¬ 
ist, born at Reading, Penn., Feb. 3, 1823; died 
at Wood’s Holl, Mass., Aug. 19, 1887. His edu¬ 
cation was secured at Dickinson College, Penn., 
where he taught natural history for ten years. 
Subsequently he became secretary of the Smith¬ 
sonian Institution at Washington, and later chief 
government commissioner of fish and fisheries. 
He was the recipient of many medals from 
societies and governments, both American and 


European. His writings include “A Catalogue 
of North American Serpents,” “Review of 
North American Birds,” “Mammals of North 
America,” and “Iconographic Encyclopaedia.” 

BAIREUTH (bi-roit'), or Bayreuth, a city 
of' Germany, in Bavaria, 40 miles northeast of 
Nuremberg. It is located on the Red Main 
River, has a railway connecting it with Munich, 
and its streets are straight and well improved. 
The chief buildings include an opera house, 
an art gallery, the town hall, and several 
churches. It was the residence of Richard 
Wagner, Franz Liszt, and Jean Paul Richter, 
who are buried in its grounds, and a fine mon¬ 
ument of Richter stands in one of the prin 
cipal streets. The city is famous for its Fes¬ 
tival Theater, erected with the assistance of 
Louis II. of Bavaria, and in it are performed 
classical plays and musical selections from 
Wagner. Baireuth has manufactures of tex¬ 
tiles, machinery, sewing machines, and musical 
instruments. Population, 1914, 38,633. 

BAKER CITY, a city in Oregon, county 
seat of Baker County, on the Powder River, 
and on the railway of the Oregon Railroad and 
Navigation Company. The chief buildings in¬ 
clude the Masonic temple, the high school, the 
county courthouse, and a natatorium. The city 
has waterworks, sewerage, and a considerable 
trade. The surrounding country is fertile, 
producing fruits, cereals, and live stock. It is 
surrounded by a region that contains large in¬ 
terest in gold mining, and has manufactures of 
brick, lumber products, machinery, and spirit¬ 
uous liquors. It was settled in 1860 and incor¬ 
porated in 1872. Population, 1920, 7,729. 

BAKER (ba'ker), Edward Dickinson, sol¬ 
dier and statesman, born in London, England, 
Feb. 24, 1811; slain in battle Oct. 21, 1861. He 
came to America at an early age, attended pub¬ 
lic schools, and was admitted to the bar. When 
quite young he began the practice of law at 
Springfield, Ill., where he was elected to the 
State Legislature, both as Representative and 
Senator, and for two terms as a member of 
Congress. He was killed while at the head of 
his brigade of Union troops at Ball’s Bluff, Va. 

BAKER, Newton Diehl, public man, born 
in Martinsburg, W. Va., Dec. 3, 1871. He grad¬ 
uated at Johns Hopkins University, studied 
law, and began a successful practice in his 
native state. In 1898 he removed to Cleveland, 
Ohio, where he was elected city solicitor, and 
to other important positions. In 1916 he was 
made Secretary of War by President Wilson, 
succeeding Secretary Garrison, resigned. 

BAKER, Sir Samuel White, explorer and 
author, born in London, England, June 8, 1821; 
died Dec. 30, 1893. His first enterprise was 
the establishment of a colony at Newera Elba, 
Ceylon, in 1847, of which he wrote interesting 
accounts called “Eight Years’ Wanderings in 
Ceylon.” He organized an expedition in 1861 
to explore the source of the Nile. This enter- 


BAKERSFIELD 


213 


BALANCE 


prise led to the discovery of Lake Albert 
Nyanza in 1864, and an exploration of the Blue 
Nile and White Nile. He wrote “Lake Albert 
Nyanza/’ “Wild Beasts and their Ways,” and 
“The Rifle and the Hound in Ceylon.” 

BAKERSFIELD, county seat of Kern 
County, California, 85 miles northwest of Los 
Angeles, on the Kern River, and on the Santa 
Fe, the Southern Pacific, and other railroads. 
The features include the court house, city hall, 
high school, federal building, public library, and 
asphalt paving. It has railroad shops, foundries, 
and large commercial interests. The surround¬ 
ing country produces gas, oil, and agricultural 
products. Population, 1920, 18,638. 

BAKING, the art of preparing food in a 
chamber or oven. It differs slightly from broil¬ 
ing and roasting. For domestic use the heat is 
usually supplied by burning wood or coal, but 
gas, steam, and heated water are used to a large 
extent. The oven for baking is closed, but 
should be well ventilated. The term is some¬ 
times applied to the hardening of porcelain and 
brick, when subjected to heat, but burning is 
more commonly applied. 

BAKING POWDER, a substitute for yeast 
used in baking. It consists of tartaric acid, 
bicarbonate of soda, and potato or rice flour. 
The flour is added to keep the powder dry, 
but the ingredients are first dried separately 
and afterward mixed. When baking powder is 
added to flour, in making bread or biscuits, the 
carbonic acid gas is liberated by the action of 
the water used in the process, and this gives 
it the requisite lightness by puffing or blowing 
up the doughy mass. Bicarbonate of ammonia 
is sometimes used instead of bicarbonate of 
soda, which is objected to as injurious to the 
health. In some cases alum is similarly sub¬ 
stituted. Both are objectionable adulterations. 

BAKU (ba-kdo'), a port city of Russia, in 
the government of Baku, on the western shore 
of the Caspian Sea. The city is strongly forti¬ 
fied, has a fine harbor, and is the terminus of 
the Trans-Caucasian Railway. Most of the 
buildings are low and flat, but there are a nunv 
ber of fine schools and churches, several gov¬ 
ernment structures, and extensive dock and 
harbor improvements. The exports include 
salt, opium, cotton, live stock, silk, and saffron. 
The manufactures embrace machinery, ships, 
ironware, pottery, clothing, tobacco products, 
and salt. Baku is one of the most noted centers 
of trade in petroleum and naphtha in the world. 
About 500 petroleum wells are in its vicinity, 
most of which are eight or nine miles north of 
the city. The annual production of crude pe¬ 
troleum aggregates 9,225,000 tons. Some of the 
wells have been flowing fully two thousand 
years, but the larger ones are the result of 
deep borings made within recent times and are 
pumped by machinery. The waste is used for 
fuel in manufacturing enterprises and to gen¬ 
erate steam on railways and vessels. A pipe 


line 600 miles long conveys oil from Baku to 
the Black Sea. Some of the wells emit inflam¬ 
mable gases, and have been the objects of pil¬ 
grimages of the Guebers or Fire Worshipers. 
Population, 1921, 248,865. 

BALAAM (ba'lam),the son of Beor, prophet 
of Pethor, who lived in Aram on the River 
Euphrates. Balalc, King of Moab, hired him 
to curse Israel, but instead he blessed that 
nation and foretold for it a great future. Later 
Moab, at the instigation of Balaam, invited 
the Israelites to worship the god Baal Peor. 
In punishment of this transgression the Israel¬ 
ites were visited by a plague, and afterward 
they fought against the Moabites and Balaam 
was slain. Mention is made of Balaam in 
Nuin. xxi and xxiv and in Joshua xiii. 

BALAKLAVA (bal-a-kla'va), a small port 
on the Black Sea, in the southwestern part of 
the Crimea, Russia, near Sebastopol. It was 
the headquarters of the British during the Cri¬ 
mean War, and from which they undertook the 
construction of a railroad to Sebastopol, a dis¬ 
tance of about six miles. The harbor affords 
secure anchorage for the largest ships. It is 
a natural fort, the entrance being so narrow 
that only one vessel can pass into it at a time. 
The Russians made an attack upon it Oct. 25, 
1854, but were repulsed. The famous charge 
of the light brigade of 600 men under Lord 
Cardigan took place at this time. They cut 
their way with great bravery to the Russian 
guns, and afterward cut their way back agaia 
In the charge all but 150 perished. Tennyson’s 
“Charge of the Light Brigade” was written in 
commemoration of this daring, but misdirected 
deed. 

BALANCE (bal'ance), an instrument used 
to ascertain the relative weight or masses of 
bodies. There are 
various forms, but 
the most common are 
hydrostatic balances, 
torsion balances, and <]c 

steelyards. The hy¬ 

drostatic balances are 
used to ascertain the 
specific gravity of 

water; torsion bal¬ 

ances, to ascertain 
the intensity of very 
small forces; and 
steelyards, for weigh- 3 
ing both small and 

large articles. Spring 
balances are used to 
weigh articles in balances. 

which a high degree , c • t, i n nu 

. a . ° 1. Spring balance. 2. Chem* 

Of exactness IS not ical balance. 3. Coulomb’s 

required. They are torsion balance. 4, Antique 

^ i r i Roman balance from Pompeii, 

constructed of a de- b, beam; i, indicator; p, pan. 

vice whereby a 

spring is drawn out or compressed to register 
the weight. 

























BALANCE OF POWER 


214 


BALEARIC ISLANDS 


BALANCE OF POWER, an expression 
used to indicate the condition under which a 
party in a Legislature or Congress has suffi¬ 
cient votes to secure the passage of a measure 
by casting them in favor of either one of two 
or more parties. The term is used in diplo¬ 
macy among nations to indicate a condition 
whereby the influence of one or more may be 
cast so as to overcome the influence of other 
powers by a preponderance of strength. Thus, 
some of the European states cast their influ¬ 
ence against Spain, then against France, and 
subsequently against Russia, whereby the bal¬ 
ance of power was sufficient to secure certain 
concessions or to establish and maintain con¬ 
ditions of independence for other governments. 
Among the notable instances in which the bal¬ 
ance of power was maintained in Europe may 
be cited the coalition formed against Napoleon 
I., in 1814, the concerted action to check the 
ambition of Russia in the Crimean War, and 
the conclusion of the Treaty of Berlin, in 1878, 
to maintain the autonomy of the Balkan States. 

BALATON (bo'16-ton), or Platten, a lake 
in Hungary, located 55 miles southwest of 
Budapest. It is seven miles wide and fifty 
miles long, and has an area of about 450 square 
miles. A number of small streams flow into 
it, and the outflow is through the Sio River, 
the Kapos River, and the Kapos Canal into the 
Danube. Many edible species of fish are com¬ 
mon to the lake. 

BALBOA (bal-bo'a), Vasco Nunez de, emi¬ 
nent conqueror, born in Xeres-de-los-Caballeros, 
Spain, in 1475; executed at Santa Maria in 
1517. He was born of a once noble family, 
and in early youth took part in several expe¬ 
ditions to the New World. In Santo Domingo 
he spent a number of years on a plantation, 
but after several financial reverses he smug¬ 
gled himself on board a ship in order to accom¬ 
pany Darien on expeditions. He crossed the 
Isthmus of Darien in 1513, and on Sept 25 of 
that year first viewed the Pacific Ocean. Sub¬ 
sequently he obtained information about Peru, 
which he annexed to Spain. He was after¬ 
ward appointed viceroy of the South Sea and 
married the daughter of Davila, who had been 
appointed governor of Darien. Davila was 
jealous of his success and had him beheaded 
on a charge of disloyalty. Pizarro, the con¬ 
queror of Peru, served under Balboa for some 
time. 

BALDER (baPder), in Scandinavian myth¬ 
ology, the son of Odin and Frigga. He per¬ 
sonified the brightness of summer, and was sup¬ 
posed to spread light and beauty upon mortals. 
It is said that the gods amused themselves by 
shooting arrows and throwing stones at Bal¬ 
der, who was invulnerable to them, until Loki, 
the god of evil, aimed an arrow of mistletoe 
at the blind god Hodur and instead killed 
Balder. The story goes on to say that he is 
to return after Ragnarok, a period of twilight, 


and bring to mortals the golden age. Richard 
Wagner made use of this myth in his “Nibel- 
ungen,” a series of dramatic pieces. 

BALDWIN (bald'wm), the name of five 
kings of Jerusalem, who descended from the 
counts of French Flanders. Baldwin I. ac¬ 
companied his brother, Godfrey de Bouillon, 
on the first Crusade to the Holy Land. He 
was born in 1058, became King of Jerusalem 
in 1100, and died in 1118. His cousin succeeded 
him' in 1118 as Baldwin II., who died after a 
successful reign in 1131. Baldwin III. was a 
grandson of Baldwin II., and reigned as King 
of Jerusalem in 1143-62. Baldwin IV. was a 
son of Amalric and a nephew of Baldwin III. 
He succeeded to the throne in 1173, but in 1184 
caused his infant son to be crowned as Baldwin 
V., who died in 1186. The power of Chris¬ 
tianity began to decline in the East with the 
death of Baldwin IIP, who was regarded the 
bravest and most honorable of the Crusaders. 

BALDWIN, Charles H., naval officer, born 
in New York City, Sept. 3, 1822; died Nov. 17, 
1888. He entered the navy as a midshipman 
in 1839 and served through the Mexican War. 
In 1862 he commanded the steamer Clifton of 
of the mortar flotilla at the time Farragut’s 
fleet passed Forts Jackson and Saint Philip. 
He was made captain of the Mediterranean 
squadron in 1869, later was raised to the rank 
of rear admiral, and retired from service in 
1884. 

BALDWIN, James Mark, psychologist, 
born in Columbia, South Carolina, Jan. 12, 
1861. After graduating at Princeton in 1884, 
he studied in the universities of Berlin, Leip- 
sic, and Tubingen, and was instructor of Ger¬ 
man at Princeton in 1886-87. In 1889 he be¬ 
came professor of philosophy at the University 
of Toronto, Canada, and after four years ac¬ 
cepted the chair of psychology at Princeton. * 
He was vice president of the International Con¬ 
gress of Psychology at London in 1892, and 
while abroad visited many of the leading cities 
of Europe. Besides founding the Psychologi¬ 
cal Review, he published a number of books. 
Among them are “Elements of Psychology/’ 
“Hand Books of Psychology,” and “Social 
and Ethical Interpretations of Mental Devel¬ 
opment.” 

BALDWIN, Matthias William, inventor 
and manufacturer, born in Elizabethtown, N. J., 
Dec. 10, 1795; died Sept. 7, 1866. He first de¬ 
vised a new process for bookbinding, and after¬ 
ward turned his attention to machinery. In 
1832 he completed the Ironsides, which was the 
first practical locomotive made in America, and 
was exhibited as such at the Chicago Colum¬ 
bian Exposition in 1893. He founded the Bald¬ 
win Locomotive Works in Philadelphia, which 
is still a leading establishment, and aided many 
benevolent and educational institutions by mak¬ 
ing large gifts. 

BALEARIC ISLANDS (bal-e-ar'Tk), a 


BALFE 


215 


BALKHASH 


group of islands in the Mediterranean Sea, off 
the east coast of Spain. They include Majorca, 
Minorca, Iviza, Formentera, Cabrera, and sev¬ 
eral others. The total area is 1,860 square 
miles. Majorca is much the largest of the 
islands; its area is 1,430 square miles. Palma, 
on Palma Bay, in the southwestern part of 
Majorca, is a fine city, the largest in the 
islands, and has a population of 63,937. These 
islands were visited by the Greeks before the 
rise of Roman power. They were long sub¬ 
ject to Carthage, and in 123 b. c. became part 
of the Roman Empire. James I., King of Ara¬ 
gon, held them in 1220-34, and in 1375 they be¬ 
came united to Spain. They are a Spanish 
possession at the present time and constitute a 
province of that kingdom. The soil is produc¬ 
tive and yields large quantities of cereals and 
tropical fruits, especially olives, bananas, and 
grapes. Population, 1920, 311,649. 

BALFE (balf), Michael William, musi¬ 
cian and composer, born in Dublin, Ireland, 
May 15, 1808; died in London, Oct. 20, 1870. 
He studied music in Italy and gained fame in 
performances at Milan, Paris, and in England. 
His best known operas are “The Bohemian 
Girl/’ “The Puritan’s Daughter,” “The Sleep¬ 
ing Queen,” “The Rose of Castile,” “The Siege 
of Rochelle,” and “The Enchantress.” 

BALFOUR (bal'fur), Arthur James, 
statesman, born in Scotland, July 25, 1848. He 
succeeded to his father’s estate of Whitting- 
hame in Haddingtonshire. His education was 
received at Eton and Cambridge, and he entered 
Parliament in 1874 as a member of the Con¬ 
servative party from Hertford. He attained a 
quickness of perception and readiness of de¬ 
bate that soon attracted public attention. In 
1878 he became secretary to Lord Salisbury, 
and later private secretary in Lord Beacons- 
field’s ministry, whom he accompanied to the 
Berlin Congress. During the ministry of Glad¬ 
stone he became prominent in parliamentary 
discussions and later leader of the house. In 
1902 he succeeded Lord Salisbury as prime min¬ 
ister of England, but his party was removed 
from power by the victory of the Liberals in 
1906, when H. Campbell-Bannerman became 
prime minister. He is the author of a work 
entitled “The Foundations of Belief,” which 
has been extensively read, and of “A Defense 
of Philosophic Doubt” and “Economic Notes 
on Insular Free Trade.” 

BALFOUR, John Hutton, botanist and 
physician, born in Edinburgh, Scotland, Sept. 
15, 1808; died Feb. 11, 1884. He was a nephew 
of Hutton, the theologist, and professor of 
botany at Glasgow and Edinburgh. Besides 
contributing to current periodicals and works of 
reference, he published a number of books on 
botany and organized the Botanical Society of 
Edinburgh. His chief books are “Manual of 
Botany” and “Class-Book of Botany.” 

BALI (bade), an island in the East Indies, 


located east of Java, and a colonial possession 
of the Netherlands. It has an area of 2,060 
square miles. The surface is mountainous 
and volcanic, but the coast and valleys are fer¬ 
tile and the climate is healthful. Among the 
chief products are sugar, rice, tobacco, cotton, 
indigo, and fruit. The natives are Malayan 
and adhere to the Brahman religion. Popula¬ 
tion, 680,000. 

BALIOL (ba'li-ul), John de, Scottish king, 
born in 1249; died in 1315. He was chosen 
King of Scotland by Edward I. of England, to 
whom the question of who should occupy the 
throne had been submitted for adjustment after 
a competition between him and Robert Bruce. 
However, he became subject to the King of 
England, but in 1295 made a treaty with France 
with the view of throwing off English sover¬ 
eignty, which resulted in his imprisonment by 
Edward I. In 1302 he was allowed to settle on 
his estates in Normandy, where he died. His 
father, Sir John Baliol, founded Baliol Col¬ 
lege in Oxford. His son, Edward Baliol, be¬ 
came King of Scotland on Sept. 24, 1332, but 
was deposed after a reign of three months, and 
died in England in 1363. 

BALKAN (bal-kan'), anciently called Hae- 
mus, a range of mountains in Eastern Europe, 
which includes the Montenegro, Herzegovina, 
and Dinaric Alps, but the name is commonly 
applied only to the mountains extending through 
Bulgaria. The elevations are from about 4,000 
to nearly 10,000 feet. Tchar-dagh, in the west¬ 
ern part, is the highest peak; elevation, 9,700 
feet. The mountains are crossed by highways 
and several railroads, and yield minerals, lum¬ 
ber, and vegetation. They form the watershed 
between the Lower Danube and the streams 
flowing into the Aegean Sea. 

BALKAN FREE STATES, a term applied 
to the independent states of Rumania, Servia, 
and Bulgaria (including Eastern Rumelia), lo¬ 
cated on the Balkan peninsula, a region of 
Europe lying between the Black and Adriatic 
seas. The Balkan peninsula properly includes 
parts of Albania, Austria, and Montenegro. 

BALKH (balk), a town in Afghanistan, on 
the Balkh River. It is surrounded by a fertile 
country and has considerable trade in produce, 
carpets, and shawls. Timur destroyed the larger 
part of its buildings and it was plundered in 
1825. It has not been improved to any extent 
since that time. Anciently the site was occupied 
by the city of Bactra. Population, about 12,000. 

BALKHASH (bal-kash'), or Balkash, a 
large lake in Siberia, the fourth in size of the 
lakes in Russian Asia. In breadth it varies 
from six miles to fifty miles; length, 330 miles; 
and area, 8,500 square miles. The lake is 780 
feet above sea level, is salty, and has no out¬ 
let. A navigable stream, the Ili River, and 
several others, flow into it. The lake is quite 
shallow, ranging from 30 to 80 feet in depth, 
and its fisheries are not important. 


BALL 


216 


BALLOON 


BALL (bal), a game in which a spherical 
body is thrown, rolled, or struck with a mal¬ 
let. As an outdoor exercise it is a very health¬ 
ful and popular amusement, and it is exten¬ 
sively played for financial profit and to test 
skill. The different games of ball include base¬ 
ball, football, cricket, basketball, polo, golf, 
lawn tennis, etc. Mention is made in the “Odys¬ 
sey” of games played with balls by both sexes, 
and ball playing was popular in the gymnasia 
of Greece and at the baths of Rome. In the 
16th century the game became fashionable in 
the courts of Europe. Lacrosse is a game orig¬ 
inated by the Indians of North America. 
Cricket is much played by the English, and 
baseball is the most popular game in the United 
States. 

BALL, Thomas, sculptor, born in Charles¬ 
town, Mass., June 3, 1819. He attended the 
Mayhew school in Boston and began painting 
in 1840, but after 1851 gave his time exclusively 
to sculpturing. For several years he resided 
at Florence, Italy. His chief works are busts 
of Daniel Webster and Jenny Lind and the 
group in Washington, D. C., entitled “Eman¬ 
cipation.” He made bronze statues of Web¬ 
ster and Washington, the former in Central 
Park, New York, and the latter in the Boston 
Public Garden. He died Dec. 11, 1911. 

BALLAD (bal'lad), a poem much briefer 
and less elaborate in composition than an epic. 
Ballads were written by nations whose life 
was simple and in which learning was not so 
far advanced as to facilitate more elaborate 
poems. Before the revival of letters native 
ballads were highly appreciated, even by per¬ 
sons of culture and rank, and the bard was held 
in esteem in the home and at social entertain¬ 
ments. Some of the ballads that are best 
known include Scott’s “Minstrelsy of the Scot¬ 
tish Border,” Goldsmith’s “Edwin and Ange¬ 
lina,” “Little Guest of Robin Hood,” and 
“Chevy Chase.” The “Niebelungenlied” is a 
famous German ballad. 

BALLANTYNE (bal'lan-tin), James, 
printer, born in Kelso, Scotland, in 1772; died 
Jan. 17, 1833. He published the Kelso Mail 
in his native town, and in 1802, at the sugges¬ 
tion of Sir Walter Scott, removed to Edin¬ 
burgh, where he established a large printing 
plant. The works of Scott were printed by 
Ballantyne, and it is certain that he read the 
proofs both for technical details and with a 
view of suggesting criticisms. When Scott be¬ 
came embarrassed financially and failed, Bal¬ 
lantyne lost heavily. 

BALLANTYNE, James Robert, oriental¬ 
ist, born at Kelso, Scotland, in 1813; died in 
1864. He went to India at an early age, where 
he had charge of a military school at Benares, 
and afterward was professor of moral philos¬ 
ophy in the same institution. Subsequently he 
returned to England and was librarian of the 
East India office. He published “Catechism 


of Sanskrit Grammar” and a number of other 
works relating to the oriental languages. 

BALLANTYNE, Robert Michael, author, 
born in Edinburgh, Scotland, in 1825; died Feb. 
8, 1894. He was a prolific writer of stories for 
young people. In 1848 he published his first 
book, in which he gave his own experiences 
in the frontier of Rupert’s Land. His stories 
number about 62 and were published in 1887 
in 74 volumes. Among his best stories are 
“The World of Ice” and “The Coral Island.” 

BALLARAT (bal-la-rat'), a city of Aus¬ 
tralia, in the State of Victoria, and next to 
Melbourne the largest city in that subdivision 
of the Australian Commonwealth. It is 
located 90 miles northwest of Melbourne, has 
good railroad connections with other cities, and 
is in the center of a productive gold field. The 
largest gold nugget ever discovered was found 
near this city in 1858, and was valued at 
$50,000. Mining is now carried on in the 
quartz deposits. The auriferous reefs are 
worked with profit at a depth of 1,000 feet, 
and large smelting institutions are utilized to 
carry on the industry. The city is the seat of 
extensive commercial interests and is enjoying 
an era of prosperous growth. It has stone and 
asphalt pavements, electric street railways, 
waterworks, two colleges, a fine city hall, and 
a large public library Among the manufac¬ 
tures are machinery, clothing, earthenware, 
flour, and leathci goods. It was incorporated 
as a city in 1870. Population, 1916, 48,565. 

BALLAST (bal'last), a heavy substance 
used in weighting ships when the cargo is too 
light to sail safely with spread canvas. The 
amount of ballast depends upon the size of 
the ship, its construction, and the cargo car¬ 
ried. Ballast, as used in construction work, ap¬ 
plies to gravel, rock, or any material with which 
highways and railroads are made solid and 
durable. All first-class railroads and highways 
in thickly populated countries are improved by 
a dressing and finishing of ballast. 

BALLET (bal'la), a dramatic representa¬ 
tion consisting of dancing and pantomine with 
music. It originated in ancient times, possibly 
among the Greeks, who looked with favor upon 
dancers that expressed action and passions by 
rythm applied to gesture. In 1580 ballet danc¬ 
ing became popular in France, where it was 
encouraged by Catherine de Medici. In 
modern times the ballet came to be used as an 
interlude in theatrical performances, intended 
to please the eye rather than impress mentally. 
Classical operas, such as “Faust” and “Tann- 
hauser,” employ the ballet much the same as 
it was used in former times. 

BALLOON (bal-loon'), a machine designed 
for the navigation of the air. The name was 
derived from a French word meaning ball, be¬ 
cause the early balloons were round in shape. 
The construction of such a machine was first 
suggested by the flight of birds and the rising 


BALLOON 


217 


BALLOON 


of soap bubbles into the air, which led to the 
construction of two classes of airships, one pro¬ 
pelled upward by mechanical contrivances and 
the other by rarefied gases. Balloons propelled 
upward by means of gases were the first of 
several devices for aerial navigation with 
which it was possible to secure definite and 
satisfactory results. They depend upon the 
principle that a body lighter than air will rise 
with a force proportional to the difference 
between the weight of the air it displaces and 
its own weight. The gas employed is usually 
hydrogen, which is about fourteen times lighter 
than air, but coal gas is also used, which is 
about three times lighter than air. Balloonists 
who ascend into the atmosphere merely for 
exhibition purposes commonly confine heated 
air in the balloon bag, a portable quantity of 
which will carry them from 3,000 to 10,000 
feet. During the time of inflating the balloon, 
it is fastened to the ground with ropes, and, 
when a sufficient amount of heated air has 
been confined within, it 
is loosened and ascends 
just as a cork rises in 
water. 

The first deliberate 
scheme to navigate the 
air of which we have 
definite record was 
made in 1670 by Fran¬ 
cis Lana, a Jesuit, who 
proposed to raise a 
vessel by m e t al 1 i c 
globes, containing va¬ 
cuum inside, but it is 
asserted that the Chi¬ 
li e s e made successful 
ascents at Pekin as 
early as 1306. How¬ 
ever, the scheme pro¬ 
posed by Lana was not practical, because metal¬ 
lic tubes that would raise a vessel could not be 
made strong enough to resist the pressure of the 
surrounding air, or, if made strong enough, they 
would be too heavy to rise. The type of balloon 
which has been most serviceable to make long 
flights was invented in 1782 by Stephen Mont¬ 
golfier and his brother Joseph, paper-makers of 
Lyons, France. They gave a successful public 
exhibition June 5, 1783, with a balloon filled 
with air rarefied by means of a fire lighted 
in the car. Later M. Charles, professor of phy¬ 
sics in Paris, succeeded in successfully substitut¬ 
ing hydrogen gas for rarefied air, by means of 
which an ascent of 3,000 feet was made, the 
balloon passing over Paris and landing safely. 
The next year M. Blanchard made an ascent 
and carried with him a parachute to assist in 
making an escape in case of accident. He 
crossed the English Channel from Dover to 
Guiennes, and in 1802 M. Garnerin made the 
same exploit and landed safely in London by 
means of a parachute. Two years later M. 


Gay-Lussac made an ascent from Paris to a 
height of 23,000 feet, and demonstrated beyond 
a question that aerial navigation is practical. 

The reader will observe that France takes un¬ 
disputed precedence of all other countries in 
the early history of balloons. These machines 
have been so perfected that ascent and descent 
is entirely under the control of the guide, 
when the conditions of the atmosphere are 
favorable, but their movement through the air 
depends entirely upon the impetus of currents 
in the atmosphere. However, the type known 
as the dirigible balloon, which combines the 
common balloon with the flying machine, pos¬ 
sesses the requisites necessary for the aeronaut 
to guide it successfully. This machine may be 
said to date from 1900, when Count Zeppelin, a 
German cavalry officer, traveled a distance of 
three and a half miles in his dirigible balloon. 
The larger sizes developed by 19!8 are 500 feet 
long, carry twenty tons of freight or military ex¬ 
plosives, and travel from 20 to 100 miles per hour. 


Balloons are made of long bands of silk 
sewed together, and rendered air tight by 
coats of varnish, put on at different times. 
They are filled with coal or hydrogen gas to 
render them enough lighter than air so 
there is a material difference between the 
weight of the bag and an equal body of air 
displaced by it. A safety valve is placed at 
the top, under the control of the aeronaut. Be¬ 
low the bag, suspended by means of a 
network of ropes, is a wicker-work boat or 
car in which the aeronaut sits. The boat or 
car is light, and in it are supplies necessary 
for the safety of persons making the trip up¬ 
ward ; these consist, among others, of a 
long rope to aid in descending, and sand 
bags, which give weight, and in case of dan¬ 
ger are thrown overboard to lighten the bal¬ 
loon, if necessary. A balloon about forty- 
eight feet long and thirty-five feet wide and 
thick will carry three persons, and with its 
appliances weighs about 300 pounds. 

The highest ascent made by a gas bal- 


















































BALLOON 


218 


BALM 


loon was that of Glaisher and Coxwell in 
1862, from England. They ascended to a height 
of nearly six miles, about 29,000 feet, and land¬ 
ed safely. Aside from ordinary dangers in 
aerial navigation, nature seems to have planned 
other barriers against it. The higher altitudes 
are extremely cold. In the ascent mentioned 
above Coxwell became insensible; his hands 
were frozen and he became numb from ex¬ 
posure while in a low temperature. Besides, 
the air in the higher altitudes is greatly rare¬ 
fied, and at a height of about six miles is in¬ 
capable of sustaining human life. 

Many national and international associations 
are maintained to develop skill and interest in 
ballooning. The International Balloon Con¬ 
gress, one of the most noted organizations of 
this class, has held several important meetings 
at Brussels and in other cities of Europe. In 
1907 the second competition for the Gordon 
Bennett Cup was held at Saint Louis. The 
contestants included one British, two French, 



RACE FOR THE GORDON BENNETT CUP IN 1907. 


1, The Pommern; 2, L’Isle de France: 3, the Dtisseldorf; 4, 
America; 6, the Abereron; 7, the United States: 8, the Anjon; 

three American, and three German balloons. The 
cup and a cash prize were won by the German 
balloon Pommern , which flew to Asbury Park, 
N. J., and covered a distance of 901 miles in 
39 hours and 55 minutes. The balloons in 
this contest were not dirigible. The largest 
exploring balloon on record is the one built in 
1908 for Walter Wellman, who planned to use 
it in an attempt to reach the North Pole. It 
was constructed partly of bamboo, with a frame 
of steel, and was fitted with two screw pro¬ 
pellers and three gasoline motors. Although 
the balloon worked successfully, the trip to the 
North Pole was undertaken the next year and 
proved unsuccessful. 

In military service balloons have become 
highly efficient. During the siege of Paris by 
the German army, the celebrated French deputy, 
Gambetta, on Oct. 7, 1870, escaped from the 
city in a balloon, and utilized his freedom in 
organizing a large army in the provinces with 
the intention of compelling the Germans to 


raise the siege. It is estimated that during this 
siege fully 2,500,000 letters were sent from the 
city to people outside by means of balloons. 
Some of these were captured, others landed 
safely, and one was found as far northeast as 
Central Norway. Large numbers contained car¬ 
rier pigeons, that were utilized by friends to 
send answers back to those in the city. In the 
war between China and Japan in 1894-95 the 
Japanese made remarkable success in the use 
of balloons. Balloons were employed for obser¬ 
vation and to direct action in all the recent wars, 
and now are used to convey rapidly mail, pas¬ 
sengers and freight. Transportation by dirigi¬ 
ble balloons is speedy and has come to be con¬ 
sidered safe. Among the first notable long 
flights is that of the British dirigible known as 
R-34, which, in 1919, crossed the Atlantic from 
Scotland to New York, carrying thirty men, 
4,500 gallons of gasoline and 2,000 pounds of oil. 
It made the first trip across the ocean in 108 
hours and 12 minutes, and flew back to England 
in three days. See Aeronautics; Flying Ma¬ 
chines. 

BALLOON FISH, a 

kind of fish native to the 
tropical seas. They are pe¬ 
culiar for their power fo in¬ 
flate themselves with air, 
which they do to evade 
pursuit, and when in that 
condition float on the sur¬ 
face of the water with their 
back down. The flesh is 
not eaten. 

BALLOT (bal'lut), a 
term derived from the 
French, signifying a little 
ball used in voting. In an¬ 
cient Greece balls made of 
stone or metal were used 
to express verdicts. Thi? 
custom still maintains in some countries for 
limited purposes, and generally in civic so¬ 
cieties on the admission of applicants to mem¬ 
bership. In Greece the practice was called the 
die-cast, while it is now generally termed bal¬ 
loting. In civic societies a given number of 
black balls thrown in will defeat the candidate, 
who is then said to be blackballed. Various 
forms of ballots of paper, wood, and stone 
have been used for centuries. The common 
ballot now used in governmental affairs is of 
paper, and its honesty and secrecy is protected 
by the law. See Australian Ballot. 

BALL’S BLUFF (balz bluf), a steep bank 
on the Potomac River, in Loudoun County, 
Virginia. It was the scene of a battle between 
the Union forces and the Confederates on Oct. 
21, 1861, when a small Federal army was sur¬ 
rounded and defeated. The latter lost heavily, 
and their leader, Colonel E. D. Baker, was 
slain. 

BALM (bam), a plant of the mint family. 


the Saint Louis; 5, the 
9, the Letus II. 



















BALMACEDA 


219 


BALTIC SEA 


noted for its fragrance. It is perennial, has 
ovate and crenate leaves, and is used in medi¬ 
cine as a stimulant and aromatic. The oil of 
balm, derived from this plant, is an essential 
oil. Several species are found in Eurasia, espe¬ 
cially along the Mediterranean, and some vari¬ 
eties have been naturalized in England and 
America. The catmint, or catnip, resembles the 
balm but does not belong to the same class. The 
Moldavia balm is used for flavoring in Ger¬ 
many and the bastard balm is cultivated in En¬ 
gland for its fragrance, which the leaves retain 
a long time after being dried. 

BALMACEDA (bal-ma-sa'tha), Jose Man¬ 
uel, soldier and statesman, born in Santiago, 
Chili, in 1840; committed suicide Sept. 19, 1891. 
Though educated for the church, he soon en¬ 
gaged in politics, and became a progressive 
leader of the Liberal party in Chili. He was 
President for five years, beginning in 1886. At 
the end of his term he refused to surrender the 
presidency, and became involved in war, but 
was defeated. He attempted to flee with a mil¬ 
lion dollars, but missed his passage on a Brit¬ 
ish ship, which caused him to commit suicide. 

BALM OF GILEAD (gfl'e-ud), the res¬ 
inous substance derived from a tree native 
to Arabia Felix. It is referred to in the Old 
Testament and is still sold extensively in Ara¬ 
bia and other Asiatic countries, where it is 
obtained by making incisions in a small 
tree. At first it is white, but afterward 
turns to a golden yellow color and re¬ 
sembles honey in consistency. By boiling the 
fruit and the wood an inferior quality is ob¬ 
tained. It is irritating to the skin and has a 
bitter taste. The odor is highly fragrant. 

BALMORAL CASTLE (bal-mor'al), the 
autumnal residence of the royal family of 
England, situated 45 miles west of Aberdeen, 
Scotland. It occupies an elevated site 920 feet 
above the sea, a natural platform that slopes 
gently to the Dee River, and is surrounded by 
beautiful mountain scenery. The estate con¬ 
tains about 40,000 acres, purchased in 1852 by 
Prince Albert, and on it is the magnificent cas¬ 
tle built at his own expense at a cost of $500,- 
000. It is constructed of granite in the Scotch 
baronial style of architecture. Edward VII. 
made a number of important changes in its 
furnishings and decorations. 

BALSAM (bal'sam), an aromatic, resinous 
substance secured from plants containing vola¬ 
tile oil and resin. Many substances sold in the 
market are known as balsam, but the balsams of 
Peru and Tulu are most generally used in medi¬ 
cine. The former is obtained from a tree 
native to tropical America and the latter from 
the forests of Tulu, on the Magdalena River. 
The balsam of copaiba is a yellowish liquid 
with a bitter taste, with a more or less viscid 
consistency, and is the product of trees found 
in South America and the West Indies. An¬ 
other product of this class, the balm of Gilead 


(q. v.), is imported from Arabia. These prod¬ 
ucts are generally used in the arts, for medicine, 
and in making perfumery. 

BALSAM, a flowering plant of India, but 
naturalized in all 
the continents. 

It has been cul¬ 
tivated for more 
than three centu¬ 
ries for its beau- 
t i f u 1 flowers, 
some of which 
are double and 
are known as 
camellia. The 
plant grows 
from one to 
two feet in 
height and 
branches freely. 

Many varieties 
of colored 
flowers have 
been secured 
by propagation. 

BALTIC (bal'tik), Battle of the, a naval 
contest on the Baltic Sea, April 2, 1801, 

between the English under Sir Hyde Parker 
and Lord Nelson and the Danish fleet, in which 
the latter was defeated. 

BALTIC PROVINCES, a section of Rus¬ 
sia bordering on the Baltic Sea, and including 
the three governments of Courland, Esthonia, 
and Livonia. The area is 36,560 square miles, 
much of which is fertile and is used for agri¬ 
culture and stock raising. Letts and Esths make 
up the bulk of the people, and the burghers and 
nobility are chiefly Germans. Formerly Cour¬ 
land was a dependency of Poland and Esthonia 
and Livonia belonged to Sweden. Peter the 
Great annexed Courland in 1795 and the re¬ 
mainder was previously acquired by conquest 
from Swedem The people are largely Protest¬ 
ant and not in strict harmony with the policy 
of the Russian government, which has been 
seeking to dictate in the use of the Russian 
language in the schools and the adoption of 
the Greek faith. These provinces revolted and 
declared a republic at the time of the Russo- 
Japanese War, in 1904, but the movement was 
suppressed by military force. The Germans un¬ 
der General von Hindenburg invaded this region 
in 1915. Riga is the chief city and the seat of 
administration. Population, 1920, 2,893,875. 

BALTIC SEA, the inland sea that washes 
the shores of Denmark, Sweden, Russia, and 
Germany, and communicates with the North 
Sea by the Cattegat, the Sound, and the Great 
and Little Belt. The length is about 800 miles; 
breadth, 100 to 200 miles; depth, forty to 140 
fathoms; and area, including the Gulfs of Both¬ 
nia and Finland, 184,497 square miles. The is¬ 
lands within the sea have an erea of about 
12,000 square miles. In the northern part is the 



FLOWERING BALSAM. 


BALTIMORE 


220 


BALTIMORE 


Gulf of Bothnia, which is separated from the 
southern portion by a chain of islands, and in 
the eastern part are the Gulfs of Finland and 
Riga. It receives the inflow from 250 rivers, 
which renders its waters almost fresh, and in¬ 
creases its tendency to freezing in the winter 
season, thus impeding navigation from three to 
five months of the year. The largest rivers 
that flow into it are the Niemen, Duna, Oder, 
Neva, Vistula, Narva, and Trave. It has a 
large trade, both with ports in Europe and in 
other continents. The leading harbors are at 
Stockholm, Memel, Danzig, Riga, Cronstadt, 
Kiel, Stettin, Copenhagen, and Helsingfors. It 
is connected with the North Sea by the Kaiser 
Wilhelm Canal (q. v.) and other canals furnish 
communication with divers trade centers. Nav¬ 
igation is dangerous on account of breakers 
at numerous islands, sudden changes of wind, 
and violent storms. Valuable amber is cast 
ashore by waves in Prussia and Courland. 
There are extensive salmon, trout, and herring 
fisheries. The southern coast of Sweden is 
gradually sinking and the upper coast rising, 
the rate of change being estimated at about 
three feet in a century. The name Baltic was 
derived, from the island Baltia, but it is called 
East Sea by the Germans. 

BALTIMORE (bal'ti-mor), the largest city 
of Maryland, county seat of Baltimore County, 
on the Patapsco River, fourteen miles above 
Chesapeake Bay. It is at the head of tide water 
navigation, 42 miles northwest of Washington, 
D. C., and is the focus of important steam rail¬ 
way and electric interurban lines. Among the 
railroads entering the city are the Pennsylvania, 
the Baltimore and Ohio, the Wabash, and the 
Western Maryland railways. Rapid and exten¬ 
sive intercommunication is afforded by a vast 
system of electric lines. 

The principal streets running east and west 
are Lexington and Baltimore, and Charles is 
the main thoroughfare running north and south. 
A small stream called Jones’s Fall divides the 
city into two nearly equal parts. Near the Pa¬ 
tapsco River, from which the ground rises 
gradually toward the north, are the largest 
wholesale and manufacturing establishments, 
and much of the shipping is done from docks 
on a branch of the river which extends well 
into the heart of the city. At the northern limit 
of the harbor is Pratt Street, from which the 
wholesale district extends toward the north, 
and is bounded by Paca, Light, and Baltimore 
streets. The retail shopping district is toward 
the west, and the fashionable residential quar¬ 
ter is toward the north. In numbering the 
houses the decimal plan is used, the numbers 
extending east and west from Charles Street 
and north and south from Baltimore Street. 

Points of Interest. Druid Hill Park is 
one of the finest public grounds in America and 
contains Druid Lake. This park is ornamented 
with fine walks, statuary, and beautiful ave¬ 


nues of trees. It is situated in the northwest¬ 
ern part of the city and contains 671 acres. 
Clifton Park is in the northeastern part, and 
near the river, in the eastern part of the city, 
is Patterson Park. Carroll Park, Wyman Park, 
and several others add beauty to the citv. 

Baltimore is called the Monumental City be¬ 
cause of its fine Washington Monument, erect¬ 
ed about 1820, and located at the intersection of 
Washington and Mount Vernon streets. It is 
164 feet high and the marble shaft is sur¬ 
mounted by a colossal statue of Washington. 
Battle Monument, in Monument Square, was 
erected in 1815 to commemorate those who fell in 
1812, while defending the city against the Brit¬ 
ish. In Mount Vernon Place are statues of 
Chief Justice Taney and George Peabody. A 
monument to the memory of Columbus, a statue 
of Sir William Wallace, and the Ridgely and 
Wildey monuments are among a number of 
others that merit special mention. Green Moun¬ 
tain Cemetery contains the graves of Johns 
Hopkins, John McDonogh, and other illustri¬ 
ous men, and is noted for its beautiful trees 
and fine statuary. The National Cemetery con¬ 
tains the graves of many Union soldiers and 
Westminster is the burial place of Edgar Allen 
Poe. 

Institutions. The city is noted as an edu¬ 
cational center and as the seat of many benevo¬ 
lent and scientific societies. Its system of pub¬ 
lic schools has courses ranging from the pri¬ 
mary to the collegiate branches, and instruction 
in kindergarten work and manual training has 
been provided for amply. George Peabody en¬ 
dowed the Peabody Institute, which has a 
library of 140,000 volumes and a conservatory of 
music. Johns Hopkins Hospital is a charitable 
institution. The Saint Paul’s Orphan Asylum, 
the Saint Joseph’s Hospital, the Hebrew Orphan 
Asylum, the Maryland University Hospital, the 
Baltimore Orphan Asylum, and the State Asy¬ 
lum for the Insane are among the leading char¬ 
itable institutions. The professional schools in¬ 
clude the Maryland College of Pharmacy, the 
medical and law departments of the University 
of Maryland, the Women’s Medical College, the 
Baltimore College of Dental Surgery, and a 
number of others. Baltimore is the seat of the 
famous Johns Hopkins University, one of the 
most noted institutions of higher learning in 
America, which is attended by a large number 
of students and has a library of about 200,000 
volumes. The Enoch Pratt free library has 
about the same number of volumes and many 
pamphlets and manuscripts. 

Buildings. Solidity and convenience are 
combined in the architecture of Baltimore, 
which has been greatly improved since the 
disastrous fire in 1904. Its business build¬ 
ings are notably well constructed, both from 
the standpoint of durability and appearance. 
The post office, the city hall, the city jail, and 
the United States courthouse are among the 



BALTIMORE 


221 


BALTIMORE ORIOLE 


chief structures erected by the city and the 
Federal government. The last mentioned is a 
massive granite structure in the Renaissance 
style, and its interior is decorated with mural 
paintings and busts of prominent men. Near 
the intersection of Saratoga and Charles 
streets is the Masonic Temple. Johns Hopkins 
Hospital, the Enoch Pratt free library, and the 
Peabody Institute have substantial quarters. 
Among the noted churches are the Roman 
Catholic Cathedral, the Grace Episcopal Church, 
the Mount Vernon Methodist Church, the First 
Presbyterian Church, the Eutaw Place Syna¬ 
gogue, and the Unitarian Church. Baltimore is 
the seat of a Roman Catholic archbishop and 
a Protestant Episcopal bishop. 

Industries. Ample railroad facilities and a 
favorable location for transportation by water 
have made Baltimore a great center of manu¬ 
facturing and commercial enterprises. The har¬ 



bor is amply deep for the largest seagoing ves¬ 
sels, and regular communication is afforded by 
the principal lines with Bremen, London, and 
other foreign ports. As an export city it takes 
high rank and ships more corn to foreign 
countries than any other port of America. 
Flour, tobacco, coal, and cotton are among the 
chief export articles, while large quantities of 
iron ore, sugar, fruit, and general merchandise 
are imported. In manufacturing there is 
scarcely an industry that is unrepresented. 
Oyster packing and fruit canning are represent¬ 
ed by large investments. Machinery, boots, and 
shoes, textiles, clothing, and fertilizers are 
among the products that are manufactured on 
the largest scale. Shipbuilding is developing 
steadily as an industry, and the extensive fish¬ 
eries of Chesapeake Bay have made Baltimore 
a shipping center of fresh and canned oysters. 

History. Baltimore was founded in 1720 and 


named in honor of Lord Baltimore (q. v.), pro¬ 
prietor of the colony of Maryland. In 1796 
it was incorporated as a city. The harbor was 
greatly improved in 1780, when it became a 
port of entry, and since then its commerce has 
progressed steadily. In the War of 1812 it 
was held in a state of blockade, but a gallant 
defense at Fort McHenry and other fortifica¬ 
tions prevented its capture. It was at the time 
of the bombardment of Fort McHenry, in 1814, 
that Francis Scott Key, inspired by the bravery 
of the Americans, although detained on board a 
British vessel, wrote the well-known song “The 
Star Spangled Banner.” The first electric tele¬ 
graph line in the United States was built from 
Baltimore to Washington in 1844. The city was 
occupied by the Federals at the time of the 
Civil War, when its industrial life became pros¬ 
trated, but since then it has grown steadily in 
every material enterprise. A destructive fire in 
1904 consumed buildings and property valued at 
about $80,000,000, but the district visited by 
the conflagration was rebuilt on a substantial 
scale within two years. In population the city 
takes rank as the seventh in the United States, 
being exceeded in this respect by Cleveland, Bos¬ 
ton, Saint Louis, Philadelphia, Chicago, and New 
York. Population, 1900, 508,957; in 1920, 733,826. 

BALTIMORE, George Calvert, Lord, 
born in Yorkshire, England, in 1580; died 
April 15, 1632. He graduated from Oxford 

University and spent some time in foreign 
travel. Later he was made secretary of state 
under King James I., which position he re¬ 
signed in 1624. In 1625 he was raised to the 
Irish peerage with the title of Lord Baltimore 
and received a grant of land in New Found- 
land, which he abandoned on account of French 
aggression, and in lieu thereof was granted a 
patent to Maryland. The grant included the en¬ 
tire State, which was made a colony in 1633 
with Leonard Calvert, brother of Lord Balti¬ 
more, governor. Lord Baltimore died soon 
after and the grant was turned over to his son 
Cecil, who is regarded the real founder of 
Maryland, although he did not visit the colony. 
Under Calvert the colony was prosperous. 

BALTIMORE ORIOLE (o'ri-ol), a com¬ 
mon bird in America, allied to the starlings. It 
is more properly called Baltimore bird, since 
there are only suborioles in America. It is 
about seven inches long and has pointed wings, 
a sharp bill, and a rounded head. The plumage 
is beautiful; the head and upper parts are black 
mixed with bright orange and yellow. It was 
named from Lord Baltimore’s livery, or coat of 
arms, as its colors agreed with that of the 
bird. The nest is built pouchlike of grass and 
twigs interlaced like threads and is suspended 
from the branches. It feeds on beetles, cater¬ 
pillars, and insects. The Baltimore oriole is 
noted for bravery in defending its young and 
for its pleasant and clear song. See illustration 
on following page. 



























BALUCHISTAN 


222 


BAMBOO 


BALUCHISTAN (ba-loo-chis-tan'), or 
Beluchistan, a country in Asia, bounded on 
the north by Afghanistan, east by India, south 
by the Arabian Sea, and west by Persia. The 
area is 131,855 square miles. It has a moun¬ 
tainous surface and contains some sandy des¬ 
erts, with intervals of productive and fertile 
regions. The highlands belong to the plateau 
of Iran, which extends into Baluchistan from 
Persia. It has a coast line of 600 miles on the 
Arabian Sea, which affords few harbors. A 
large part of the country is arid and requires 
irrigation to make agriculture profitable, but 



BALTIMORE ORIOLE. 


the rivers are few and too short to supply much 
water for that purpose. The principal products 
are cotton, indigo, tobacco, cattle, hides, wool, 
and tropical fruits. Minerals are found in the 
mountain districts, the most important of which 
are copper, lead, saltpeter, coal, and petroleum. 
Large numbers of animals, especially camels, 
graze upon its plains. The country has several 
railroads, but depends largely upon the camel 
for transportation. The inhabitants consist 
chiefly of Baluchis, a native race of Aryan peo¬ 
ple, who speak an Iranic dialect and adhere 
to the Islam faith, professing the Sunnite creed. 
Since 1877 the country has been under the gov¬ 
ernment of Great Britain for military and strate¬ 
gical purposes, but it is administered nominally 
by the Khan of Kelat. Quetta, in the northeast¬ 
ern part, is the largest city, and Kelat is the 
capital. Population, 1921, 914,551. 

BALUSTER (bal'us-ter), or Banister, in 
architecture, the name of small shafts or pil¬ 
lars used to support a cornice or coping. Bal¬ 
usters are employed in stairways as guards, in 
bridges as parapets, and for a number of other 
uses. The material used in construction may 
be wood, cement, metal, or stone, and in form 
they differ largely, being usually ornamented in 
workmanship and beautified by polish and paint. 

BALZAC (bal-zak'), Honore de, celebrated 



HONORE DE BALZAC. 


novelist, born in Tours, France, May 16, 1799; 
died in Paris, Aug. 20, 1850. His father, a 
man of middle rank in 
society, gave him the 
advantages of an early 
education in his native 
town and Paris, and 
he afterward took up 
the study of law. For a 
short time he was a 
clerk in a notary’s of¬ 
fice, but soon gave up 
law for literature, and 
published several nov¬ 
els under various nom 
de plumes before 1823. 

His success was limit¬ 
ed until 1830, when he 
published “The Last Chouan,” a novel of much 
merit. “The Human Comedy,” a work pictur¬ 
ing modern life, is his best production. He 
used this name as a means of contrast with the 
“Divina Commedia” of Dante. In 1833 he first 
met Madame Hanska, a countess of Poland, 
who seems to have influenced him and his 
writings to a large extent. After 1843 he 
visited her frequently and finally married her 
a few months before his death. As a prolific 
writer and student of human character, Balzac 
ranks with Saint-Simon and Shakespeare. His 
collected writings include ffghty-five novels, 
which were published in a work of forty-five 
volumes. The best known of his works em¬ 
brace “Eugenie Grandet,” “Scenes of Provin¬ 
cial Life,” “Poor Relations,” “Cousine Bette,” 
“Father Goriot,” and “Scenes of Parisian 
Life.” 

BAMBERG (bam'berg), a city of Germany, 
in Bavaria, near the confluence of the Main 
and Regnitz rivers. The chief buildings in¬ 
clude a cathedral in the Byzantine style, the pal¬ 
ace of the former prince 
bishops of Bamberg, the 
city hall, and many edu¬ 
cational and charitable 
institutions. It has man¬ 
ufactures of cotton and 
silk textiles, gloves, 
musical instruments, and 
machinery. The munici¬ 
pal improvements con¬ 
sist of waterworks, elec¬ 
tric street railways, and 
pavements .of stone, ma¬ 
cadam, and asphalt. 

Bamberg dates as a city 
from 973. Population, 

1920, 47,810. 

BAMBOO (bam-boo'), a giant grass or reed 
native to tropical America, Africa, and Asia. 
Many species have been described, ranging 
from the smaller forms to those which attain 
a height of 80 to 100 feet. They have a root- 
stock which is jointed under the ground and 







BAMBOO. 

a, section of the stem 
at node. 








(Opp. 222) 


A BAMBOO GROVE IN THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS 






BANANA 


223 


BANCROFT 


throws out numerous stems, and in the larger 
species the main stem or trunk is often twelve 
inches thick. Although the stems are jointed 
and very hard, they are both light and elastic. 
These plants are widely distributed, ranging 
from the marshes and swamps near the level of 
the sea to altitudes of 12,000 feet, and they 
grow both in wet and dry soil. _ They can 
be propagated from the young shoots or from 
the seeds, which resemble rice. The seeds and 
young shoots are eaten, while the stalks are 
used for building purposes, fences, water pipes, 
masts for boats, walking sticks, ladders, in 
the manufacture of paper, and for many other 
purposes. Some of the finest cottages in South¬ 
ern Asia are constructed wholly of bamboo. 
In America we frequently see it in fans, fish 
poles, and walking sticks. 

BANANA (ba-na'na), a plant of the plan¬ 
tain family, which somewhat resembles the 
palm tree. It was first found in the East Indies, 



BANANA. 


but has been brought to and is successfully cul¬ 
tivated in all tropical and semitropical climates. 
The trunk is not like that of a tree, since it 
consists of the closely compacted sheaths of 
the fallen leaves. It often grows to a height 
of twenty-five feet, but dies down each year, 
and is replaced the next season by new sprouts, 
of which two or three are allowed to bear. 
The leaves are ten feet long and three feet 
wide, and are of a beautiful emerald green. 
The fruit is from four to twelve inches long, 
and grows in bunches often weighing seventy 
five pounds. It is one of the most important 
foods known and is used extensively, being 
transported in large quantities to the northern 
markets. The bunches are picked green and 
ripen in transportation or in stores. Land will 
produce about twenty-five times more food if 
planted in bananas than if sown to wheat. Be¬ 
sides being valuable as a food plant, the fibers 
of its stalks are used in weaving cloth, an in¬ 
delible ink is made from the juices of the 


skin, and the leaves are employed to cover the 
roofs of; houses. 

BANANA, a seaport city of the Congo 
Free State, on a small peninsula of the same 
name, at the mouth of the Congo River. It 
is not important as a commercial center, hav¬ 
ing been displaced by Matadi, a town on the 
mainland, from which a railroad line extends to 
Leopoldville. The inhabitants are chiefly na¬ 
tives and not more than 125 white people reside 
in Banana. 

BANCA (ban'ka), or Banka, an island in 
the East Indies, separated from Sumatra by 
the Banca Strait. It has an area of 4,446 
square miles. The climate is moist and the sur¬ 
face is level. Tin is the most important prod¬ 
uct and is mined by the government. The an¬ 
nual exportation is about 4,500 tons. Fruit is 
grown extensively and salt and rice are the 
chief imports. The island is a colonial pos¬ 
session of the Netherlands. Population, 1916, 
106,242. 

BANCROFT (ban'kroft), George, histo¬ 
rian, born at Worcester, Mass., Oct. 3, 1800; 
died in Washington, D. C., Jan. 17, 1891. In 
1817 he graduated 
at Harvard College 
and later took a 
two years’ course 
at Gottingen, Ger¬ 
many, where the 
degree of Ph. D. 
was conferred 
upon him in 1820. 

While in Europe 
he formed the ac- 
quaintance of 
many eminent 
scholars, among 
them S c h 1 e i e r- 
macher, Humboldt, george Bancroft. 

Goethe, and Savigny, and attended the lectures 
of Hegel at Berlin. On returning to America 
in 1832, he became tutor in Greek at Harvard 
College, and in the meantime lectured and gave 
attention to historical research. He was ap¬ 
pointed Secretary of the Navy by President 
Polk in 1845, in which year he founded the 
United States Naval Academy, but resigned the 
next year, when he became minister plenipo¬ 
tentiary to England. In 1849 he returned home 
to take up his literary work in Washington. He 
was made minister to Germany in 1867, when he 
negotiated the treaty whereby the German emi¬ 
grants to the United States were released from 
allegiance to the government of their native 
country, and at his own request was recalled 
in 1874. His lectures on German literature and 
historical topics are classed with the finest 
American productions. Among his principal 
works are “History of the Colonization of the 
United States,” “History of the United States,” 
and “History of the Revolution in North Amer¬ 
ica.” He contributed largely to the North 










BANCROFT 


224 


BANGKOK 


American Review. His last public address was 
given at Washington, D. C., at a meeting of the 
American Historical Association, in 1886. 

BANCROFT, Hubert Howe, historian, 
born in Granville, Ohio, May 5, 1832. In 
1848 he entered a bookstore in Buffalo, N. 
Y., and in 1852 established a branch office in 
California. He collected about 45,000 volumes 
of books to obtain data for historical works on 
the history of the Pacific states. In this under¬ 
taking he was aided by a large staff of literary 
assistants. He published five volumes on “The 
Native Races of the Pacific States,” and forty 
volumes on “History of the Pacific States of 
North America.” 

BANCROFT, Marie Effie Wilton, actress 
and manager, born in London, England. She 
made her first appearance as Fleance in “Mac¬ 
beth” in 1846, and soon after played success¬ 
fully in London. In several boy characters 
she won much applause. In 1865 she became 
one of the managers of the Prince of Wales 
Theater, which soon grew popular for its inter¬ 
esting comedies. She retired from the stage 
in 1885. Sir Squire Bancroft, her husband, was 
knighted in 1897. She published “Mr. and Mrs. 
Bancroft On and Off the Stage,” “My Daugh¬ 
ter,” and “A Riverside Story.” 

BANDAGE (band'aj), a band or wrapper 
used by surgeons to retain dressing or bind the 
injured parts of wounds. Strips of muslin are 
used to make the common form of bandages, 
and in some cases linen, flannel, or cheese 
cloth serves the same purpose. Bandages are 
applied to the fingers or limbs spirally, each 
turn lapping partly over the last, but many 
forms are needed to fit special cases of differ¬ 
ent kinds. In applying the bandages much care 
must be exercised lest the pressure obstructs 
the circulation, causing gangrene or blood 
poison. 

BANDA ISLES (ban'da), a group of 
islands in the East Indies, about fifty miles 
south of Ceram, a colonial possession of the 
Netherlands. The group includes about ten 
small islands of volcanic origin, of which 
Banda Neira and Banda Lontar are the largest. 
Gulong Api, the highe'st peak, has an elevation 
of 2,250 feet above the sea. Banda, the capital, 
has a good harbor. Nutmeg and fruits are 
the chief products. The total area is about sev¬ 
enteen square miles. Population, 8,000. 

BANDICOOT (ban'di-koot), a species of 
rat native to Ceylon and India. It is the larg¬ 
est representative of the rat family, measur¬ 
ing about one foot in length. The tail is long 
and very thick at the base, and the color is 
black above and gray beneath. It subsists on 
rice and other cereals and is fond of vege¬ 
tables. The flesh is eaten by the natives. The 
bandicoot of Australia and Tasmania is a mar¬ 
supial. It resembles a rabbit and is a pest in 
the wheat fields and gardens. 

BANDIT (ban'dit), a person who has be¬ 
come outlawed, wages war against civilized so¬ 


ciety, and resorts to robbery. Banditti are com¬ 
mon in Albania, owing to the incompetence of 
the Turkish government to suppress large 



BANDICOOT. 


bands who have become outlawed. These 
bands frequently take travelers captive and hold 
them for a ransom. 

BANEBERRY (ban'ber-ry), a common 
plant of America and Europe. It is a species 
of crowfoot and has a terminal cluster of flow¬ 
ers, and the fruit is a red or white berry, which 
is poisonous. Several species are common to 
the woods of North America. 

BANFF (bamf), a town of Canada, in 
Southwestern Alberta, on the Bow River. It 
is located on the transcontinental line of the 
Canadian Pacific Railroad, and is surrounded 
by fine mountain scenery. In the vicinity are 
hot sulphur springs. The springs have made 
the region famous and are visited both for 
health and pleasure. A fine hotel, a sanitarium, 
and a number of other buildings are note¬ 
worthy. Population, 1921, 1,852. 

BANGALORE (ban-ga-lor'), a city of 
India, in the state of Mysore, 175 miles west 
of Madras. It is located on an elevation 
3,000 feet above sea level, and has a remarka¬ 
bly healthful climate. The streets are well im¬ 
proved and beautified with trees and parkings. 
Among the chief buildings are the high school, 
the military cantonment, and several temples. 
It has electric and steam railway facilities. Silk 
textiles, carpets, clothing, earthenware, and 
machinery are the chief manufactures. Banga¬ 
lore dates from 1537. It was stormed and cap¬ 
tured by the British under Lord Cornwallis in 
1791 Population, 1921, 189,046. 

BANGKOK (ban-kok'), the capital of 
Siam, located on the Menam River, about 
twenty miles from the sea. The river is 
navigable to the city for vessels, but their 
passage at its mouth is somewhat impeded 
by silt deposits, which render it only six feet 
deep at ebb tides, but at flood tides the water 
is fully fourteen feet. The city is the seat 
of vast commercial interests and carries on 
extensive manufactures. It is connected with 
other cities of Southern Asia by telegraph and 
railway lines, and is one of the largest cities of 
Southern Asia. Its population is mixed largely 
with all classes common to Asia, but the 








BANGOR 


BANKING 



Chinese constitute fully one-half of the in¬ 
habitants and control the largest part of the 
trade. Most of the city is built over the water 
of the river. Many of the houses are con¬ 
structed of bamboo and are connected by 
bridges, thus presenting a peculiar contrast 
to the architecture of Europe. On account of 
the site of the city being flat, many buildings 
located on the land are on piers about six feet 
above the ground. The palace of the king is 
surrounded b}' a high wall and with it are in¬ 
closed a number of temples, public offices, and 
a theater. Within the walls are the royal 
harem and the residences of many servants and 
attendants. Transportation within the city 
is by a line of omnibuses and a system of elec¬ 
tric railways. The municipality has water¬ 
works and electric lighting. Its modern pros¬ 
perity dates from 1766, when it became the 
capital. Population, 1921, 685,380. 

BANGOR, the county seat of Penobscot 
County, Maine, on the Penobscot River, 
and on the Maine Central and other railroads. 
On the opposite side of the river is the town of 
Brewer, with which it is connected by a bridge. 
The river is navigable for the largest vessels. 
Among the chief buildings are the county 
courthouse, the public library, the custom house, 
and the Bangor Theological Seminary. The 
manufactures include boots and shoes, cloth¬ 
ing, flour, trunks and valises, and ships. It 
has a large trade in ice and is one of the lead¬ 
ing lumber depots in the world. Gas and 
electric lights, pavements, waterworks, sewer¬ 
age, and electric street railways are among the 
improvements. The vicinity was first settled 
in 1769, when it became known as Kenduskeag 
Plantation, and it was incorporated as Bangor 
in 1791. Population, 1920, 25,978. 

BANGS (bangz), John Kendrick, author, 
born at Yonkers, N. Y., May 27, 1862; died Jan. 
21, 1922. He graduated at Columbia College in 
1883 and subsequently studied law. In 1884 
he took up editorial work, contributing to Har¬ 
per’s Magazine, of which he became editor in 
1899. Many of his writings are humorous and 
some have been dramatized. His chief books are 
the “The Water Ghost/’ “Tiddledywinks Tales,” 
“Coffee and Repartee,” “Three Weeks in Poli¬ 
tics,” “A Rebellious Heroine,” “Mr. Bonaparte 
of Corsica,” “Uncle Sam, Trustee,” “A House¬ 
boat on the Styx,” “Mollie and the Unwise 
Man,” “The Enchanted Typewriter,” “Over the 
Plum Pudding,” “Ghosts I Have Met,” “The 
Mantelpiece Minstrels, and Peeps at People. 

BANGWEOLO (bang-we-6'la), or Bemba, 
a large lake in Africa, in the northern part 
of Rhodesia. The length from north to south 
is 150 miles and the width is about 75 miles. 
It has an elevation of 4,000 feet above the sea. 
The Chambezi flows into it from the east, and 
it discharges a part of the year by the Luapula. 
Several small islands within the lake are in¬ 
habited by natives. The lake was discovered 


by Livingstone in 1868 and was visited by Stan¬ 
ley in 1876. 

BANIM (ba'nlm), John, novelist, born at 
Kilkenny, Ireland, April 3, 1798; died Aug. 13, 
1842. He took up a literary career at an early 
age, and became noted on account of his 
ability to delineate the life and character of 
the Irish peasantry. Though proficient as a 
writer, he was deficient in humor, but his writ¬ 
ings are numerous and have had a large sale. 
His chief books include “The Battle of the 
Boyne,” “The Smuggler,” “The Mayor of 
Windgap,” and a drama entitled “Damon and 
Pythias.” 

BANJO (ban'jo), a musical instrument with 
three strings, having a head similar to a tam¬ 
bourine and resembling a guitar. It is played 
by striking or twitching the strings with the 
fingers of the right hand. Joel Walker 
Sweeney, an American musician, is the in¬ 
ventor, who learned to play on the rude instru¬ 
ments used on the southern plantations and pat¬ 
terned largely from them. He was born in 
1813, and died at Appomattox, Va., in 1860. 
His reputation as a banjo player extended to 
Europe, where he performed many times before 
Queen Victoria. 

BANKING (bank'ing), the occupation or 
business that relates to the care, custody, and 
handling of money. Banks are of very great 
antiquity. Babylonian tablets bearing distinct rec¬ 
ords of transactions in banking in the time of 
Nebuchadnezzar are in the Metropolitan Museum 
of Art in New York City. Modern banking had 
its origin with the money dealers of Florence, 
who attained high repute as receivers and lenders 
of money in the 14th century. The name bank is 
from the Italian banco, a bench, from the prac¬ 
tice of the Jews in Lombardy, who had benches 
in the market places while in the business of 
exchanging money. The bench of the banker 
was broken by the populace when the banker 
failed, and from this we have the word bank¬ 
rupt. Goldsmiths undertook the business of 
borrowing and lending money at an early date, 
largely because people desired to pawn their 
jewelry with them as security, although bank¬ 
ing has no direct connection with their art. 
With the diversification of industries, which is 
one of the characteristics of higher society, 
banking became an independent institution. 

European. Among the early banks of Eu¬ 
rope are the Bank of Barcelona, founded in 
1401; the Bank at Genoa, for centuries one of 
the most stable banks of Europe, organized in 
1407; and the Bank of Amsterdam, founded in 
1609, a great storehouse for bullion in the 
17th century. The last-mentioned bank issued 
receipts for the bullion and coin deposited, and 
these circulated as money. The Bank of Ven¬ 
ice was the first national bank founded in Eu¬ 
rope. The Bank of England was established 
in 1694, as the fourth important national bank, 
and is acknowledged to be one of the strongest 


If 


BANKING 


226 


BANKING 


financial institutions in the world. It was or¬ 
ganized as a joint-stock association with a 
capital of £1,200,000. In return for loaning its 
entire capital to the government, it received a 
monopoly of the corporate banking in England 
and the right to issue notes for circulation as 
currency. In 1908 it had eleven branches, a 
capital and reserve of £18,125,000, a circulation 
of £30,250,000, and deposits of £48,750,000. The 
Bank of France was founded in 1800 and ranks 
next in repute to the Bank of England. It has 
a capital and reserve of 90,000,000 francs and 
the sole right to issue paper currency in France. 
The Imperial Bank of Germany, established in 
1875, has a capital of $28,575,000, but it is not the 
only bank of issue in the German Empire, this 
function being vested in a total of eight banks, 
whose authorized issue is $91,630,000. Besides, 
the government itself issues a large amount of 
currency in the form of small notes for 
the convenience of the public. The National 
Bank of Belgium is modeled after the Bank of 
France. 

American. The Bank of North America 
was established in 1782 at Philadelphia, and 
was the first bank of issue founded in America. 
However, the first bank of issue in the United 
States was organized in 1791, under a plan pro¬ 
posed by Alexander Hamilton, with a capital 
of $10,000,000. This bank was discontinued as 
a bank of issue in 1811, and five years later 
Congress granted a twenty years’ charter to a 
new United States bank, with a capital of $35,- 
000,000, but on the expiration of that term re¬ 
fused to grant a renewal. About that time 
State banks were established and continued to 
do business a number of years, but they proved 
unsatisfactory and unstable. Under this plan 
the several states had different systems of bank¬ 
ing, which caused inconvenience in exchang¬ 
ing money when passing from one State to an¬ 
other. This tended to increase the rate of in¬ 
terest, rendered currency subject to excessive 
discount, and caused numerous panics. How¬ 
ever, they continued to do business until 1866, 
when a tax of ten per cent, was imposed upon 
their notes, which caused them to surrender 
their charters. 

At the recommendation of Secretary Chase, 
a national banking system was established in 
1863, under which the paper currency became 
uniform in all the states. The plan provides 
that a portion of the banking capital must be 
invested in government bonds. These bonds 
are deposited with the treasurer at Washing¬ 
ton, upon which paper currency to the full 
amount of the face value is issued to the bank 
making the deposit, and this currency is put 
into circulation. The plan is so formulated that 
the bonded indebtedness of the country becomes 
the basis of this class of banking. These bonds 
deposited with the United States are security, 
whereby the currency is guaranteed and its 
value is maintained at parity with gold. 


Classes of Banks. Several classes of banks 
are maintained in most countries, depending 
upon the charter under which they operate, 
or the nature of the business which they trans¬ 
act. While all banks receive deposits, only a 
comparatively few are banks of issue or circu¬ 
lation ; that is, they do not issue paper cur¬ 
rency for general circulation. A small rate 
of interest is paid on time deposits, but, when 
the deposits are made subject to check by the 
depositor, usually no interest is paid. All banks 
loan money from their own funds and from 
the deposits. The loans are largely for short 
periods, but sometimes for a year or more, 
when mortgages or deeds of trust are taken 
as security for the loans. Banks effect ex¬ 
changes between their depositors and others, 
a department of banking which has grown into 
importance. The individual who wishes to 
send money to some other city usually 
buys a draft and transmits that instead of 
the currency, and it is received in other money 
centers as equivalent to the cash. It is estimated 
that not more than from twelve to fifteen per 
cent, of the entire business transacted through 
banks in Canada and the United States is ef¬ 
fected by the payment of currency. 

Clearing houses are associations of bank¬ 
ing houses to aid in the settlement of balances 
between given banks. In this way much time 
is saved in making exchanges, and it is not nec¬ 
essary to make an actual count of the money. 
Savings banks are institutions in which small 
sums of money are deposited from time to 
time, as they accumulate in the hands of 
persons limited to moderate earnings. The 
depositors are supplied with a small deposit 
book in which they are given credit for each 
deposit, and receive a moderate rate of inter¬ 
est on these deposits, together with a small 
additional contingent. The money received 
on deposit, and a portion of the capital, are 
loaned to trustworthy borrowers at a rate 
of interest determined by the market value, 
and the greater part of the earnings is set 
aside for the depositors. Banks of loan and 
discount buy credit paper, usually at a discount, 
and do a loan business. Private banking in¬ 
stitutions are conducted by individuals, or an 
association of individuals, who do a general 
banking business. The business of banking is 
regulated by laws, which provide that the 
books be examined by competent accountants, 
and frequent statements are published to con¬ 
vey to the public information as to the sta¬ 
bility of the enterprise. The laws and the con¬ 
dition of business requirements have made bank¬ 
ing and banks secure, and render them abso¬ 
lutely necessary to promote successfully mod¬ 
ern commercial enterprises. 

Volume of Business. In 1916 there were 
30,256 banks in the United States, which num¬ 
ber included 7,426 national banks. The total 
capital was $2,143,008,000 and the individual de* 


BANKRUPTCY 


227 


BANYAN 


posits aggregated $20,111,471,000. In June of the 
same year the banks of Canada had a paid-up 
capital of $118,140,250, a circulation of $415,982,- 
225, and deposits of $1,250,500,000. The gov¬ 
ernment of Canada has had charge of a system 
of post office savings banks since 1868, which 
had 1,665 offices in 1916, while the total num¬ 
ber of incorporated banks was 37 and the num¬ 
ber of branches, 2,733. See Clearing House. 

BANKRUPTCY (bank'rupt-sy), a term 
equivalent to insolvency, and generally applied 
to the financial condition of one who has failed 
in business. In general, a bankrupt or insol¬ 
vent is one who is unable to pay all his debts. 
Bankruptcy laws have been enacted in most 
countries for the protection of both the debtors 
and the creditors. These provide for the fair 
distribution of the property remaining after 
bankruptcy among the creditors of the bank¬ 
rupt. In some instances bankruptcy laws pro¬ 
vide for a release from all debts remaining 
after applying the property in payment. The 
object of this is to release a bankrupt and 
offer to him an incentive to devote himself to 
business again. From 1867 to 1878 a national 
bankruptcy law was in force in the United 
States, while another was enacted in 1898. It 
applies to all individuals, but not to corpora¬ 
tions. Both in England and the United States pro¬ 
ceedings in bankruptcy may be instituted by 
the debtor or by creditors. 

BANKS, Nathaniel Prentice, soldier and 
statesman, born at Waltham, Mass., Jan. 30, 
1816; died Sept. 1, 1894. He received a com¬ 
mon school education, worked in a cotton fac¬ 
tory, and became a lawyer. Though a Dem¬ 
ocrat, he supported the principles of the Know 
Nothing party and held the view that the 
Democrats and the Republicans should form 
a coalition. He was elected to the Massa¬ 
chusetts Legislature and in 1852 entered Con¬ 
gress as a Democrat. He was reelected by 
the Know Nothing party in 1854 against the 
Whig and Democratic candidates, and during 
his term served as Speaker of the House. In 
1857 he became Governor of Massachusetts, 
and when the Civil War broke out he was 
placed in command of an army corps on the 
Potomac. He succeeded General Butler in com¬ 
mand of the department of the Gulf in 1862. 
In 1863 he opened the Mississippi by cap¬ 
turing Port Hudson with 6,000 prisoners. He 
commanded the Red River Expedition in 1864, 
but was forced by General Richard Taylor 
to make a retreat. Soon after he was re¬ 
lieved of his command, when he resigned his 
commission and returned home. He served 
in Congress from 1864 to 1877, except in 1872, 
and was again elected in 1888. For many years 
chairman of the committee of foreign relations, 
he exercised a wide influence in national legis-. 
lation. 

BANKS, Thomas, sculptor, born at'Lam¬ 
beth, England, Dec. 29, 1735; died Feb. 2, 1805. 


In 1770 he received a gold medal at the Royal 
Academy, and subsequently studied scuplture in 
Rome, where he executed some works in mar¬ 
ble purchased by Catherine II. of Russia. He 
returned to England in 1778 and soon after 
went on a second visit to Russia, where he 
made a group called “Armed Neutrality” for 
Catherine II. Other works of note executed 
by him include “The Mourning Achilles,” 
“Cupid Catching a Butterfly,” and “Caractacus 
Brought Prisoner to Rome.” 

BANNER (ban'ner), a flag or standard car¬ 
ried at the head of a band, either in a general 
parade or for military purposes. It may be 
national, state, local, or private. Its use is to 
indicate the line of march, or the rallying point 
in war, in case of defeat. Banners are made of 
good grade of cloth, with one side attached to 
a pole. 

BANNOCKBURN (ban-nok-burn'), a vil¬ 
lage in Scotland, two miles southeast of Stir¬ 
ling, on the Bannock Rivulet. It is famous for 
a decisive battle, in 1314, between King Rob¬ 
ert Bruce of Scotland with 30,000 men and Ed¬ 
ward II. of England with 100,000. The latter 
was defeated with a loss of 30,000 men. 

BANTAM FOWL (ban'tam), a small do¬ 
mestic fowl that derived its name from Ban¬ 
tam, in Java. A well bred bantam does not 
weigh over a pound when full grown. 

BANXRING (banks'ring), an insectivo¬ 
rous animal native to India and the East Indies. 
It has an elongated muzzle and a bushy tail. It 
is active and spry and spends much of its time 
in climbing the limbs of trees, resembling in this 
respect the lemurs and squirrels. 

BANYAN (ban'yan), or Banian, a tree 
native to the East Indies, Ceylon, and Aus¬ 
tralasia, and remarkable for its branches and 



BANYAN TREE. 


roots. Every branch of the main tree throws 
out its own roots, which become parent 
trees and throw out other branches. The 
wood is light and of little value, but the 
tree yields lac and the bark possesses a tonic 



BAOBAB 


228 


BARBARIAN 


property useful in treating diabetes. This tree 
lives many years and often covers large areas. 
One in India furnished shelter for 7,000 men, 
while another found in Australia covered nearly 
seven acres. A tree in India, known by the 
name cubbeer burr, has 350 large trunks and 
over 3,000 smaller ones. In these trees dwell 
large numbers of birds and monkeys, which 
are fond of their fruit, a kind of fig. The 
tree is held sacred by the Brahmans. 

BAOBAB (ba'6-bab), a tree native to trop¬ 
ical Africa, and met with in Senegal, Abyssinia, 
and the region of the African lakes. The trunk 
grows to a height of from 60 to 70 feet, and 
the growth of its limbs press outward about 
the same distance, making the diameter in 
many cases 150 feet. In the larger trees the 
roots are sometimes over 100 feet in length. 
The leaves are large and abundant and of a 
dark green color, and the large flower is white 
and has beautiful snowy petals. The fruit 
is a soft pulpy but dry substance, about the 
size of a quart flask, inclosed in a long dull- 
green woody pod. Between the seeds is a 
pulp which tastes like cream of tartar, and 
is used by the natives to give flavor to their 
porridge. The wood is soft and light, and 
when decay sets in the woodish structure be¬ 
comes porous and finally falls to pieces. Cloth 
and rope are made of the fiber, and the juice 
of the fruit is used as a drink, but the wood 
is not particularly valuable. It was discovered 
by Michael Adanson and is sometimes called 
adansonia. Livingstone reported that one of the 
trees seen by him was at least 1,400 years old. 

BAPTISM (bap'tiz’m), a name derived 
from a Greek word which means to dip or wash, 
and is applied to a rite of many churches. The 
rite of baptism is administered by immersing in 
water, or by sprinkling or pouring water 
upon the person, and signifies purification or 
spiritual burial and resurrection with Christ 
or a union with Christ as our Savior and Lord. 
Early in the history of the Christian Church 
it was held that the two outward essentials of 
baptism are the use of water and the words 
of Christ as given in Matt, xxviii, 19. It is 
probable that immersion was the exclusive 
form used in the primitive church, which later 
became a trine immersion in respect to the 
Trinity. At that time sprinkling or clinical 
baptism, as it was called, was confined to the 
sick and aged. The Greek Catholic and a 
number of Protestant denominations practice 
immersion, while the Roman Catholic and most 
Protestants sprinkle or pour the water upon the 
head. 

BAPTISTS (bap'tists), one of the most 
numerous divisions of the Protestant church, 
whose origin in America is traced to Roger 
Williams, who embraced the Baptist faith in 
1639. The creed is a modified form of Cal¬ 
vinism and the government is a pure democ¬ 
racy, in which all members have a right to 


vote on important church matters. They hold 
that infant baptism is not authorized, and 
that the ordinance of baptism should be admin¬ 
istered by immersion. Most Baptist churches 
have a baptistry, either as a separate building 
or as an annex, in which the rites of baptism 
are administered. The number of Baptists in 
Canada is placed at 142,264. In the United 
States there are not less than thirteen separate 
organizations known by the name of Baptists. 
They have about 56,000 churches, valued at $93,- 
500,000, and a membership of not less than 6,- 
450,000. They possess 175 educational institu¬ 
tions in America, the property of which is val¬ 
ued at $35,000,000. 

BAPTIST YOUNG PEOPLE’S UNION, 

a society organized under the direction of the 
Baptist church, and intended as a federation 
for young people. The object is to develop 
Christian character, to encourage the study of 
the Bible, and to bring together its members 
for the purpose of stimulating interest and 
building up membership in church and mission¬ 
ary work. The Baptist Union, a weekly pub¬ 
lication, is the official organ, and the headquar¬ 
ters are in Chicago. This society has about 
500,000 members. 

BARABOO (bar'a-boo), the county seat of 
Sauk County, Wisconsin, thirty-five miles north¬ 
west of Madison, on the Baraboo River, and 
on the Chicago and Northwestern Railroad. It 
is surrounded by an iron, fruit, and grain pro¬ 
ducing country. The chief buildings include 
the high school, the county courthouse, and sev¬ 
eral fine churches. It has manufactures of ma¬ 
chinery, dairy products, and linen and woolen 
goods. Waterworks, electric lights, and sew¬ 
erage are among the improvements. Baraboo 
was incorporated in 1882. Population, 1905, 
5,853; in 1920, 5,538. 

BARBADOS (bar-ba'dos), an island in the 
West Indies, of which it is the most easterly. 
It is twenty-one miles long and fourteen wide, 
and has an area of 166 square miles. It con¬ 
tains Mount Hillaby, 1,125 feet above the sea, 
and is surrounded by coral reefs. The soil is 
exceedingly fertile and produces tobacco, cotton, 
sugar cane, cereals, and tropical fruits. Among 
the exports are molasses, rum, sugar, and fruits. 
The imports include flour, rice, meat, clothing, 
and machinery. The little island, smaller than 
five congressional townships, is densely popu¬ 
lated, and has considerable commerce. It was 
settled by the British in 1625 and is still a 
possession of Great Britain. Bridgetown is the 
capital and largest city. Population, 1921, 196,- 
287. 

BARBARIAN (bar-ba'ri-an), a term origi¬ 
nated by the ancient Greeks, who called all for¬ 
eigners and those unable to speak their 
language barbarians. According to Plato there 
were but two classes in the human family, the 
Greeks and the barbarians. The term was not 
used originally in reproach, but’ after the Per- 


BARBAROSSA 


229 


BARCELONA 


sian invasion it implied hostility to the Greeks 
and their civilization. After the Roman con¬ 
quest of Greece, the word barbarian was used 
in reference to all nations except the Greeks 
and Romans. 

BARBAROSSA (bar-ba-ros'sa), a surname 
applied to Frederick I. of Germany. See Fred¬ 
erick I. 

BARBAROSSA, meaning Red Beard, the 
name of three famous brothers, born in Greece, 
who became Turkish pirates. They established 
themselves in Algiers and ravished the shores 
of the Mediterranean. The oldest, named 
Aruch, was captured and beheaded in 1518; 
the youngest, named Hayraddin, conquered 
Tunis for Turkey. He died in Constantinople 
in 1546. 

BARB ARY (bar'ba-n), a name sometimes 
applied to the northern portion of Africa, 
which includes Fez, Morocco, Tunis, Barca, 
Fezzan, and Algeria. The name was taken 
from che original inhabitants known as Ber¬ 
bers, who were conquered by the Arabs in the 
reign of the caliphs. The country was pros¬ 
perous in the time of the Carthaginians, and, 
next to Egypt, it became the richest Roman 
province. In ancient times the district included 
Numidia, Mauritania, and Cyrenaica. It be¬ 
came infested with pirates in the 15th century, 
and was finally civilized after the conquest of 
Algeria by the French. At present it is in¬ 
habited by Berbers, Turks, Bedouins, Jews, 
Negroes, and French. 

BARBARY APE, or Magot, a small tail¬ 
less ape found in Northern Africa. It walks 
on four feet and is skillful in passing from 
j tree to tree. The color is greenish-gray and in 
size it is not much larger than a cat. It is 
capable of being trained to perform tricks. 

BARBECUE (bar'be-ku), a term derived 
from the natives of the West Indies, now ap¬ 
plied to the practice of roasting an ox or 
other large animal at a social entertainment 
on a large scale. In the southern part of the 
United States the name has reference to a 
jollification, especially to a political jubilee. 

BARBEL (bar'bel), a fish of the carp fam¬ 
ily, of which species are found in the fresh 
waters of America and Europe. The common 
barbel of England is a game fish, but its flesh 
is coarse, and it measures from two to three 
feet in length. The binny or barbel in the 
Nile weighs about 60 pounds and is esteemed 
for food. Several species closely resemble the 
American sucker, but all have soft barbels 
growing from the snout and upper jaw, hence 
the name. 

BARBER (bar'ber), a person whose busi¬ 
ness is to shave, trim, and cut hair. Formerly 
surgery was combined with the craft. In the 
time of Henry VII. laws defined the duties of 
barbers, and forbade higher surgical opera¬ 
tions than bloodletting and tooth pulling. Bar¬ 
ber shops were noted as news centers in classic 


times and they are still notorious for gossip. 
In many countries, as in some of the states of 
the United States, the practice of the barbers’ 
art is limited by law to persons skilled by train¬ 
ing, who are required to hold a certificate of 
qualification. A spirally decorated pole has 
long been the principal sign of barbers’ shops. 

BARBERRY (bar'ber-ry), a class of shrubs 
native to the temperate zones. Many of the 
species are evergreen, and some yield a sour 
berry which is useful in making jelly and pre¬ 
serves. The bark yields medicine and the roots 
are of value in preparing a yellow dye. The 
common barberry of Europe has been natural¬ 
ized in Canada and the United States. It is 
thorny, has serrated leaves, and bears yellow 
flowers. Several species are native to North 
America. 

BARBER’S ITCH, a disease of the bearded 
parts of the face, caused by a parasitic fungus. 
Postular eruptions of the face are sometimes 
confused with this disease, but they are really 
the result of close and too frequent shaving. 
In the true barber’s itch, sometimes called 
ringworm in the beard, parasitic scales or 
sporules cover the infected beard. 

BARBERTON, a city in Summit County, 
Ohio, 10 miles southwest of Akron, with which 
it is connected by several railways. It has 
many large factories, including chemical works, 
rubber factories, boiler works, and machine 
shops. The features include the high school, 
public library, brick paving, electric railways, 
and many churches. Population, 1920, 18,811. 

BARBUDA (bar-boo'da), one of the Lesser 
Antilles, in the West Indies, 20 miles north of 
Antigua. It is of coral formation and has an 
area of 60 square miles. The surface is level 
and partly covered with forests, and cattle rais¬ 
ing is the chief occupation. The island is a 
British possession. Population, 600. 

BARCA (biir'ka), a district located between 
Egypt and the Gulf of Sidra, belonging to the 
Turkish Empire. It is bounded on the north 
by the Mediterranean and south by the Libyan 
Desert. The surface is hilly and mountainous, 
being traversed by highlands which reach an 
altitude of 3,310 feet. Agriculture and cattle 
raising are the chief industries. The exports 
are cattle, grain, ivory, and ostrich feathers. 
It was known to the Greeks as Pentapolis and 
contained five large Greek cities. The inhabi¬ 
tants consist mostly of nomadic Arabs and 
Berbers. Bengazi is the seat of government 
and the largest city. Population, 300,250. 

BARCELONA (bar-se-16'na), a city in 
Venezuela, capital of a state of the same name, 
150 miles east of Caracas. It is situated on 
the Neveri River, three miles from its entrance 
into the Atlantic Ocean, and has railroad facil¬ 
ities and a good harbor. In the vicinity are 
coal and salt mines. Considerable trade is 
carried on in coal and fruit. A government 
house, the theater, and a number of educational 


f 


BARCELONA 


230 


BAR HARBOR 


institutions are located here. The first settle¬ 
ment was made at Barcelona in 1638, and in 
1881 it became the capital of Bermudez, which 
has been divided to form the two states of 
Sucre and Barcelona. Population, 12,785. 

BARCELONA, formerly the capital of the 
kingdom of Catalonia, and now an important 
city in a province of the same name. It is the 
principal seaport on the Mediterranean, has 
railroad connection with the chief towns of 
the Iberian Peninsula, and next to Madrid is 
the most flourishing city of Spain. It consists 
of two parts, the new and the old. The former 
is modern and is platted on a regular plan, 
while the latter is irregular and ancient. A 
fine promenade extends from the Columbus 
monument to the Plaza de Cataluna. The ca¬ 
thedral occupies an elevated site that was for¬ 
merly the location of a Roman temple and a 
Moorish mosque. It has manufactures of 
cannon, paper, machinery, woolen and silk 
goods, chemicals, wines, and clothing. Jt is 
an important city of commerce and has a large 
import and export trade. Gas and electric 
lights, pavements, waterworks, and street rail¬ 
ways are among the improvements. It is the 
seat of a museum, an arsenal, a public library, 
a university, and other public institutions. The 
city was under the government of a line of 
counts until the 12th century, but in 1137 it 
became a part of the kingdom of Aragon. In 
1640 it became French territory, but was made 
a part of Spain in 1652, and was retaken by the 
French in 1697. The Peace of Ryswick, in 
the same year, restored it to Spain. Population, 
1905, 534,250; in 1920, 660.168. 

BARCLAY (bar'kla), Robert, an eminent 
Quaker, born in Gordonstown, Scotland, Dec. 
23, 1648; died Oct. 3, 1690. He studied in his 
native town and in Paris, where he embraced 
the Catholic faith, but later became a Quaker. 
For several years he traveled with William 
Penn and George Fox through Holland, Ger¬ 
many, and England to spread the doctrine of 
the Quakers. He published several able pro¬ 
ductions, and was held in high esteem. His 
chief writings include “Catechism and Con¬ 
fession of the Faith,” “Treatise on Universal 
Love,” and “Truth Cleared of Calumnies.” 

BARCLAY DE TOLLY (bar-kla' de to- 
le'), Michael, Prince, soldier, born in Livonia, 
Russia, Dec. 16, 1761; died May 14, 1818.* He 
entered a Russian regiment and fought against 
the Turks and Swedes, and took a prominent 
part in two invasions of Poland. In 1809 he 
had charge of an army and invaded Sweden 
with 10,000 men. The following year he was 
appointed minister of war, which office he held 
three years. He commanded the Russian army 
during the invasion of Napoleon and was de¬ 
feated by the French at Smolensk, and subse¬ 
quently adopted the Fabian tactics of evading 
the enemy, which, though unpopular in Russia, 
was the means of destroying the French army. 


He was superseded by Kutusov in 1813, but 
was soon reinstated and commanded in the 
battles of Bautzen and Leipzig. 

BAR-COCHBA (bar-koh'ba), Simon, the 
celebrated Jewish leader in the rebellion against 
Hadrian, Emperor of Rome, from 131 to 135 
a. d. The events of his life belong to Jewish 
history. His reputation hinges largely upon 
the capture of Jerusalem in 132 a. d., which 
was followed by a general movement among 
the Semitic people to restore the Jewish king¬ 
dom. He was slain in 135, when the Romans 
reconquered Jerusalem and razed it to the 
ground. The general dispersion of the Jews 
dates from this final struggle to retain posses¬ 
sion of the holy city. 

BARD (bard), a poet who celebrated in 
verse and song the exploits of heroes and 
chiefs. Mention was made in Roman writings 
of the bards of Gaul two hundred years before 
the advent of Christ, but these singers disap¬ 
peared early among the people of the continent. 
The bards of the insular Celts continued im¬ 
portant as social factors throughout the Middle 
Ages, probably because they maintained a form 
of organization. The Welsh bards are especially 
noted for their writings on a variety of sub¬ 
jects, including secular and religious themes. 
It is related that the Scottish bards were skilled 
in singing their productions to the accompani¬ 
ment of the harp. Gray’s “The Bard” is based 
upon the persecution of the Welsh bards by 
Edward I. of England, who looked upon them 
as promoters of sedition. In modern times the 
term is used as a synonym of poet. 

BAREILLY (ba-ra'le), or Bareli, a city in 
the Northwest Provinces of India, 151 miles 
east of Delhi. It is located on the Jua River, 
and has manufactures of carpets, cutlery, per¬ 
fumery, and earthenware. The trade is chiefly 
in grain, sugar, and cotton. In 1857 it w^as 
the scene of a Sepoy mutiny, but the follow¬ 
ing year was recaptured by Lord Clyde. Pop¬ 
ulation, 1921, 131,208. 

BARGE (barj), a double-decked passenger 
or freight boat that has no motive power of 
its own. It is attached to a towboat and used 
for conveying freight and passengers to shore 
from large vessels, or for pleasure excursions. 

BARHAM (bar'am), Richard Harris, 
clergyman and author, born at Canterbury, 
England, Dec. 6, 1788; died June 17, 1845. He 
is known by the pen name of Thomas Ingolds- 
by. He studied at Oxford and was ordained 
in 1813, and in 1842 was appointed divine lec¬ 
turer at Saint Paul’s. “Ingoldsby Legends,” a 
series of comic tales written by him, became 
very popular. He also published “Cousin 
Nicholas” and contributed to magazines and 
current periodicals. 

BAR HARBOR, a noted summer resort in 
Mount Desert Island, off the coast of Maine, 
45 miles southeast of Bangor. It is beautified 
by evergreen groves, mountain scenery, and 


BARI 


231 


BARLEY 


highland lakes. The island has an area of 98 
square miles and is famous as a resort for tour¬ 
ists. Bar Harbor has steamboat connections 
with the mainland and numerous hotels and 
villas. Population, 1900, 1,888; in 1920, 3,622. 

BARI (ba're), a city in Italy, capital of a 
province of the same name, on the Adriatic 
Sea. It has a good harbor and railroad facili¬ 
ties, and is the seat of a brisk trade in almonds, 
cotton, cereals, fruit, and woolen goods. The 
chief manufactures are musical instruments, 
chemicals, soap, and furniture. It is the seat 
of an archbishop and has a number of fine ec¬ 
clesiastical buildings, including the priory of 
Saint Nicholas. Anciently it was known as 
Barium and was a flourishing city in 200 b. c. 
Population, 1921, 109,841. 

BARING BROTHERS (ba'ring), the 
name of a firm of noted British bankers, to 
which belonged a number of men who were 
prominent in English diplomacy. Francis and 
John Baring were sons of a German who set¬ 
tled in England early in the 18th century. The 
celebrated banking house known by their name 
was established in 1770, and has been a promi¬ 
nent factor in English finance since that time. 
In 1890 their South American securities depre¬ 
ciated in value and a crisis was averted by a 
loan of £13,000,000 from the Bank of England. 
This enabled them to tide over the difficulties, 
but they reorganized as a limited company on 
a less extensive scale. 

BARING-GOULD (ba'nng-goold), Sabine, 
clergyman and author, born at Exeter, Eng¬ 
land, Jan. 28, 1834. He studied at Cambridge 
and traveled in Iceland, in 1861, and two years 
later was appointed curate of Horbury and 
subsequently of Dalton. His writings are very 
numerous and relate to a diversity of subjects. 
The chief published works include “Myths of 
the Middle Ages,” “Lost and Hostile Gospels,” 
“Iceland, Its Scenes and Sagas,” “Tragedy of 
the Caesars,” “Village Sermons For a Year,” 
“Germany, Present and Past,” “A Book of 
Brittany,” “History of the Church in Ger¬ 
many,” “The Queen of Love,” “In Troubadours' 
Land,” and “A Book of the Riviera.” 

BARIUM (ba'ri-um), a metal resembling 
strontium, found in nature in the form of sul¬ 
phate, carbonate, and silicate. It is an alkaline 
earthy metal, fuses at a low temperature, and 
oxidizes readily. Baryta is an oxide of barium, 
an alkaline earth, and is sometimes called 
heavy earth. It is a virulent poison and is used 
in making white paint, such as Hamburg white. 
The chloride of barium is used to prevent boiler 
incrustations and the nitrate is employed to test 
sulphuric acid and soluble phosphates. Both 
are used in making fireworks. 

BARK (bark), the outer covering of trees 
and plants, called cortex by botanists. The 
term, in a more limited sense, can be applied 
only to trees and shrubs of certain classes. In 
general it is found only on exogenous plants, 


while endogenous plants are destitute of true 
bark. The bark consists of several layers, as 
the inner or bast, which transmits the plant 
food; the intermediate or green zone, which 
fits the food for absorption, and the outer or 
corky layer, which protects the more tender 
inner layers. It contains valuable ingredients, 
such as gum and tannin, and also yields cork, 
fibres, and properties valuable in tanning. In 
nautics, a bark is a three-masted vessel with rig¬ 
gings on the fore and main masts like those of 
a ship. 

BARK BEETLE (be't’l), a small insect 
which is very injurious to trees. A number of 
species have been described, most of which are 
native to America and Eurasia. The female 
deposits her eggs in or under the bark, usually 
between the bark and the wood, and the young 
dig a series of burrows which cause decay. 
The trees are either killed outright or the value 
of the wood is injured. In 1783 the pine for¬ 
ests of Germany were invaded by great swarms 
of these insects. They are frequently destruc¬ 
tive to orchards. 

BARKER’S MILL (bark'erz mil), a ma¬ 
chine invented in the 17th century, and used to 
produce rotary motion-. It consists of an up¬ 
right tube held in place by a frame, and at the 
lower end are two horizontal arms, on opposite 
sides of which are two small openings. The 
water is poured into the vertical tube and flows 
out of the small opening, causing the appara¬ 
tus to revolve in the direction opposed to that 
of the water emitted. Devices to distribute 
water in sprinkling lawns and for making dem¬ 
onstrations in laboratories employ modified 
forms of this apparatus. 

BARLETTA (biir-let'ta), a city of Italy, 
located on an island in the Adriatic, and con¬ 
nected by a bridge with the mainland. It is 
about 35 miles northwest of Bari, with which 
it is connected by steam railway and electric 
lines. The streets are paved substantially with 
stone and asphalt. The city is surrounded by 
walls of stone. It contains a cathedral in the 
Byzantine style, a castle built by Charles V., 
and several fine statues and monuments. The 
export trade is largely in grain and fruits, and 
the manufactures consist of earthenware and 
cotton and woolen goods. Cannae, where the 
Romans were defeated by Hannibal in 216 b. c., 
is nine miles west of Barletta. Population, 1921, 
42,022. 

BARLEY (bar'ly), a valuable cereal plant, 
which is said to be more widely distributed 
than any other grain. It was an important food 
product in the early times of the Assyrians and 
Hebrews, and was Used in the manufacture of 
beer by the Egyptians. It is now used mainly 
as feed for domestic animals, for making bar¬ 
ley-meal bread, and in the manufacture of beer, 
porter, and whisky. The production is exten¬ 
sive in the Temperate Zone, where it yields 
from ten to fifty bushels per acre, the quality 


BARLOW 


232 


BARNACLE 


and quantity depending upon cultivation and 
richness of the soil. The heads of most species 

are bearded and con¬ 
tain two, four, or six 
rows of seeds. It 
colors easily, espe¬ 
cially if harvested in 
damp weather. The 
best quality of barley 
is obtained in a mod¬ 
erately dry climate. 
Canada produces 
large quantities of a 
tine grade, especially 
the provinces of 
Manitoba, Alberta, 
and Saskatchewan, 
the first mentioned 
leading with an an¬ 
nual yield of about 
15,500,000 bushels. 
The production of the 
United States has 
been about 175,500,000 
bushels per year since 
1908. California, Min¬ 
nesota, South Dakota, 
and Wisconsin are 
the leading barley 
producing states. 
Francis Channing, 
soldier, born at Brooklyn, N. Y., Oct. 19, 1834; 
died Jan. 1, 1896. He studied at Harvard, 
where he graduated in 1855, and served in the 
Union army in 1862-65. He took part in the 
battles of Fair Oaks, Antietam, and Gettys¬ 
burg, and was mustered out with the rank of 
brigadier general. In 1865 he was elected sec¬ 
retary of state for New York, and was attor¬ 
ney general in 1872-73. He had charge of the 
prosecution of W. M. Tweed and those asso¬ 
ciated with him, and founded the Bar Asso¬ 
ciation of New York City. 

BARLOW, Jane, novelist, born in Dublin, 
Ireland, Oct. 17, 1860. Her father, J. W. Bar- 
low, was vice provost of Trinity College in 
Dublin, where she was educated. Her writings 
include both verse and prose, and in a number 
she combines rare humor and sympathy in de¬ 
scribing Irish village life. Among her books 
are “Irish Idylls,” “The Battle of the Frogs 
and Mice,” “Bogland Stories,” “Creel of Irish 
Stories,” “From the Land of the Shamrock,” 
“The Founding of Fortunes,” and “By Beach 
and Bogland.” 

BARLOW, Joel, poet, born at Redding, 
Conn-., March 24, 1754; died Dec. 24, 1812. He 
studied at Dartmouth and at Yale and in 1780 
entered the army as chaplain. Subsequent to 
the Revolutionary Waf he studied law and vis¬ 
ited many of the European countries. He 
amassed a fortune by trade and speculation. 
In 1811 he was made ambassador to France 
and died near Cracow, Poland, while en route 


to meet Napoleon at Vilna. His chief writings 
are “The Columbiad,” “Advice to the Privileged 
Order,” and “Hasty Pudding.” 

BARMECIDES FEAST (bar'm£-sld), an 
“Arabian Nights” tale, in which it is related 
that a member of the Barmecide family set 
empty dishes before a beggar and invited him 
to partake of imaginary dainties. The beggar 
took the joke good-naturedly and pretended to 
eat and drink. Becoming intoxicated on im¬ 
aginary wine, he cuffed the ears of the host 
This so pleased the latter that the beggar was 
served with a bounteous meal. 

BARMEN (bar'men), a city of Germany, in 
Rhenish Prussia, on the Wupper River, about 
25 miles northeast of Cologne. The chief build¬ 
ings include the city hall, the municipal theater, 
a gymnasium, a public library, and numerous 
hospitals and educational institutions. Barmen 
has six railroads and a network of electric 
railways. It is one of the most important man¬ 
ufacturing cities of Germany, and produces the 
principal part of the ribbons made in Europe. 
Its fabrics, laces, thread, cotton, silk, and wool¬ 
en goods are transported to all parts of the 
world. Other manufactures include musical 
instruments, buttons, machinery, and metal 
ware. The city has all modern municipal fa¬ 
cilities, such as public parks, sewerage, stone 
and asphalt paving, electric lights, and central 
heating. In 1815, after the Napoleonic wars, 
it was annexed to Prussia, since which time it 
has grown rapidly in commerce and wealth. 
Population, 1920, 169,201. 

BARNABAS (bar'na-bas), or Joses, a re¬ 
ligious teacher mentioned in the Acts of the 
Apostles as a coworker of Paul, who is spoken 
of as an apostle. He founded the first Chris¬ 
tian community at Antioch, is reputed the 
Bishop of Milan, and is thought to have suf¬ 
fered martyrdom at Cyprus. The 11th of June 
is observed by the Catholic Church as St. Bar¬ 
nabas’s day. 



BARNACLE (bar'na-k’l), a marine animal 
of the lower order, generally called a cirriped. 



HEADS OF BARLEY. 


BARLOW (bar'lo), 









































BARNACLE GOOSE 


233 


BARNEY 


Many species are common to all the oceans, 
differing in the manner of life and the method 
by which the adult is attached to some object. 
Among the best known are the acorn barnacle 
and the goose barnacle. The latter is so named 
because the ancients supposed that it produces 
the barnacle goose, a wild goose of the north¬ 
western part of Europe. It is enveloped by a 
mantle and shell, possesses a long, flexible 
stock or peduncle provided with muscles, by 
which it fastens itself to floating objects, such 
as submerged timber or the bottom of ships. 
Its food consists of small marine animal life, 
which it secures from the water by its tenta¬ 
cles. The acorn barnacle, which has no stalk, 
is enveloped by a shell formed in the shape of 
an acorn, but composed of numerous valves. 
Some species were eaten by the ancients and 
are still esteemed as food by the Chinese. Dar¬ 
win made a more extensive study of barnacles 
than of any other group of animals. 

BARNACLE GOOSE. See Barnacle. 

BARNARD (bar'nard), Frederick Augus¬ 
tus Porter, educator, born at Sheffield, Mass., 
May 5, 1809; died in New York City, April 27, 
1889. His education was secured at Yale, where 
he taught for some time, and afterward became 
instructor in the Hartford Asylum for the 
Deaf and Dumb and later in a similar institu¬ 
tion in New York. In 1837 he was elected to 
the chair of mathematics and philosophy in the 
University of Alabama, which he held for sev¬ 
enteen years. Subsequently he taught in the 
University of Mississippi and Columbia Col¬ 
lege, and was United States Commissioner to 
the Universal Exposition in Paris in 1867. He 
wrote many text-books in arithmetic, gram¬ 
mar, history, government, surveying, mathe¬ 
matics, and physics. He left his property to 
the Columbia University, which institution 
founded Barnard College for Women in his 
honor. His chief published works include “Un- 
dulatory Theory of Light,” “History of the 
United States Coast Survey,” “The Metric 
System,” and “University Education.” 

BARNARD, Henry, educator, born' at Hart¬ 
ford, Conn., Jan. 24, 1811; died July 5, 1900. 
He studied at Yale, where he graduated in 
1830, was admitted to the bar, and served in 
the State Legislature from 1837 to 1840. In 1843 
he was elected school commissioner of Rhode 
Island, and served as superintendent of schools 
in Connecticut from 1850 until 1854. In 1865 
he was chosen president of the University of 
Wisconsin. He was made the first United 
States commissioner of education in 1867, and 
as such organized the bureau of education. As 
an educator he takes rank with Horace Mann, 
both as an organizer and in carrying out a 
systematic line of educational reforms. He pub¬ 
lished “Hints and Methods for the Use of 
Teachers,” “Education in Factories,” “School 
Libraries,” “German Educational Reform,” and 
“Pestalozzi and Pestalozzianism.” He founded 


and for a number of years published the 
American Journal of Education. 

BARNBURNERS (barn'burn-ers), a name 
given to the followers of Martin Van Buren 
at the time the Democratic party in New York 
was split into two factions. The name was 
derived from the case of the farmer who burned 
his barn to kill the rats, to which the party 
was likened, owing to the eagerness of some of 
the leaders to secure reforms. Their opponents 
were called the hunkers. In 1848 the Barn¬ 
burners generally voted with the Free Soilers, 
making possible the election of the Whig can¬ 
didate, Zachary Taylor. 

BARNBY, Sir Joseph, musician, born at 
York, England, Aug. 12, 1838; died Jan. 28, 
1896. He was educated at the Royal Academy 
of Music, London, and in 1875 became director 
of musical instruction at Eton. Subsequently 
he conducted the oratorio concerts at the Royal 
Albert Hall Choral Society, and composed an¬ 
thems and other sacred compositions. Many of 
his songs and church music were popular and 
are still used extensively. “The Lord is King” 
is a cantata and “Rebekah” is an oratorio that 
gained much popularity. He edited “The 
Hymnary: A Book of Church Song.” 

BARNES (barnz), Albert, theologian, born 
at Rome, N. Y., Dec. 1, 1798; died at Philadel¬ 
phia, Dec. 24, 1870. He studied at Princeton 
Seminary, and became minister of the First 
Presbyterian Church at Philadelphia in 1830. 
He is the author of several commentaries and 
Bible reference books. His “Notes on the New 
Testament” was published in eleven volumes 
and had a large circulation. He was an oppo¬ 
nent of slavery and prominent as a leader in 
the Presbyterian Church. His works include 
“The Way of Salvation” and “Lectures on 
Evidences of Christianity.” 

BARNEVELDT (bar'ne-velt), Jan van 
Olden, grand pensioner of Holland, born at 
Amersfoort, Sept. 14, 1547; beheaded May 13, 
1619. He was ambassador to England in 1585, 
and became head of the Republican party of 
Holland. When Prince Maurice was stadt- 
holder to the legislature, he labored in the 
capacity of grand pensioner to effect a concil¬ 
iation between the extremists in religious mat¬ 
ters. In 1609 he concluded a truce with Spain 
for twelve years. In religious matters he sup¬ 
ported the Remonstrants, who held to the doc¬ 
trine of Free Will, while Maurice headed the 
Calvinists or Contra-Remonstrants. Maurice 
became offended and had him falsely convicted 
on charges of disloyalty and beheaded. Hol¬ 
land owed its political existence to Barneveldt, 
and his sad death is generally regarded a polit¬ 
ical wrong. 

BARNEY (bar'm), Joshua, noted seaman 
of the American Revolution, born in Baltimore, 
Maryland, July 16, 1759; died in Pittsburg, 
Penn., Dec. 1, 1818. He was appointed master’s 
mate on the Hornet at the beginning of the Rev- 


BARNUM 


234 


BAROMETER 


olutionary War, and later served with distinc¬ 
tion on board the Wasp and the Virginia. Sub¬ 
sequently he was commander of the ship Aydcr 
Ali, and captured the British General Monk in 
1782, for which service he was presented with 
a sword by the Legislature of Pennsylvania. 
From 1794 to 1800 he served in the navy of 
France. He commanded the flotilla which was 
to defend Chesapeake Bay, and was wounded 
at the Battle of Bladensburg, in 1814. President 
Monroe appointed him naval officer of the port 
of Baltimore in 1817. 

BARNUM (bar'num), Phineas Taylor, 

eminent showman, born at Bethel, Conn., July 
5, 1810; died in Bridgeport, Conn., April 7, 1891. 
He started his business career in a village store 
and for some time sold lottery tickets, and in 
1829 established The Herald of Freedom at 
Danbury, Conn., which proved unsuccessful. He 
next bought Joyce Heth, a Negro woman, said 
to have been 160 years old and a nurse of 
George Washington. Immediately he began 
to exhibit her for money, and was on the high¬ 
road to success when she died. He next went 
South and engaged in writing for newspapers, 
selling Bibles, and exhibiting Negro dancers, 
but soon removed to New York, where he pur¬ 
chased Scudder’s American Museum. His 
principal attractions consisted of a white Ne¬ 
gress, a Japanese mermaid, a woolly horse, and 
Charles S. Stratton, the famous Gen. Tom 
Thumb. His show venture caused him to real¬ 
ize good profits, and he accordingly enlarged 
by engaging Jenny Lind for 150 nights at 
$1,000 a night. With her he visited various large 
cities and sold tickets at auction. The choice 
seat for the first evening sold for $650, and the 
venture proved so successful that he netted the 
sum of $350,000. He lost some money in a 
clock venture, but soon recruited by lecturing 
and exhibiting Gen. Tom Thumb in England. 

In 1871 Barnum organized his great hippo¬ 
drome, circus, menagerie, and museum, which 
he carried through the country by means of 
500 men and horses, and later with about one 
hundred railroad cars. His success is due 
largely to his liberality in advertising. To him 
is credited the remark, “The people want to be 
humbugged.” Barnum was chosen a member 
of the State Legislature of Connecticut * four 
different times, was mayor of Bridgeport, de¬ 
livered numerous lectures, and wrote several 
books, among them the “Humbugs of the 
World,” “Autobiography,” “Struggles and Tri¬ 
umphs, and ‘ Money Getting.” The hippodrome 
represented a value of nearly $200,000. His great 
elephant Jumbo” was purchased in London 
for $10,000. .While exhibiting at Boston for 
ten consecutive days, he realized $105,000. He 
w r as a liberal and interesting man. His gift of 
a museum building to Tufts College, near Bos¬ 
ton, was one of the many good turns made by 
the great showman. 

BARODA (ba-ro'da), a city of India, 230 


miles north of Bombay, with which it is con¬ 
nected by railway. It occupies a prominent 
site on the Vishvomitri River, which is crossed 
by several stone and steel bridges. The chief 
buildings include an ancient palace, the Angli¬ 
can church, the Baroda College, a public library, 
and the Dufferin hospital. It has a large trade 
in grain, merchandise, and live stock. The 
district of Baroda, of which it is the capital, 
has been tributary to the British since 1802. 
Many modern improvements, such as water¬ 
works and electric lights and street railways, 
have been built since European occupation be¬ 
gan. Population, 1921, 103,790. 

BAROMETER (ba-rom'e-ter), an instru¬ 
ment used in measuring atmospheric pressure. 
Owing to the even pressure of air on all sides 
of an object, many centuries elapsed before it 
was demonstrated that air possesses weight. 
The discovery was announced by Torricelli, an 
Italian, in 1643. By the use of the Torricelli 
tube, which is essentially the same as a barom¬ 
eter, he discovered that the pressure or weight 
of the atmosphere supports a column of mer¬ 
cury thirty inches high. The same experiment 
was repeated by Pascal in 1645. In 1656 Per¬ 
rier discovered that the height of the mercury 
varies with the weather; when the air is moist 
it is lighter than when dry, and, therefore, the 
mercury rises in the dry air and falls when it 
becomes more humid. This fact discovered, it 
became possible to note the state of the atmos¬ 
phere as to the quantity of moisture contained 
in it, and to determine the altitude of a given 
locality above the level of the sea, for the rea¬ 
son that the pressure of the atmosphere is 
greatest at the level of the sea and gradually 
decreases toward the higher altitudes. Hence, 
in low altitudes mercury rises in the tube, and 
it gradually falls as- the barometer is carried 
upward from the level of the sea. 


ANEROID BAROMETER. LIQUID BAROMETER. 

The barometer is constructed according to 
well established rules. A glass tube about 
thirty-three inches long, closed- at one end, is 
filled with mercury. After closing the open 
end with a finger, the tube is reversed and 
dipped below the surface of the mercury in a 
vessel. When the finger is removed from the 





















BARQUISIMETO 


235 


BARRE 


opening, a column of mercury remains in the 
tube, being sustained there by the pressure of 
the atmosphere. This column is about thirty 
inches high near the level of the sea; in high 
elevations it is much lower. The weight of the 
mercurial column is equal, in all cases, to that 
of a column of air equal in weight, extend¬ 
ing from the level of the vessel to the top 
of the atmosphere. As above stated, the mer¬ 
cury rises or falls in proportion to the pressure 
of the atmosphere, which is varied by altitude 
and moisture. Thus, the mercury rises with in¬ 
creased pressure and falls when pressure is 
diminished. At the top of Mont Blanc, about 
5,243 yards high, mercury falls to sixteen and 
one-half inches. In 1875 two Frenchmen, Sivel 
and Corce-Spinelli, lost their lives from as¬ 
phyxia while ascending in a balloon; at the 
height of 9,370 yards the mercury fell to ten 
inches. This was due to the fact that the 
higher the ascent the less air remains over¬ 
head. For this reason, the less the air presses 
down, the less power it has to sustain a column 
of mercury. In the aneroid barometer no liq¬ 
uid is used; it depends for its operation on the 
pressure exerted by the air upon its surface. 

Much study has been given to weather fore¬ 
casts based on the condition of the atmosphere 
as indicated by the barometer. A number of 
governments and yachting clubs make careful 
observations with the barometer. They are 
guided largely by its registrations. A rapid 
rise of the barometer indicates unsettled weath¬ 
er; a gradual rise indicates settled weather; a 
rapid fall indicates stormy weather. Besides 
these rules are a number of others dependent 
largely upon location and the direction of the 
winds. It is certain that many lives and much 
property have been saved by careful observa¬ 
tions of coming storms indicated by barometric 
action. 

BARQUISIMETO (bar-ke-se-ma'to), a 
city in Venezuela, capital of the state of Lara, 
on the Barquisimeto River. It is surrounded by 
a fertile plain and has a good trade in cereals 
and live stock. A cathedral, the government 
palace, and a college are among the public 
buildings. The first settlement made in its 
vicinity by the Spaniards dates from 1522, 
hence it takes rank with the oldest cities in 
America. In 1812 it was destroyed by an 
earthquake, but was soon rebuilt, and became 
the capital of a state of the same name in 
1830. The state of Lara is part of the former 
state of Barquisimeto. Population, 1919, 41,- 
360. 

BARR, Amelia Edith, novelist, born io Ul- 
verton, England, March 29, 1831. She was edu¬ 
cated at Glasgow. In 1854 she removed with 
her husband, Robert Barr, to Texas, and in 
1869 went to New York City to engage in lit¬ 
erary work. Her writings are chiefly novels, 
based largely on scenes in Scotland and Eng¬ 
land, and include a number of historical tales. 


Among her chief books are “Romance and 
Reality/’ “The Hallam Succession,” “Jan Ved- 
der’s Wife,” “Remember the Alamo,” “A Bor¬ 
der Shepherdess,” “The Maid of Maiden Lane,” 
“The Lion’s Whelp,” and “Between Two 
Loves.” She died March 10, 1919. 

BARR, Robert, novelist, born in Glasgow, 
Scotland, Sept. 16, 1850. He came to Canada 
at an early age and attended the Normal School 
at Toronto, after which he was head master of 
a school in Windsor for a number of years. In 
1876 he joined the editorial staff of the Detroit 
Free Press, to which he contributed under the 
name Luke Sharp. He removed to London in 
1881 and with Jerome K. Jerome founded the 
Idler as a monthly magazine. His story, “In 
the Midst of Alarms,” is based on the attempt¬ 
ed Fenian invasion of Canada. His books in¬ 
clude “A Woman Intervened,” “The Countess 
Tekla,” “The Face and the Mask,” “The Un¬ 
changing East,” and “The Tempestuous Petti¬ 
coat.” He died Oct. 22, 1912. 

BARRANQUILLA (bar-ran-kel'ya), a sea¬ 
port in Colombia, on the Magdalena River, fif¬ 
teen miles from the Caribbean Sea. It is 
connected with Sabinilla, its port on the Car¬ 
ibbean, with a railroad. Formerly only the 
smaller boats could navigate the Magdalena at 
this point, but it has been improved by dredg¬ 
ing and now admits the larger vessels. The 
city has a large trade in produce and is im¬ 
proved with modern public utilities. Popula¬ 
tion, 1915, 40,115. 

B ARRAS (ba-ra'), Paul Frangois Jean 
Nicolas, Comte de, revolutionist, born at Fox- 
Amphoux, France, June 30, 1755; died Jan. 29, 
1829. In early youth he became a soldier in 
India in opposition to the British. After at¬ 
taining to the rank of captain, he returned to 
France and joined the revolutionary party with 
the hope of regaining his dissipated fprtune. 
He rapidly rose to eminence and became a mem¬ 
ber of the national convention in 1792, in which 
he opposed the royalists and voted for the 
execution of the king. At Toulon he con¬ 
ducted a siege against the royal insurgents. His 
energy and activity in the southern part of 
France caused the revolutionary party to tri¬ 
umph in that part of the country. In 1794 he 
aided in the overthrow of Robespierre, and the 
next year became commander in chief of the 
army, buLlater yielded to the rising popularity 
of Napoleon Bonaparte. He wrote personal 
memoirs of importance, but they were seized 
by the government on the charge that they were 
treasonable, but they were subsequently pub¬ 
lished. Much of his later life was devoted to 
planning against the government, his political 
career having ended by the ascendency of Na¬ 
poleon in 1799. 

BARRE (bar're), a city in Washington 
County, Vermont, about six miles southeast of 
Montpelier, on the Vermont Central and the 
Montpelier and Wells River railroads. The 


BARREL 


236 


BARROWS 


manufactures consist chiefly of monuments and 
building materials made of Barre granite, which 
is quarried extensively in the vicinity. Among 
the principal buildings are the public library, 
the Goddard Seminary, and the high school. 
The first settlement was made in the vicinity 
in 1788 and it was incorporated in 1894. Popula¬ 
tion, 1900, 8,448; in 1920, 10,008. 

BARREL (bar'rel), a vessel formed of 
staves and surrounded by hoops. The staves 
are fitted carefully and held together tightly by 
the hoops, and at the two ends of the barrel are 
circular boards called the heads, which are fit¬ 
ted in grooves. Most barrels bulge in the mid¬ 
dle, in which the staves are wider in the mid¬ 
dle than at the ends, but some are larger at the 
lower end. A bunghole is provided for the 
purpose of allowing the inflow and outflow of 
liquids. 

Many articles of commerce are sold in bar¬ 
rels, but the market value is based upon the 
quantity in pounds. Thus, a barrel of flour 
contains 196 and a barrel of pork 200 pounds. 
The barrel, in wine measure, contains 31^2 gal¬ 
lons, and the imperial barrel of England con¬ 
tains 36j4 gallons of beer. A barrel of butter 
consists of 224 pounds. 

BARRETT (bar'ret), Lawrence, Shake¬ 
spearian actor, born at Paterson, N. J., April 
4, 1838; died March 20, 1891. He was noted as 
an accomplished actor in America and Europe, 
played with Booth in New York, and in many 
large cities. He wrote “Life of Edwin Forrest.” 
His chief roles were in “Julius Caesar,” “King 
Lear,” and “Yorick’s Love.” 

BARRIE (bar'ri), a town in Ontario, cap¬ 
ital of Simcoe County, fifty-six miles north¬ 
west of Toronto. It is nicely situated on Lake 
Simcoe, a beautiful sheet of water about thirty 
miles long and twenty-six wide, and the sur¬ 
rounding country is fertile. It is the seat of a 
collegiate institute and several churches and 
schools. The manufactures embrace leather, 
woolen goods, flour, and machinery. Steam¬ 
boats run on the lake 
from the town, which 
is popular as a summer 
resort. Population, 
1921, 6,992. 

BARRIE, James 
Matthew, novelist, 
born at Kirriemuir, 
Scotland, May 9, 1860. 
He graduated at Edin¬ 
burgh University in 
1882 and soon after 
took up journalism in 
Nottingham and Lon¬ 
don. In his writings 
much pathos and hu¬ 
mor is employed in delineating Scotch life, and 
a number of his books have been dramatized. 
His chief publications include “A Window in 
Thrums,” “The Little Minister,” “When a Man’s 


Single,” “The Little White Bird,” “The Wed* 
ding Guest,” “Quality Street,” “Little Mary,” 
“Alice-Sit-by-the-Fire,” and “The Professor’s 
Love Story.” 

BARRIER REEF (bar'ri-er ref), a coral 
reef extending from ten to one hundred miles 
off the northeast coast of Australia, 1,265 miles 
in length. The reef is precipitous and rises 
from great depths. The trip from Sidney to 
Torres Strait is usually made by the inner 
route, where the sea is twelve fathoms deep. 
The passage is narrow, but it is less danger¬ 
ous than the outer route. A vast region is 
covered by the Barrier Reef, about 100,000 
square miles, and the surrounding waters yield 
pearls and trepang. 

BARRON (bar'run), James, naval officer, 
born in Virginia in 1769; died April 21, 1851. 
He served in the navy under his father, who 
had chief command of the navy organized by 
the commonwealth of Virginia, and in 1798 
became first lieutenant in the United States 
navy. In 1807 he was given command of the 
Chesapeake and sailed from Hampton Roads 
for the Mediterranean. While en route the 
Chesapeake was attacked by the British frigate 
Leopard, and Barron was compelled to sur¬ 
render three of his crew alleged to be British 
deserters. The action of the captain of the 
Leopard was repudiated by the British govern¬ 
ment. In the United States it was generally 
thought that Barron did not exercise due dili¬ 
gence in protecting his crew, of which three 
were killed and eighteen wounded. This caused 
him to be suspended from active service for 
five years, and, believing Commodore Decatur 
in a measure responsible for his discharge, he 
challenged the latter for a duel and mortally 
wounded him at Bladensburg, Md., in 1820. 
Barron was seriously wounded, but recovered and 
became the senior officer in the navy in 1839. 

BARROW (bar'ro), the name given to 
mounds of earth constructed anciently for bur¬ 
ial and monumental purposes. Many found 
in Great Britain are supposed to belong to the 
period of the Roman invasion. Eurasia, North 
ern Africa, and the Mississippi valley of North 
America are especially rich with these evidences 
of former populations. Many are long, others 
are in the form of a bell or cone, and some are 
broad barrows. Homer’s “Iliad” mentions simi¬ 
lar artificial mounds in connection with the 
obsequies of Achilles and Flector. See Mound 
Builders. 

BARROW, a river of Ireland, rises in 
Queen’s County, on the northeastern slope of 
the Slieve Bloom Mountains. After a course of 
120 miles it unites with the Suir River and flows 
through Waterford Harbor into the sea. It is 
navigable twenty-five miles from its mouth, as 
far as New Ross. 

BARROWS, John Henry, clergyman and 
educator, born in Medina, Mich., July 11, 1847; 
died in 1902. He studied at Yale and at Ando- 



J. M. BARRIE. 


BARROWS 


237 


BARTH 


ver, and subsequently attended the university 
at Gottingen, Germany. In 1881 he became 
pastor of the First Presbyterian Church in Chi¬ 
cago and administered to its needs until 1896. 
He was the organizer and president of the 
World’s Parliament of Religions held at the 
Columbian Exposition in Chicago in 1893, and 
subsequently made a tour of the world In 
1898 he became president of Oberlin College, 
Ohio. His books include “The Gospels are 
True Histories,” “History of the World’s Par¬ 
liament of Religions,” “The Christian Conquest 
of Asia,” “Life of Henry Ward Beecher,” and 
“I Believe in God.” 

BARROWS, Samuel June, author, born in 
New York City, May 26, 1845. He studied 
theology and telegraphy and was a newspaper 
reporter. For two years, beginning in 1867, 
he was secretary to William H. Seward, and 
in 1874 studied at the University of Leipzig, 
Germany. He became pastor of the First Uni¬ 
tarian Church in Boston in 1876, and edited 
several periodicals devoted to the Unitarian 
faith. In 1897 he was elected to Congress as 
a Republican, and was a delegate at the con¬ 
gress of arbitration in Brussels in 1897, at 
Christiania in 1899, and at Paris in 1900. His 
chief books are “The Doom of the Majority of 
Mankind,” “The Shaybacks in Camp,” “A Bap¬ 
tist Meeting-House,” “The Staircase to the 
Old Faith, the Open Door to the New,” “The 
Isles and Shrines of Greece,” and “Crimes and 
Misdemeanors.” He died April 21, 1909. 

BARROW STRAIT, a narrow channel ex¬ 
tending from Lancaster Sound and connecting 
Baffin Bay with Melville Sound. It was so 
named from Sir John Barrow, a British trav¬ 
eler, though Parry discovered it in 1819. 

BARRY (bar'ri), Alfred, bishop, born in 
London, England, Jan. 15, 1826. He studied at 
King’s College, London, and Trinity College, 
Cambridge, and for some time was chaplain in 
ordinary to Queen Victoria. In 1884 he was 
made primate of Australia and bishop of Syd¬ 
ney. He resigned his see in 1889, and became 
cannon of Windsor and afterward rector of 
Saint James’s, Piccadilly. He wrote “Introduc¬ 
tion to the Old Testament, Christianity and 
Socialism,” “England’s Mission in India,” and 
“The Christian Sunday, Its History.” 

BARRY, Sir Charles, architect, born at 
Westminster, England, May 23, 1795; died May 
12, 1860. He made a study of the architecture 
of Italy and Greece and designed the Manches¬ 
ter Athenaeum. His designs for the new houses 
of Parliament at Westminster were accepted 
in preference to those of his competitors and 
work was commenced after his plans in 1840. 
He was knighted and in 1844 chosen a Royal 
Academician. 

BARRY, John, naval officer, born in Ta- 
cumshane, Ireland, in 1745; died Sept. 13, 1803. 
He came to America at the age of fifteen years 
and settled at Philadelphia, where he acquired 


wealth and influence. In 1776, at the beginning 
of the Revolution, he was appointed commander 
of the Lexington and captured the Edivard, the 
first British ship to be taken by an officer of 
the United States navy. The following year 
he captured a British war vessel in the Dela¬ 
ware, and in 1781 captured two other British 
vessels. In 1794 he was senior officer with the 
rank of commodore. 

BARRY, William Farguhar, soldier, born 
in New York City, Aug. 18, 1818; died July 
18, 1879. He took military training at West 
Point, where he graduated in 1838, and fought 
against the Seminoles in Florida. In the 
Mexican War he was on the staff of Maj. 
Gen. Worth, and subsequently took part in ex¬ 
peditions against the Indians in Dakota and 
Utah. He was chief of artillery of the Army 
of the Potomac at the beginning of the Civil 
War, and was brevetted brigadier general for 
gallant services in the campaign against Gen. 
Johnston. He published “A System of Tactics 
for the Field Artillery of the United States.” 

BARRYMORE (bar'ri-mor), Maurice, actor 
and playwright, born in India in 1847; died 
March 25, 1905. He was educated at the Uni¬ 
versity of Cambridge, England, and began a 
successful career as actor. In 1875 he made a 
tour to the chief cities of Canada and the 
United States. He played successfully with 
Mrs. Bernard Beere, Mrs. Langtry, Madame 
Modjeska, and Olga Nethersole. His play 
“Nadjeska” was presented many times by 
Madame Modjeska and became very popular. 

BARTER (bar'ter), the term used in 
economics to express the exchange of one com¬ 
modity for another, as contrasted with the sale 
of commodities for money. In primitive times 
barter was extensive, each individual exchang¬ 
ing the surplus of his own products for such 
surplus products of others as he himself might 
desire. Instead of paying money for clothing 
or food, the primitive man traded a pig for a 
sheep, or several commodities for one of 
greater value than either. This system was con¬ 
ducted in the primitive states of all communities, 
and still prevails more or less among savage 
people. The terms barter and sale are used at 
present as interchangeable by many courts. 

BARTH (bart), Heinrich, African explorer, 
born in Hamburg, Germany, May 19, 1821; 
died Nov. 25, 1865. In 1844 he was granted the 
degree of Ph. D. at the University of Berlin. 
Flis explorations included all the countries 
bordering on the Mediterranean Sea, the 
Sahara, and the entire course of the Niger. He 
published reports of his travels from time to 
time, which embrace descriptions of routes 
covering more than 15,000 miles. His writings 
include many valuable geographical and histor¬ 
ical works. The best known are “Travels and 
Discoveries of Central Africa,” “Explorations 
of the Shores of the Mediterranean,” and 
“Vocabularies of Central Africa.” 


BARTHOLDI 


238 


BARTON 


BARTHOLDI (bar-tol-de'), Frederic 
Auguste, French sculptor, born in Alsace, Ger¬ 
many, April 2, 1834; died Oct. 4, 1904. He first 

engaged in painting, 
but soon abandoned 
that art to devote 
himself to sculpture. 
His best known 
production is the 
“Colossal Statue of 
Liberty Enlighten¬ 
ing the World,” 
which was com¬ 
pleted in 1884, and 
was presented by 
France to the 
United States. It 
is located on 
Bedloe’s Island, in 
New York Harbor. “The Lion of Belfast,” a 
fine work of art, is considered his masterpiece. 
Other works include the statue of Lafayette, 
in New York, and the busts of Erchmann and 
Chatrain. He was presented with the cross of 
the Legion of Honor in 1865, and was the 
commander of that organization for several 
years. See Liberty, Statue of. 

BARTHOLOMEW (bar-thol'6-mew). 
Saint, one of the twelve apostles, supposed to 
be the same person as Nathaniel. Little is 
known of him and his labors, and, according to 
Eusebius, he preached the Gospel in Arabia. 

BARTHOLOMEW FAIR, an exhibition 
held under a charter issued by Henry I. at West 
Smithfield, London, from 1133 till 1855, on 
Saint Bartholomew’s day, Aug. 24th. It was 
long a center of amusement and games, but 
began to lose its trade after 1685. 

BARTHOLOMEW, Massacre of Saint, 
the name applied to a slaughter of French 
Protestants on the night of Saint Bartholo¬ 
mew’s day, Aug. 24, 1572, with the sanction of 
Charles IX., influenced by his mother, Cath¬ 
erine de Medici. She was the regent of her 
son Charles during his minority, and a long 
war raged between the Catholics and Hugue¬ 
nots. With the pretense of friendship, she 
made overtures to the Huguenots, which resulted 
in a peace treaty. She married her daughter 
Margaret to Prince Henry of Navarre, later 
Henry IV., who was leader of the Huguenots, 
and appointed Admiral Coligny, an influential 
Huguenot, to an important position in the king¬ 
dom. Admiral Coligny was invited to the court 
of the king and honored as a father. The 
admiral was wounded by a shot on Aug. 22, 
and the king hastened to his relief and promised 
punishment to the offender, but later his mother 
induced him to believe that the admiral desired 
to take his life. A council was held, and Aug. 
24 was fixed for the night of the execution. 
Accordingly, Admiral Coligny was murdered, 
and a bell from the royal palace at midnight 
gave the signal for the commencement of the 


massacre. The bloody slaughter was promptly 
commenced and carried to all parts of France. 
It is said that the two Huguenot princes, Conde 
and Henry of Navarre, saved their lives by 
denying their religion, but this is not admitted 
by good authorities. According to Sully, 
70,000 Huguenots, including women and chil¬ 
dren, were murdered. However, the object 
designed was not accomplished, and the king 
was required to grant liberty of conscience 
soon after to all citizens of France. 

BARTLESVILLE, county seat of Washing¬ 
ton County, Oklahoma, on the Santa Fe and 
the Missouri, Kansas and Texas railways. It 
has fine buildings, such as the high school, 
court house, public library, and many churches. 
Other features include paving, sanitary sewers, 
electric street railways, and manufactures of 
glass, brick, cigars, and machinery. It was 
incorporated in 1897. Population 1920, 14,417. 

BARTLETT (bart'let), Samuel Colcord, 
clergyman, born at Salisbury, N. H., Nov. 25, 
1817; died at Hanover, N. H., Nov. 16, 1898. 
He graduated from Dartmouth College in 1836, 
and was its president from 1877 to 1892. His 
writings include “From Egypt to Palestine” 
and “Sources of History in the Pentateuch.” 

BARTOLINI (bar-to-le'ne), Lorenzo, 
Italian sculptor, born in Tuscany in 1777; died 
Jan. 20, 1850. He came to Paris while young, 
where he studied and worked. After the Battle 
of Waterloo, he resided mostly at Florence. 
Among his finest works are “Charity,” “Her¬ 
cules,” Lycus,” a magnificent bust of Napoleon, 
and a monument in memory of Lady Strat¬ 
ford Canning. He ranks next to Canova among 
modern Italian sculptors. 

BARTOLOMMEO (bar'to-lo-ma'o), Fra, 
the assumed name of Baccio della Porta, 
painter, born in Florence, Italy, in 1475; died 
in 1517. He studied in Florence, where he 
formed a close friendship with Raphael, whom 
he assisted in a number of works. “The 
Annunciation,” now in the Louvre at Paris, 
is one of his most celebrated works. Other 
works of high repute include the painting of 
Saint Paul in the Pitti Palace, the frescoes in 
the convent of San Marco, and “The Virgin 
upon the Throne,” in Florence. 

BARTOLOZZI (bar-to-lot'se), Francesco, 

engraver and designer, born in Florence, Italy, 
Sept. 21, 1728; died in April, 1813. He studied 
under Joseph Wagner at Venice, and in 1764 
removed to London, where he spent forty years 
and produced his best work. He went to 
Lisbon in 1805 to superintend a school of en¬ 
graving and remained there until his death. 
His engraving of Carlo Dolce’s “Virgin and 
Child” and several works in Boydell’s Shake¬ 
speare gallery are among his best known. 

BARTON (bar'tun), Bernard, poet, born in 
London, England, Jan. 31, 1784; died Feb. 19, 
1849. He was popularly known as the Quaker 
poet. His writings are tempered with tender- 



F. A. BARTHOLDI. 




BARTON 


239 


BASCOM 


ness and a religious spirit. Through the efforts 
of Sir Robert Peel, he received a pension of 
£100. Among his chief books are “Metrical 
Effusions,” “Napoleon and Other Poems,” 
“Household Verses,” and “The Reliquary.” 

BARTON, Clara, philanthropist, born in 
Oxford, Mass., in 1821; died April 12, 1912. 
She studied at Clinton, N. Y., and became a 

teacher at Borden- 
town, N. J. Later 
she engaged as a 
clerk in the gov¬ 
ernment patent of¬ 
fice at Washing¬ 
ton. At the be¬ 
ginning of the 
Civil War she be¬ 
came devoted to 
the care of wound¬ 
ed soldiers and 
was placed in 
charge of hospi¬ 
tals of the army 
of the James. In 
1865 she marked the graves of Union soldiers 
at Andersonville, Ga. Beginning in 1866, she 
devoted several years to lecturing, both in 

America and Europe. In the war between 
Germany and France she served as assistant 
to the Grand Duchess of Baden in the 

establishment of field hospitals, and was 
awarded the golden cross of Baden and 
the iron cross of Germany. In 1881, when 
the American Red Cross Society was organized, 
she became its president. She was the repre¬ 
sentative of this organization at a conference 
at Geneva, Switzerland, in 1884, and served as 
a delegate at the International Peace Conven¬ 
tion at the same place and time. She held the 
position of commissioner of foreign exhibits at 
the New Orleans Exposition. At the request 
of the United States Senate, in 1883, she pre¬ 
pared the “History of the Red Cross,” which 
was published at Washington by the govern¬ 
ment. In 1896 the Red Cross Society of Amer¬ 
ica collected funds to relieve the sufferers of 
the Turkish oppression in Armenia, and she 
■ proceeded thence as the representative of the 
society, though the Sultan of Turkey reluc¬ 
tantly granted her permission to relieve Ar¬ 
menian sufferers. In 1898 she rendered valuable 
services in Cuba during the Spanish-American 
War. Mrs. John A. Logan succeeded her as 
president of the Red Cross Society in 1904. 
She published “History of the Red Cross in 
Peace and War.” 

BARTON, Sir Edmund, statesman, born in 
Sydney, Australia, Jan. 18, 1849; died Jan. 4, 
1920. He graduated at Sydney and soon began 
a successful political career. In 1883 he be¬ 
came speaker of the legislative assembly, serv¬ 
ing until 1887, when he was appointed attorney 
general. He was a member of the federal con¬ 
ventions in Sydney and Adelaide and a leader in 


the movement for federation in Australia. In 
1901 he became prime minister and minister of 
external affairs in the Australian cabinet. 

BARTRAM (bar'tram), John, botanist, born 
near Darby, Pa., March 23, 1699; died Sept. 22, 
1777. He laid out a botanical garden on the 
Schuylkill River, near Kingsessing, and made 
a large number of collections. George III. ap¬ 
pointed him honorary botanist of America and 
Linnaeus referred to him in terms of praise. 

BARUCH (ba'ruk), a Hebrew scribe of the 
6th century b. c. He is mentioned as a friend 
and companion of Jeremiah, the prophet, and 
accompanied him to Egypt (Jer. xxvi., 4; xxxii., 
13). The Book of Baruch, a part of the Apoc¬ 
rypha, is admitted as a part of the canon of 
the Holy Scriptures by the Roman Catholics, 
but Protestants and Jews consider it Apoc¬ 
ryphal. 

BARUCH, Bernard Mannes, public man, 
son of. Simon Baruch (born in 1840), the emi¬ 
nent German-American physician. He operated 
successfully on the New York Stock Exchange. 
President Wilson appointed him a member of 
the Council of National Defense. In 1916 he 
was made purchasing agent for the War Indus¬ 
trial Board, of which he became chairman 
in 1918. 

BAR YE (bare'), Antoine Louis, sculptor, 
born in Paris, France, Sept. 24, 1795; died June 
25, 1875. After serving in the army in 1812-14, 
he completed his studies under several promi¬ 
nent sculptors. His reputation is based largely 
upon “The Tiger Tearing a Crocodile” and “The 
Jaguar and the Gazelle.” 

BARYTA (ba-ri'ta). See Barium. 

BASALT (ba-salt'), an igneous rock belong¬ 
ing to the trap-rock variety, frequently colum¬ 
nar in structure. Its origin is due to great 
pressure on the interior of the earth, in re¬ 
mote geological ages, forcing melted rock 
through fissures of other rock formations. On 
cooling, the mass formed what is known as 
dikes. These vary in width from several inches 
to three or four yards. They are much harder 
than the rock through which they were forced, 
and usually extend above the general surface, 
owing to the fact that they are less subject 
to corrosion. Many attain a height of five to 
160 feet. The columns are generally in the 
forms of a pentagon, hexagon, or octagon. 
They are found in various parts of the con¬ 
tinents, and are most numerous near the bor¬ 
ders of mountainous districts. There are 
columns of basalt at the Giant’s Causeway in 
the northern part of Ireland, in Scotland, at 
Fingal’s Cave, and various parts of the Island 
of Staffa. On the northwestern coast of Lake 
Superior are examples of basalt. The Colum¬ 
bia River, in Washington, has extensive cliffs 
formed of basaltic columns. 

BASCOM (bas'kum), John, educator, born 
in Genoa, N. Y., May 1, 1827. He studied at 
Williams College and Andover Theological 
Seminary, and in 1855 became professor of 



BASE 


240 


BASEBALL 


rhetoric at Williams College. In 1874 he was 
elected president of the University of Wis¬ 
consin, where he held the chair of mental and 
moral philosophy. He taught political science 
at Williams College froln 1887 to 1901, and was 
prominent as a lecturer on educational and re¬ 
ligious subjects. He published the “Principles 
of Phsycology,” “Problems in Philosophy,” 
“God and His Goodness,” “The Philosophy of 
English Literature,” and “The Growth of Na¬ 
tionality.” He died Oct. 2, 1911. 

BASE (has), a term used in chemistry to 
describe a substance which has the power to 
unite with an acid and with it form a salt. 
Water is formed in the process and the metal 
takes the place of the hydrogen of the acid. 
A base may be either an oxide or a hydrox¬ 
ide, lime or calcium oxide being an example 
of the former and potassium hydroxide of the 
latter. The salt potassium nitrate, or saltpeter, 
is formed when potassium hydroxide acts upon 
nitric acid, while the salt sodium sulphate re¬ 
sults from the uniting of sodium hydroxide and 
sulphuric acid. Bases may be either oxygen, as 
those mentioned above, or they may contain sul¬ 
phur, iodine, chlorine, bromine, and flourine. 
The alkaloids, or organic bases, found in many 
plants, contain nitrogen. They are considered 
as substitution compounds of ammonia. 

BASEBALL (bas'bal), an athletic game re¬ 
garded national in America. The simpler 
game known as town ball was played in the 
United States until 1857, when baseball began 
to be played by amateurs. It continued to at¬ 
tract little attention until 1871, when profes¬ 
sional organizations were instituted. Soon after 
it was introduced into England and other coun¬ 
tries. In 1884 the National Association of 
Baseball Players was organized, and this was 
succeeded two years later by the National 
League of Professional Clubs. 

The game has been brought to a high stand¬ 
ard by the development of professional skill, 
the adoption of standard rules, and the culti¬ 
vation of a public interest sufficient to cause 
attendance in large numbers at public exhibits. 
Many high schools, colleges, and universities 
have clubs and give much time and attention 
to the development of professional skill. The 
larger number of the clubs of the National 
League and of the American League devote 
most of their time, in the playing season, to 
public exhibits and from gate receipts secure 
handsome incomes. In 1874 several clubs 
visited England and Ireland, where they played 
fourteen exhibition games. One of the most 
noted tours was made in 1888-89, when the Chi¬ 
cago club and a team gathered promiscuously, 
known as the All-American, made a tour of 
the world. They visited and played at Hono¬ 
lulu, Sidney, Auckland, Melbourne, Colombo, in 
Ceylon, at the Pyramids of Egypt, Rome, Na¬ 
ples, Paris, London, and many other great 
cities of the world. 


The game is played with a ball and bat. 
The ball weighs about five ounces* avordupois, 
and is about nine inches in circumference. 
The bat is made entirely of wood, but may 
have twine wound around the handle, and can¬ 
not exceed forty-two inches in length. There 
are nine players on a side, who play on a dia¬ 
mond-shaped piece of ground ninety feet on 
each side, the corners being bases. The field is 
taken by one side, and the other side has a man 
at the bat. The field side has a pitcher located 
inside the ground, near the center in front of 
the batsman; he throws the ball to the batsman, 
who has a position on the home base, and who 
makes an effort to drive it with the bat out of 
the reach of the fielders and to such a distance 
as to enable him to run around the bases and 
make a score. If he fails to drive the ball far 
enough to make a complete round, he stops 
at one of the bases and is followed by another 
batsman. If he is touched by the ball before 
reaching a base, he is out, and, when three of 
his side are out, the side at the bat takes the 
field. A game includes nine innings, and the 
side making the highest score wins. 

centre 



BASEBALL GROUND. 

R eserv . at i° n tor batsman, catcher, and umpire; 
BB, for captain and assistant; CP, benches for players; 
D, visiting players’ bat-rack; E, home players’ bat-rack. 

The games played by the professional clubs 
are attended by newspaper reporters and tele¬ 
graph operators are located at instruments near 
at hand, who send the news of the progress 
made to all parts of the country. Many times 
bulletin boards are posted in conspicuous places 
at the games and in many cities far remote, at 
which interested spectators may learn of the 



































BASEDOW 


211 


BASILICA 


progress and results. It is not unusual for the 
national and international games to be attended 
by 15,000 to 40,000 spectators, as was the case 
at the great games played between the teams 
of Boston and Brooklyn in 1916. While the 
game is easily understood, much practice is 
required to become skilled in its arts. Elab¬ 
orate rules have been provided for the guidance 
of individual players and associations. These 
are changed or amended by national represent¬ 
ative conventions from time to time, and are 
consulted as a guide in all the amateur and 
professional games. 

BASEDOW (bii'ze-do), John Bernhard, 

educational reformer, born at Hamburg, Ger¬ 
many, Sept. 11, 1723; died July 25, 1790. He 
studied at Leipzig and in 1753 became professor 
in the academy at Soroe, Denmark. In 1761 
he was transferred to the gymnasium at Al- 
tona, where he became involved in a severe con¬ 
troversy with several theologians on account of 
his books raising questions against the orthodox 
faith. The foundation of the educational in¬ 
stitution which became famous in history as 
the Philanthropinuin was laid in 1774 at Des¬ 
sau, Germany. The purpose of this institution 
was to supply a model school in which the 
principles of elementary work could be applied 
to practical methods. His system of education 
aims to secure the full development of all the 
faculties of the young. He thought that the 
pupil should learn with love, not with repug¬ 
nance, and this theory had a beneficent influence 
upon the methods employed by other educa¬ 
tional institutions. As an organizer he did not 
prove successful, but teachers from his institu¬ 
tion were scattered through all parts of Ger¬ 
many and applied in various ways the princi¬ 
ples of the founder. He published “Book of 
Methods,” “Pedagogical Conversations,” and 
“Address to the Philanthropists and Men of 
Property.” 

BASEL (ba'zel), or Bale, a city and canton 
of Switzerland. The canton has an area of 
177 square miles and a population of 82,390. 
It borders on Alsace and the inhabitants are 
German. The city of Basel is one of the largest 
in Switzerland, situated forty-three miles north 
of Berne, on both sides of the Rhine, and the 
two parts are connected by a number of bridges. 
It occupies a fine site about 800 feet above the 
level of the sea. The two parts into which it 
is divided by the river are known as Grossbasel 
and Kleinbasel. It is the seat of a cathedral 
founded in 1010, which contains the tombs of 
Erasmus and other distinguished persons. It 
has a fine university founded in 1459. The uni¬ 
versity library contains 232,000 volumes and 
many pamphlets. With it are affiliated an insti¬ 
tute of natural sciences and the botanical gar¬ 
dens. Among the noted buildings are the mu¬ 
seum, the Bible Institute, the city hall, and the 
Church of Saint Elizabeth. The manufactures 
include silk, ribbons, machinery, leather, paper, 

16 


spirituous liquors, clothing, and aniline dyes. It 
has a large and growing commerce. A network 
of railroads connect it with other cities, and the 
Rhine furnishes water navigation. It is con¬ 
sidered the wealthiest city of Switzerland. Gas 
and electric lights, street railways, waterworks, 
and excellent schools are among the modern im¬ 
provements. Basel was a Roman military post 
in the 4th century, when it was known as 
Basilia. In the 10th century it became a free 
city, when it was ruled by its bishop and chief 
nobility, and it was joined to the Swiss Con¬ 
federation in 1501. Population, 1920, 138,276. 

BASEL, Council of, the last of the three 
great ecclesiastical councils convened in the 15th 
century, held at Basel, Switzerland, in 1431-49. 
The first of these councils was held at Pisa, 
Italy, in 1409, and the second at Constance, 
Switzerland, in 1414-18. The council of Basel 
was called by Pope Martin V., who died shortly 
after its convocation, and was succeeded by 
Eugenius IV. Its objects were to deliberate 
with the intention of extirpating heresies and 
to discontinue wars among Christian princes. 
However, the council got into disputes with the 
Pope, deposed him, and elected Felix V. in his 
stead. At the death of Eugenius IV., Nicholas 
V. succeeded to the pontificate, who brought 
about a reconciliation which resulted in the 
abdication of Felix V. and the official sanction 
of the decrees of the council of Basel. Final 
adjournment was agreed upon May 4, 1449. 

BASE LINE, in surveying, a line measured 
with precision and used as the basis for gov¬ 
ernment surveys, from which townships are 
numbered. Ranges are numbered east and west 
of prime meridians. 

BASIL (baz'il), a plant native to the warmer 
temperate parts of the Northern Hemisphere. 
It is an annual and has a fine odor. The leaves 
are long and the flowers appear in whorls of 
six. It is cultivated for seasoning and for its 
medicinal virtues. The sweet basil is native to 
the East Indies. It is grown extensively in 
Europe. 

BASILIAN MANUSCRIPTS, the name 
of two valuable Greek manuscripts in the 
library at Basel, Switzerland. One is a copy 
of the whole new testament, except the Apoc¬ 
alypse, written in the characters of the 10th 
century. The other is in uncial characters, 
written at Constantinople in the 8th century, 
and contains the Gospels, except Luke iii, 4-15, 
and xxiv, 47-53. 

BASILICA (ba-zil'i-ka), in architecture, a 
public hall or a courthouse. The term was 
used extensively among the ancient Greeks and 
Romans, and had reference to the public build¬ 
ings in which princes and magistrates adminis¬ 
tered justice. The Basilica Portia, built about 
182 b. c., is among the first mentioned in Roman 
history. Structures of this class were very 
numerous in Rome and the provincial towns, 
especially before the time of Constantine I., and 


BASILISK 


242 


BASKET BALL 


subsequently they were converted into Christian 
churches. They were usually surrounded by a 
peristyle of columns, and at one end was a 
semicircular or square apse. The five great 
patriarchal churches in Rome are still called 
basilicas. The term is used more or less in 
speaking of cathedrals, among them the cathe¬ 
dral in Quebec, Canada. 

BASILISK (baz'i-lisk), in fable, a creature 
variously represented to resemble a serpent, 
lizard, and dragon, and reputed to possess a 
fatal breath. In modern zoology the name is 
applied to a small reptile with four feet, a long 
tail, and a broad, membranous hood at the back 
of the head. These animals inhabit tropical 
regions, especially Central and South America, 
where they live near or in the water. They 
swim and climb trees with ease. Some species 
attain a length of thirty inches. They are 
hunted for food in some parts of the West 
Indies. 

BASIL THE GREAT (baz'il), Saint, 
eminent theologian, born at Caesarea, Asia 
Minor, about 330; died Jan 1, 379. He was 
carefully educated at Constantinople and 
Athens, after which he traveled extensively in 
Syria and Egypt, where he visited the famous 
hermits. After returning to his native town, he 
retired for study and contemplation at Iris, in 
Pontus, where he gathered a number of fol¬ 
lowers and sympathizers. In his religious faith 
he was orthodox, an opponent of Arianism, 
and when he became a candidate for the bish¬ 
opric of Caesarea he was opposed by a num¬ 
ber of parties. However, he was elected and 
his eminently able service placed him foremost 
among the fathers of the church and entitles 
him to the distinction of being the founder of 
Eastern monasticism. His writings are beauti¬ 
fied by a fine literary style. He did not recog¬ 
nize the claim to primacy of the Roman 
church. “The Liturgy of Saint Basil” con¬ 
tains his chief writings, but is not entirely his 
own work. 

BASIN (ba'sin), in geography, a term used 
to describe a collection of water, as a river, 
sea, or bay. In physical geography the term 
is applied to the area drained by a river or a 
river system. The highest line between two 
basins is the divide or watershed. In geology 
it is used to designate a depression of a strata 
which has later become filled with deposits. 
Some geologists think geological basins were 
cut out by the action of glaciers. 

BASKET (bas'ket), a light, airy vessel used 
for domestic purposes. Baskets were made 
long before the Christian era, and remains of 
them have been found in the tombs of Egypt. 
In ancient times they were made water-tight 
by a coat of asphalt, and used as vessels to 
convey liquids. Now many kinds of splints 
and twigs are woven into baskets, but willow 
shoots are most commonly used for that pur¬ 
pose. They are prepared by soaking in water, 


and then peeled by tools and split. Some 
workmen make a rude product by using willow, 
ash, elm, and birch shoots without peeling them. 
Beautiful baskets are made with splints finely 



BASKETS. 


worked and nicely decorated with artistic 
colors. In France, Japan, and China large 
quantities of elegant baskets are made for the 
market. The Indians of North America still 
make very handsome baskets ornamented with 
beads and shells. 

BASKET BALL, a popular game played 
indoors, with a ball thrown by hand into goals. 
The room in which the game is played is 
oblong, and the ground or floor contains about 
3,500 square feet. At each end is a goal or 
basket, made by suspending nets of cord from 
metal rings. The goals are ten feet above the 
floor and eighteen inches in diameter, and the 
ball, made of inflated rubber bladder covered 
with a leather case, is round and from thirty 
to thirty-two inches in circumference. Two 
teams of five players each take part in the 
game, each side having a left and right guard, 
a center, and a left and a right forward. A 
referee, who has general supervision, puts the 
ball in play by throwing it into the center of 
the field somewhat higher than either of the 
































(Opp. 242) WOVEN AND BASKET WORK. 


Table Mat. 
Crochet Basket. 


Cake Basket. 

Basket for Needle Work. 
Willow Fruit Basket. 

Cane Flower Basket. 


Cane Flower Basket 




















BASQUES 


243 


BASS STRAIT 


centers can jump, and at right angles from the 
side lines. As soon as the ball leaves the 
referee, each team makes an effort to throw the 
ball into the basket of the other,' and to pre¬ 
vent the opposing side from making a similar 
goal. The ball cannot be kicked or carried, 
but must be thrown or batted with the hand. 
If a player pushes or kicks an opponent or is 
intentionally rough, the opposing team is- per¬ 
mitted to have a throw free at a distance of 
not less than fifteen feet. A goal from the field 
counts two points, and a goal made by a free 
throw counts only one. 

Basket ball was invented by James Naismith 
in 1891. It became popular soon after, and is 
played extensively by militia companies, by the 
Young Men’s Christian Association, and in 
many of the schools and colleges. Official rules 
were drawn up by the Amateur Athletic Union 
to govern the practice. The game furnishes 
healthful exercise and calls into use the princi¬ 
pal muscles of the body. It requires quickness 
of perception, attention to points of advantage 
as the game progresses, and rapidity of thought 
and action. Besides, it furnishes pastime in the 
winter season as well as at other times of the 
year, and is played when football and baseball 
are out of season. 

BASQUES (basks) a peculiar race of people 
which probably occupied the whole Iberian 
Peninsula at a remote date. At present the 
Basques are confined to the Spanish provinces 
of Biscay, Alava, Guipuzcoa, and Navarre, and 
the department of Basses-Pyrenees of France. 
The total number in Spain and France aggre¬ 
gates about 600,000. Their language, known as 
the Basque language, has no close affinity with 
any European tongue. They are considered 
descendants of the people of ancient Iberia. 
Their industries are chiefly agriculture, mining, 
and fishing. They are fond of music and cele¬ 
brate their holiday, Sunday, in singing and 
dancing. The name basque is applied to a 
short waist worn by ladies, which was probably 
copied from the Basque costume. 

BAS-RELIEF (ba-re-lef'), in sculpture, a 
kind of art work in which the figures project 
slightly from the background. In this style 
the height is about equal to half of the thick¬ 
ness of the figure, but in many sculptures of 
the 16th century the Italian artists had the fig¬ 
ures project very slightly. The palaces of As¬ 
syria had bas-relief work set in alabaster, and 
in the halls were elaborate figures representing 
their deities and scenes of war and hunting. 
Bas-reliefs are common in Egyptian monu¬ 
ments, but the most famous examples are those 
which form the frieze of the Parthenon at 
Athens. Cavo-relievo are a kind of bas-reliefs 
in which the whole figure is set below the gen¬ 
eral surface, and the relief is in a sunken panel. 

BASS (bas), a strong, active game fish. 
The name is applied to widely different fishes 
of the perch family. Among the common 


American varieties are the rock bass, the black 
bass, the spotted bass, and the ruddy bass. 
Different species of bass are found both in the 
sea and in fresh water. Most of them are 



STRIPED BASS. 


good for food and make fine sport for anglers, 
while others are coarse. The usual weight is 
about two pounds, while the striped bass, an 
American species, attains a weight of thirty 
pounds. 

BASSANO (bas-sa'n6), Giacomo da Ponte, 

painter, born in Bassano, Italy, in 1510; died in 
1592. His father taught him the principles of 
painting, and he enjoyed opportunities in study¬ 
ing the designs of Titian and other masters. 
His productions consist largely of landscapes, 
flowers, portraits, and historical pieces. His 
son Francisco (1548-91), was a painter of con¬ 
siderable note. 

BASSETERRE (bas-tar'), a city of the 
British West Indies, capital of the island of 
Saint Christopher, or Saint Kitts. It has a 
good harbor and a trade in sugar and fruit. 
The streets are improved and many of the 
building are modern and substantial. Popula¬ 
tion, 1916, 9,962. 

BASSETERRE, a town of the West 
Indies, capital of the French island of Guada- 
loupe, at the mouth of a small river. The 
harbor is poor, but the town has considerable 
trade. It is the seat of a bishop and has 
some modern utilities. Population, 1916, 8,626. 

BASSIA, the name of a genus of plants 
native to warm climates, including several 
species of trees valued for their fruit. The 
Mahwa tree of the East Indies is valuable for 
its timber, and oil is obtained from the seeds. 
A species yields the shea butter, which is an 
important article of commerce in the central 
part of Africa, and is considered quite pala¬ 
table. 

BASSORA (bas'so-ra), or Basra, a com¬ 
mercial city of Asiatic Turkey, capital of a 
vilayet of the same name, on the Euphrates 
River. The surrounding country is fertile and 
produces rice, vegetables, and the date palm. 
Though pocrrly built and without modern facili¬ 
ties, the city has an important trade in coffee, 
drugs, rice, camels, and manufactured articles. 
A stone wall surrounds the city, and within are 
several monuments and mosques. It has a 
military station and is the seat of British and 
American consulates. Population, 40,000. 

BASS STRAIT (bas), a channel north of 
Tasmania, which it separates from Australia. 


BASSWOOD 


244 


BAT 


It is 120 miles wide and is studded with many 
islands. Flinders Island is on its eastern ex¬ 
tremity and Kings Island on its western. The 
strait was discovered in 1798 by George Bass, 
a surgeon in the British navy. 

BASSWOOD. See Linden. 

BASTIA (bas-te'a), a seaport and fortified 
city of Corsica, opposite the Isle of Elba, 
eighty miles northeast of Ajaccio. Many of 
the buildings are modern, but the streets are 
narrow and crooked, and the older part of the 
city has many small structures. Two harbors, the 
old and the new, are utilized in its commerce, 
which includes trade in oil, leather, macaroni, 
and marble. Dye, soap, and wax candles are 
manufactured. It was founded in 1380 by the 
Genoese. Population, 23,675. 

BASTIAT (bas-tya'), Frederick, econo¬ 
mist, born in Bayonne, France, June 29, 1801; 
died in Rome, Italy, Dec. 24, 1850. He began 
extensive study of political economy in 1825, 
and became a strong advocate of the doctrine 
of free trade. Later he formed the acquaint¬ 
ance of Cobden and many free traders of Eng¬ 
land, whose speeches he translated into French. 
He delivered many addresses and wrote much 
against the protective system then in force in 
France, maintaining the view that it operated 
injuriously against the commercial welfare. 
His writings embrace “Harmonies of Political 
Economy,” a work translated into several 
European languages. 

BASTIEN LEPAGE (bas-tyan' le-pazh'), 
Jules, painter, born at Damvillers, France, Nov. 
1, 1848; died Dec. 10, 1884. He studied at 
Paris and Rome, and in 1874 made his first 
exhibit at the Salon. His “Portrait of My 
Grandfather,” in which an elderly man is 
shown in a delicate outdoor light, was greatly 
admired. He painted portraits of Albert 
Wolff, Sarah Bernhardt, the Prince of Wales, 
and Gambetti on his deathbed. Other notable 
productions are “The Potato Harvest,” “The 
Haymakers,” “The Woodman,” and “Joan of 
Arc, Listening to the Voices.” 

BASTILLE (bas-tel'), a word formerly 
used in France to designate any strong castle 
defended by bastions, but now specially ap¬ 
plied as the name of the prison and citadel of 
Paris built by Charles V. about 1370. This 
structure, though designed as a defense 
against the English, was used as a state prison 
for persons of rank who had lost standing 
in the government and had forfeited public 
confidence. It had a capacity for seventy or 
eighty persons, and during the reigns of Louis 
XIV. and Louis XV. was used most exten¬ 
sively. Those confined were rarely criminals, 
but rather people who had displeased the king 
and his associates. These included political 
offenders, scholars, advocates, and priests, who 
were often confined so long that they were en¬ 
tirely forgotten by the public. On July 14, 
1789, it was captured by a Parisian mob, which 


signaled the beginning of the Revolution. The 
next day it was destroyed and not a vestige 
now remains. Its site is marked by a column 
in the Place de la Bastille. The fall of the 
Bastille is an important epoch in French his¬ 
tory and marks the downfall of the old 
monarchy. 

BASUTOLAND (ba-soo'to-land), a British 
possession in South Africa, northeast of Cape 
Colony. The area is 10,293 square miles. It 
is bounded by the Orange River Colony, Natal, 
and Cape Colony, and is drained largely by 
head streams of the Orange River. The region 
is well watered and has a fine growth of grasses 
and forests. The climate is healthful and well 
fitted for Europeans. Coal, iron, and copper 
are the chief minerals. Agriculture is the lead¬ 
ing industry. The possession was annexed to 
Cape Colony in 1871, and placed under the 
authority of the crown in 1884. Its govern¬ 
ment is administered under the direction of a 
high commissioner for South Africa, through 
a resident commissioner; the legislative power 
of the former is exercised by proclamation. 
The colony has about 260 schools, at which 
13,120 pupils receive instruction. Several high¬ 
ways have been constructed and communica¬ 
tion has been established with other South 
African countries by telegraph and railway 
lines. The native Basutos are a superior 
race of South Africa and are somewhat ad¬ 
vanced in the arts of civilization. Maseru, the 
capital, has a population of 1,350. In 1916 the 
total population was 415,500, of which number 
895 were whites. 

BAT (bat), an animal with wings composed 
largely of a thin, membranous skin, which is 
stretched from the fingers of the fore limbs 



HANGING BAT. 


and along the sides back to the hind limbs 
and tail. It moves about in the twilight and 
darkness and is the only mammal that can fly 
with facility. The bat is found in the tem¬ 
perate and warm regions, but attains its greatest 
size and is most numerous in the tropics. The 
bats ox the temperate climate are mouselike in 
appearance, and, when stretched, their wings 
measure about sixteen inches. In the daytime 
they frequent caverns, hollow trees, crevices of 




BATANGAS 


245 


BATES 


ruins, and isolated lurking places, and at night 
come out to feed upon insects. During the 
entire winter season they sleep, except in warm 
climates. Many species sleep in daytime, hang¬ 
ing by their hind legs, head downward. Bats 
are more or less abundant in all countries, ex¬ 
cept in the extreme north and south. Some 
varieties are fruit-eating animals and live in 
orchards and vineyards, while others support 
themselves by sucking the blood of other mam¬ 
mals ; this class is known as vampire bats. 
There are no less than 450 species of bats, but 
all are classed as mammiferous quadrupeds. 
They show great attachment for their young, 
often endeavoring to protect them in case of 
danger, even submitting to captivity rather than 
forsake them. The Australian kalong is the 
largest of the bats. 

BATANGAS (ba-tan'gas), a city of the 
Philippines, capital of a province of the same 
name, in Luzon, fifty-two miles south of Manila. 
It is a seaport city of considerable importance 
and has a good harbor on Batangas Bay, an 
inlet from the Pacific. Among the chief build¬ 
ings are the public library, a convent, and a 
palace. It has a large export trade and tele¬ 
graph connections with interior and continental 
points. The manufactures include cigars, earth¬ 
enware, clothing, and utensils. Waterworks and 
electric lights have been installed. It was cap¬ 
tured by the United States in 1899, in the war 
against the natives. Population, 1921, 37,400. 

BATAVIA (ba-ta'vi-a), a seaport city on 
the north coast of Java, capital of the Dutch 
East Indies, in the Province of Batavia. It is 
located on a large bay and is unhealthful, 
owing to its hot climate and low site. 
Europeans have improved the city by a system 
of drainage and by building the new part on a 
more elevated tract of land. The chief build¬ 
ings include the post office, the Java Bank, the 
Exchange building, the museum, and several 
Javanese temples. Among the modern improve¬ 
ments are electric lights, waterworks, and elec¬ 
tric street railways. It has a large export trade 
in sugar, rice, coffee, tea, oil, indigo, and 
hides, principally with Holland. It was founded 
in 1619 by the Dutch, who improved it by 
building canals and an extensive harbor. A 
large per cent, of the inhabitants are Chinese 
and Malays. Population, 1916, 116,887. 

BATAVIA, county seat of Genesee County, 
New York, 36 miles east of Buffalo, on the 
Lehigh Valley, the Erie, and the New 
Central railways. It is surrounded by a pro¬ 
ductive agricultural country, and is the seat 
of manufacturing establishments producing im¬ 
plements, machinery, shoes, textiles, canned 
goods, and flour. The chief buildings include 
the public library, the county courthouse, and 
the State School for the Blind. A monument to 
William Morgan, noted for his connection with 
the anti-Masonic movement in 1826, stands in a 
public place. It has a growing trade in mer¬ 


chandise and is improved by numerous munici¬ 
pal facilities. The city was founded in 1800. 
Population, 1905, 10,080; in 1920, 13,541. 

BATE (bat), William Brimage, soldier and 
legislator, born near Castalian Springs, Tenn., 
Oct. 7, 1826; died March 10, 1905. He attended 
public schools and as a youth became clerk on 
a steamboat, and subsequently volunteered his 
services in the Mexican War, after which he 
practiced law and edited a newspaper at Gal¬ 
latin, Tenn. His district elected him to the 
State Legislature, and he was f,or a time at¬ 
torney general for the Nashville district. At 
the beginning of the Civil War he joined the 
Confederate army as private, attained to the 
rank of major general, and surrendered with 
the army of the Tennessee in 1865. Subsequent 
to the war he again practiced law, and served 
as Governor of Tennessee in 1882-86. He was 
elected United States Senator in 1887, and 
was reelected in 1893, 1899, and 1905. Both 
as Governor and Senator he was influential, and 
as the latter served on a number of important 
committees. 

BATEMAN (bat'man), Newton, educator, 
born in Fairfield, N. J., July 27, 1822; died in 
1897. He studied at Illinois College and at 
Lane Theological Seminary, and became a 
teacher in a private school at Saint Louis. In 
1847 he was chosen professor at the Saint 
Charles College, Missouri, and four years later 
became principal of the public schools at Jack¬ 
sonville, Ill. He was elected State superintend¬ 
ent of Illinois in 1858, in which position he 
served efficiently for ten years, and in 1875 be¬ 
came president of Knox College, Illinois. 

BATES (bats), Arlo, author, born at East 
Machias, Me., Dec. 16, 1850. He graduated at 
Bowdoin College in 1876, and became editor of 
the Boston Sunday Courier. In 1880 he was 
elected professor of English at the Massachu¬ 
setts Institute of Technology. His “Told in the 
Gate” contains Oriental stories in verse. His 
'chief works embrace “The Pagans,” “A Poet 
and His Self,” “The Philistines,” “Love in a 
Cloud,” “Berries of the Brier,” “Sonnets in 
Shadow,” “Under the Beech Tree,” and “Talks 
on Writing English.” 

BATES, Blanche, actress, born in Portland, 
Ore., in 1873. She developed an early inclina¬ 
tion to become an actress, and made her first 
appearance at San Francisco in “This Picture 
and That.” In 1898 she played successfully at 
Daly’s Theater, New York, and was especially 
popular as Mirtza in “The Great Ruby.” She 
played as Cigarette in “Under Two Flags,” at 
the Garden Theater, New York, in 1901, and 
since made a number of successful tours and 
visited the leading cities of America. 

BATES, Edward, statesman, born in Bel¬ 
mont, Va., Sept. 4, 1793; died in Saint Louis, 
Mo., March 25, 1869. He secured a public 
school education and practiced law in Missouri, 
where he became attorney general of the State. 


BATES 


246 


BATHING 


He was a member of the State Legislature, 
and in 1860, when Lincoln was nominated for 
President, he received much support for that 
office in the convention. After the election 
of Lincoln, Bates was chosen attorney general, 
but resigned in 1864. 

BATES, John Coalter, soldier, born in Saint 
Charles County, Missouri, Aug. 26, 1842. He 
studied at Washington University, Saint Louis, 
and joined the Union army at the beginning of 
the Civil War. In 1863 he was made a captain, 
served on the staff of General Meade from the 
Battle of Gettysburg until the war closed, and 
in 1892 was advanced to the rank of colonel. 
He served as brigadier general of volunteers 
in the Spanish-American War, and after the 
Battle of San Juan Hill was promoted to the 
rank of major general of volunteers. In 1899 
he became military Governor of Cienfuegos, 
and subsequently served in the Philippines, 
where he negotiated a treaty with the Sultan of 
Sulu. He succeeded Gen. Chaffee as lieutenant 
general of the United States Army .in 1906. 

BATH (bath), a city of Somersetshire, Eng¬ 
land, on the Avon River. It is noted for its 
mineral water and baths. The mineral springs 
were known to the Romans, and remains of 
baths constructed by them in the 1st century 
b. c. have been discovered. The city is built 
largely of white stone obtained from quarries 
in the vicinity. Victoria Park, a beautiful pub¬ 
lic ground, contains fifty acres. The chief 
buildings are a public library, the theater, the 
Abbey Church, and the city hall. It is the seat 
of Bath College and Wesleyan College. It has 
important manufactures and a large railway and 
canal trade. Population, 1921, 50,729. 

BATH, a city of Maine, county seat of 
Sagadahoc County, on the Kennebec River, 
about thirty-eight miles northeast of Portland. 
It is on the Maine Central Railroad and has 
extensive navigation facilities, as the water of 
the river rarely freezes. The manufactures in¬ 
clude cigars, furniture, iron and leather wares, 
clothing, and machinery. It is surrounded by 
an agricultural country and has modern con¬ 
veniences, including pavements and street rail¬ 
ways. The first settlement was made in 1660, 
when an Indian mission was established. It 
was incorporated as a city in 1847. Population, 
1900, 10,477; in 1920, 14,731. 

BATH, a town in New Y.ork, county seat of 
Steuben County, 98 miles southeast of Buffalo, 
on the Erie and other railroads. It has man¬ 
ufactures of harness, shoes, and clothing. The 
surrounding country is agricultural. It is the 
seat of an orphan asylum and a soldiers’ and 
sailor’s home, and has a public library and sev¬ 
eral county buildings. The first settlement was 
made on the site of Bath in 1793. Population, 
1905, 4,894; in 1920, 4,795. 

BATHING (bath'ing), the immersion of the 
body, or a part of it, in water for the purpose 
of maintaining cleanliness and stimulating 


health. It was a part of the religion of many 
ancient nations, including the Egyptians, He¬ 
brews, and Greeks, to bathe the body. The 
Koran makes it mandatory on Mohammedans 
to wash the face, hands, and feet five times a 
day. This command is observed so carefully 
that when the Moslem is in a desert and out 
of the reach of water the ceremony is performed 
with sand. The Romans built the most splen¬ 
did baths constructed by the ancients. In the 
time of Emperor Diocletian the Roman baths 
had a capacity sufficient for 18,000 persons to 
bathe at once, while Emperor Caracalla built 
baths nearly a quarter of a mile square. These 
structures were provided with washing rooms, 
courts for games, gymnasiums, hot and cold 
water baths, vapor baths, swimming baths, and 
hot-air baths, and their walls were decorated 
with marbles, statues, mosaics, and historic 
paintings. 

Baths are variously designated from the char¬ 
acter of the process to which the body is sub¬ 
jected. A Turkish hath is applied by admitting 
hot air into the room where the bather sits, 
and the heat of the air is constantly increased 
until he perspires freely, when he goes into a 
washroom, where his body is briskly scrubbed 
with water and soap and cooled by a shower 
bath. He next plunges into a swimming bath 
of cool water, where he bathes freely, and, after 
emerging, he is dried, wrapped in a blanket, and 
lies down on a lounge until the natural warmth 
of the body returns. A Russian bath differs 
from the Turkish in that the hot air is dis¬ 
placed by hot steam, but in other respects they 
are similar. 

A hot bath brings the blood near the surface, 
which reddens the skin, the veins become en¬ 
larged, and a heaviness is felt in the head. The 
effect of violent heat is to fatigue the body, 
hence warm baths should be carefully admin¬ 
istered. The better way is to take lukewarm 
baths and increase the heat from time to time 
as the body becomes accustomed to it. A warm 
bath gives no shock to the bather and is always 
pleasant. It has a tendency to quiet the nerves 
and increase the flow of blood, and is the best 
form for most persons. A cold bath causes a 
sudden chill, and is followed by a feeling of 
warmth, which is called a reaction. The bather 
should remain in water only until he feels the 
reaction, when he should come out and rub 
himself dry with a coarse towel. None but the 
strong are able to endure a cold bath, and this 
administered carefully is of much utility. Sea 
bathing is one of the most pleasant and bene¬ 
ficial exercises for the body. The salt water 
seems to have a wholesome effect upon the skin 
and is quickening to the organs, if the bathei 
does not remain too long in the water. 

Baths are usually known by the degree of 
temperature at which the water or vapor is 
administered. The average temperature of a 
cold bath is about 48 ° Fahr.; cool bath, 58 ° ; 


BATH 


247 


BATTERY 


tepid bath, 88°; warm bath, 95° ; and hot bath, 
100 . In many cities mineral water flowing 
from the ground is utilized for bathing pur¬ 
poses. Some of the most noted mineral baths 
in Europe are at Baden, Karlsbad, and Aachen, 
Germany; Spa, Belgium; and Teplitz, Bohemia. 
The leading natural hot baths of North Amer¬ 
ica are at Hot Springs, Ark., and Hot Springs, 
S. D. The water is both mineral and thermal, 
ranging in temperature from 100° to 160°. 
Thousands of people patronize these health re¬ 
sorts, and indulge in bathing both for pastime 
and to regain, lost health. Many physical ail¬ 
ments can be cured and the system can be 
greatly strengthened by the use of these nat¬ 
ural remedies. In recent years it has become 
quite general to construct water systems, by 
which dwelling houses having bath tubs are sup¬ 
plied with water. In this way every member 
of the family can avail himself of a healthful 
bath without inconvenience, and have it ad¬ 
ministered at the proper time. Though bath¬ 
ing is generally healthful, a person should not 
remain too long in the water, and bathing 
within three hours after a meal should be care¬ 
fully avoided. 

BATH, Knights of the, a military order in 
Great Britain, the largest in number and the 
highest to which a commoner can attain. It 
was so named from the ceremony of bathing, 
which was formerly practiced when a knight 
was initiated, hence indicated that both purity 
and chivalry were required. The order prob¬ 
ably dates from the early part of the 12th cen¬ 
tury, and it is thought that it was instituted by 
Henry I., who is said to have made Geoffrey 
of Anjou and others “Knights of the Bath.” 
It was used in the coronation of Charles II., 
in 1660, and later fell into disuse, but was re¬ 
vived by George I. in 1725. At present it com¬ 
prises three classes, Knights Grand Cross (G. 
C. B.), Knights Commander (K. C. B.), and 
Companions (C. B.). 

BATHOMETER (ba-thom'e-ter), an in¬ 
strument to indicate the depth of water. It 
was invented by C. W. Siemens and is used on 
vessels, indicating the depth of the water below 
the ship or steamer. The instruments belong¬ 
ing to this class differ materially, ranging from 
the simpler forms used to measure shallows 
to the more complicated apparatus necessary to 
determine great depths. In general they de¬ 
pend upon the principle that underlies the law 
of gravitation, and that the attraction exerted 
by the land is stronger than that of water. The 
essential part is a vertical steel tube, at the 
lower end of which is a cup-shaped expansion, 
and the depth of the water is indicated on a 
micrometer scale as the mercury rises or falls 
in the tube. In some instruments oil or water 
is used instead of mercury. The column in the 
tube lowers in shallow water, since greater 
force is exerted in drawing down the mercury, 
and it rises in deeper water to the extent that 


the force is diminished. A sounding line is 
used to sink the instrument to the bottom. 

BATON ROUGE (bat'un-roozh), the 
parish seat of East Baton Rouge parish, and 
capital of Louisiana, on the east side of the 
Mississippi River, about ninety miles by rail¬ 
road and 130 by river from New Orleans. It 
is on the Texas Pacific and the Yazoo and 
Mississippi Valley railroads, and occupies a 
prominence about twenty-five feet above high- 
water mark. The city is the seat of the State 
University, an asylum for the deaf and dumb, 
a military hospital, an agricultural experiment 
station, and a State penitentiary. Among the 
prominent buildings are the State capitol, the 
courthouse, the post office, the high school, and 
the city hall. It has manufactures of sugar, 
ice, clothing, cotton products, and machinery. 
Electric street railways, waterworks, and paved 
streets are among Tie improvements. It was 
founded by the Frer.ch and was the capital from 
1847 to 1864, when the seat of the State gov¬ 
ernment was removed to New Orleans, but it 
was again made the State capital in 1880. The 
Union army occupied it in the Civil War, after 
New Orleans had been taken, and it suffered 
a Confederate attack under General Breckin¬ 
ridge, but was held by the Union army under 
General Williams, who was slain in battle. 
Population, 1900, 11,269 ; in 1920, 21,782. 

BATTALION (bat-tal'yun), the tactical 
unit of infantry. It constitutes the most numer¬ 
ous body of unmounted men in charge of one 
commanding officer who gives personal super¬ 
intendence. It is made up of from four to ten 
companies, has a normal war strength of 1,000 
men, and is commanded by a field officer. A 
regiment is constituted of two or more battal¬ 
ions ; a brigade, of two or more regiments; a 
division, of two or more brigades; an army 
corps, of two or more divisions, and an army, 
of two or more army corps. See Army. 

BATTERING-RAM (bat'ter-ing-ram), an 
ancient war machine to batter down walls of 
forts and cities. It consisted of a great wooden 
beam with a heavy bronze or iron head. The 
length was from 50 to 180 feet, and the head 
of large rams weighed a ton. Many were built 
in frames, while others were on rollers or 
wlreels with a cover over the front to protect 
the workers from falling missiles. The work 
of the ram' was effected by about one hundred 
men, or by the use of ropes and pulleys. It 
was regarded an essential implement in the time 
of the ancient Greeks and Romans, who em¬ 
ployed it extensively while laying siege to for¬ 
tified cities. 

BATTERY (bat'ter-y), the tactical unit of 
artillery. The term is applied to the largest 
number of mobile guns, with full equipments, 
that one man can personally superintend. They 
are usually distinguished as horse, field, and 
garrison. The first two consist of six guns 
each. Along with each battery are gunners 


BATTLE 


248 


BAUTZEN 


to work the guns. Each battery includes a 
number of drivers who manage the horses by 
which the guns are transported from one local¬ 
ity to another. See Artillery. 

BATTLE (bat't’l), a combat between two 
or more armies, or divisions of armies. Battles 
are fought either »with the view of attaining 
local advantage, or influencing favorably the 
whole contest. The skillful commander aims to 
reach a decisive point in each engagement. This 
is strategy, while skill in active battle is called 
tactics. Each victory must be followed up in 
order to fully disable the beaten army and there¬ 
by gain the advantage of success. Battles do 
not depend upon their magnitude for importance, 
but rather upon their enduring effect upon social 
and political conditions. In Creasy’s “Fifteen 
Decisive Battles of the World, from Marathon 
to Waterloo,” a list of the battles is given that 
have largely influenced history and made civili¬ 
zation, more or less, what it is. The mind fills 
with awe when contemplating what human insti¬ 
tutions might have been had these battles ter¬ 
minated differently. The following is a com¬ 
plete list as given by Creasy: 

B* C* 

490. Battle of Marathon. 

413. Defeat of the Athenians at Syracuse. 

331. Battle of Arbela. 

207. Battle of the Metaurus. 

A. D. 

9. Defeat of the Romans under Varus. 

451. Battle of Chalons. 

732. Battle of Tours. 

1066. Battle of Hastings. 

1429. Joan of Arc’s victory at Orleans. 

1588. Defeat of the Spanish Armada. 

1704. Battle of Blenheim. 

1709. Battle of Pultowa. 

1777. Defeat of Burgoyne at Saratoga. 

1792. Battle of Valmy. 

1815. Battle of Waterloo. 

BATTLE CREEK (-krek), a city of Mich¬ 
igan, in Calhoun County, on the Kalamazoo 
River, and on the Chicago and Grand Trunk, 
the Cincinnati Northern, and the Michigan Cen¬ 
tral railroads. The chief buildings are the post 
office, the high school, the public library, and the 
Post Theater. It has manufactures of thresh¬ 
ing machines, knit goods, flour, furniture, hard¬ 
ware, carriages, machinery, and farming imple¬ 
ments. Battle Creek College was founded here 
by the Seventh Day Adventists, in 1874, and 
later they established a sanitarium, which is at¬ 
tracting a large patronage. Health foods are 
made on a large scale at the sanitarium. The 
city has fine municipal facilities, and is noted 
as an educational and commercial center. It 
was incorporated as a city in 1860. Population, 
1904, 22,213; in 1920, 36,164. 

BATTLEFORD (bat't’l-ford), a town in 
Saskatchewan, at the junction of the Battle and 
North Saskatchewan rivers, near the line of the 
Canadian Northern Railway. It was the capital 
of the Northwest Territory from 1876 to 1883, 
and near it was organized the insurrection 
headed by Louis Riel. The surrounding coun¬ 
try is devoted to farming and ranching. Popu¬ 
lation, 1921, 1,500. 


BAUDRY (bo-dra'), Paul Jacques Aime, 

painter, born at La Roche-sur-Yon, France, 
Nov. 7, 1828; died Jan. 17, 1886. He studied 
under Drolling in Paris and was awarded the 
Grand Prize in 1850. Subsequently he studied 
in Rome, where he was inspired by the works of 
great masters, and in 1875 became commander 
in the Legion of Honor. His decorations in the 
opera house in Paris are especially esteemed, 
and his “The Glorification of the Law” is con¬ 
sidered a masterpiece of art. He painted works 
entitled “Toilet of Venus,” “Fortune and the 
Child,” and “Saint John the Baptist.” 

BAUMGARTEN (boum'gar-ten), Alex¬ 
ander Gottlieb, philosopher, born in Berlin, 
Germany, July 17, 1714; died May 26, 1762. 
He studied at Halle and in 1740 became pro¬ 
fessor of philosophy at Frankfort-on-the-Oder. 
His works on aesthetics are considered author¬ 
itative, and he is regarded by some writers as 
the founder of the theory of modern aesthetics. 
His chief works are “Aesthetical Philosophy,” 
“Metaphysics,” and “General Philosophy.” 

BAUR (bour), Ferdinand Christian von, 
theologian, born near Stuttgart, Germany, June 
21, 1792; died Dec. 2, 1860. He graduated from 
the University of Tubingen in 1817 and the 
same year became professor in the seminary at 
Blaubeuren, and after doing successful work 
nine years was called to the chaii of Protestant 
theology in the University of Tubingen. His 
life was consecrated to the study of religion, 
and he made a specialty of investigating the 
symbolism of the church and the history of 
doctrines, showing a great fertility of mind and 
a broad knowledge of biblical exegesis. From 
the standpoint of activity and powerful thought, 
he may be considered the most speculative 
theologian of Germany since Schleiermacher. 
In 1835 he published “Christian Gnosis, or the 
Christian Philosophy of Religion,” which is re¬ 
garded his most important work. Other pub¬ 
lications that made a deep impression on re¬ 
ligious thought include “Points of Difference 
Between Catholicism and Protestantism,” “The 
So-called Pastoral Letters of the Apostle Paul,” 
“Critical Examination of the Canonical Evan¬ 
gelists, Their Source and Character,” “Church 
History of the First Three Centuries,” “Paul, 
the Apostle of Jesus Christ,” and “Christian 
Doctrine of the Trinity, and Union of God 
and Man.” 

BAUTZEN (bou'tsen), a city of Germany, 
in the kingdom of Saxony, on the Spree River, 
thirty miles northeast of Dresden. It has rail¬ 
road and electric railway facilities and manu¬ 
factures of leather, textiles, and clothing. A 
cathedral, a castle, and the royal palace are 
among the chief buildings. It became a town in 
the 10th century, in the reign of Otho I., and 
suffered greatly during the Thirty Years’ War. 
In 1813 it was the scene of a great battle be¬ 
tween Napoleon, with an army of 130,000 men, 
and an allied army of 90,000 Germans and Rus- 


BAVARIA 


BAVARIA 


249 


sians. Napoleon had made the attack and after 
a contest of two days retreated, having lost 
about 20,000 men. Population, 1920, 32,760. 

BAVARIA (ba-va'ri-a), formerly a kingdom, 
now a state of Germany, next to Prussia the 
largest state of the German Republic. It con¬ 
sists of two separate portions, the eastern and 
larger part, or Bavaria proper, and the west¬ 
ern, or Rhenish Bavaria. Eastern Bavaria is 
surrounded by Austria-Hungary, the Thurin- 
gian states, Hesse-Nassau, Saxony, Wiirttem- 
berg, Baden, and Hesse. Rhenish Bavaria, or 
Palatinate, is bounded by Prussia, Alsace- 
Lorraine, Hesse, and Baden. The area is 29,282 
square miles. 

Physical Features. The surface is more or 
less mountainous and most of the boundaries 
are formed by mountain ranges. In Southern 
Bavaria are three ranges of the Alps, known 
locally as the Algauer Alps, the Salzburger 
Alps, and the Bavarian Alps. Of the last men¬ 
tioned the Zug Spitze, 9,725 feet, is the highest 
peak. The Bohmerwald is in the northeast, 
and in the north are the Rhongebirge and the 
Fichtelgebirge. An elevated plain stretches 
through the interior of Bavaria, and in the 
Palatinate are the Harz Mountains, whose 
peaks reach an elevation of 2,500 feet above 
the sea. Most of the drainage is by the Danube 
and its tributaries. These tributaries include 
the Altmuhl, Regen, Vils, and Wornitz from 
the north, and the Lech, Inn, Iller, and Isar 
from the south. The Main River drains the 
northwestern part. Amersee and Chiemsee are 
among the lakes in the southern part. The 
rainfall is greatest in the eastern part of Ba¬ 
varia, about seventy-five inches, and in the 
Palatinate and the higher altitudes it averages 
twenty-four inches annually. 

Natural Resources. Nearly one-third of the 
kingdom consists of forests, which yield large 
returns from the sale of timber. The minerals 
are valuable, especially coal and iron, and 
there are deposits of salt, graphite,. and build¬ 
ing stone. The soil is noted for its fertility. 

Industries. Agriculture is the most impor¬ 
tant enterprise, and is developed to a higher 
state of perfection than in most of the Euro¬ 
pean countries. Associations and institutes for 
the purpose of teaching farming are maintained, 
and the matter of storing seed, selecting choice 
grades of domestic animals, and harvesting- 
cereals and forage are carried on through 
cooperative associations. Hay, rye, and oats 
take the highest rank in the quantity produced. 
Other products embrace barley, wheat, pota¬ 
toes, sugar beets, hops, and rape seed. Stock 
raising is conducted with much care, and the 
cattle and horses of Bavaria are among .the 
best seen on the European market. The vine¬ 
growing industry receives marked attention, 
especially in the Palatinate. 

Manufacturing as an enterprise has developed 
to a great extent die last two decades, especi¬ 


ally in the output of steel and iron. In the 
manufacture of beer the kingdom takes high 
rank and its production of spirituous liquors 
is a notably important enterprise. The mantu 
facture of textiles, leather, tobacco, earthen¬ 
ware, chemicals, and agricultural implements 
is developed to a considerable extent. Naviga¬ 
tion by water is furnished by the Main and 
Danube rivers and by Lake Constance. The 
Ludwigs Canal serves as a connecting link be¬ 
tween the Black and North seas, since it con¬ 
nects the Main, a tributary of the Rhine, with 
the Altmuhl, a tributary of the Danube. Trans¬ 
portation by steam railways and electric lines 
is well provided for in the cities and all parts 
of the state. 

Government. For the purpose of government 
Bavaria is divided into seven districts. These 
are Upper Bavaria, Lower Bavaria, Swabia, 
Upper Palatinate, Lower Franconia, Middle 
Franconia, LTpper Franconia, and Palatinate. 
The government of the state is a constitutional 
republic, of which the president is the chief 
executive, and the right of suffrage is in both 
sexes. Six ministers constitute a council of 
state and assist the president. The legislative 

power is vested in the elective parliament, or 
landtag, which consists of the two houses 
known as the chamber of councilers of the 
realm, or upper house, and the chamber of 
deputies, or the lower house. In the former 
are eighty members and in the lower 159. Ba¬ 
varia is represented in the Bundcsrat of the 
German Empire by six members and in the 
Reichstag by forty-eight. The state provides 
amply for education, which is free and compul¬ 
sory. Three famous universities are located at 
Wurzburg, Munich, and Erlangen. 

Inhabitants. The inhabitants are almost 
exclusively German, including only about 50,000 
Jews. About thirty-three per cent, are Protes¬ 
tants and more than half of the entire popula¬ 
tion are Roman Catholics. Munich, the capital, 
is located on the Isar River. Augsburg, Nurem¬ 
berg, Ratisbon, Bamberg, Erlangen, Baireuth, 
and Schweinfurt are the principal commercial 
centers. In 1905 the state had a population 
of 6,176,057; in 1920, 6,876,497. 

History. In ancient times the territory 
comprised in Bavaria was inhabited by Celtic 
tribes, known as the Boii, and the region was 
conquered by the Romans about the year 15 
b. c. It became a possession of the Franks in 
the time of Charlemagne, in the 8th century, 
and in 1070 was acquired by the Guelph family. 
The territory was transferred to Otho, Count 
of Wittlesbach, in the latter part of the 12th 
century, and its government has been admin¬ 
istered by this family almost without inter¬ 
mission to the present time. Napoleon raised 
Bavaria to the dignity of a kingdom in 1805, 
and the king aided France in the Napoleonic 
wars. The present constitution was adopted in 
1818. In 1866 Bavaria sided with Austria in 


BAXTER 


250 


BAY CITY 


the Austro-Prussian War and lost some terri¬ 
tory annexed to it by Napoleon. When Napol¬ 
eon III. declared war against Germany in 
1870, Bavaria joined Prussia and took a promi¬ 
nent part in the military movements against 
France. It was largely at the suggestion of 
the King of Bavaria that William of Prussia 
accepted the title of Emperor of Germany. It 
has since remained important as an integral 
part of the country, influential in its councils, 
and a leader in promoting the commercial and 
colonial development of Germany. 

BAXTER (baks'ter), Richard, eminent 
divine of the 17th century, born at Rowton, 
England, Nov. 12, 1615; died in London, Dec. 
8, 1691. He became chaplain in the Civil War 
of 1642, siding with the Parliament. His elo¬ 
quence was brought in play against the execu¬ 
tion of the king and in opposition to the elec¬ 
tion of Cromwell, and later he made a repu¬ 
tation as a powerful minister and an able 
writer. Among his most popular productions 
are “Call to the Unconverted,” “Saint’s Ever¬ 
lasting Rest,” “Reformed Pastor,” “Christian 
Directory,” and “Catholic Theology.” A statue 
was erected to his honor at Kidderminster in 
1875. 

BAY (ba), or Bay Tree, the general name 
of several trees and shrubs which resemble 
the laurel, and applied both to the fruit and 
the trees. The red bay is native to the south¬ 
ern part of the United States and has wood 
colored much like mahogany. Bay laurel is 
a term sometimes applied to the common laurel 
or cherry laurel. The bay tree of California 
is a fine species, and rose bay is the name 
sometimes given to species of the azaleas and 
rhododendrons. Some trees belonging to this 
class have berries that yield a fatty oil used 
in veterinary medicines. The leaves are some¬ 
times used in cookery for the flavor, and in 
England and some other countries as decora¬ 
tions for Christmas. In ancient times sprigs 
of the bay tree were worn as a signal of vic¬ 
tory. 

BAYA (ba'ya), a kind of weaver bird com¬ 
mon in the East Indies. The color is yellow 
mixed with brown, and the beak is large and 
conical. Its nests are built in the form of a 
flask, suspended from a high branch, and the 
entrance is from below. The male and female 
birds have separate chambers. It is easily 
trained to obey and is fond of small articles 
of ornament. 

BAYAMO (ba-ya'mo), a town of Cuba, in 
the province of Santiago, sixty miles north¬ 
west of the city of Santiago. It is surrounded 
by an agricultural country. The Spaniards 
founded it in 1514. At the time of the 
Spanish occupation it was prominent as a 
stronghold of insurgents and revolutionists. 
Population, 1920, 4,114. 

BAYARD (bi'erd), James Asheton, public 
man, born in Philadelphia, Pa., July 28, 1767; 


died Aug. 6, 1819. He took up the practice 
of law in Delaware and was elected to Con¬ 
gress from that State as a Federalist in 1796. 
His eminence as an orator in the House was 
a factor that influenced his election to the 
Senate, and he served in that body from 1804 
until 1813. President Madison appointed him 
one of the commissioners to negotiate with 
Great Britain the Treaty of Ghent in 1814, 
serving in this capacity with Albert Gallatin 
and John Quincy Adams. 

BAYARD (ba'ard), Pierre du Terrail, 
Chevalier de, known as “the knight without 
fear and above reproach,” born at Bayard, 
France, in 1475; killed in battle at Sesia, Italy, 
April 30, 1524. He distinguished himself in 
an expedition under Charles VIII. against 
Naples, and in the decisive successes over the 
Spaniards and English. Later he gained a vic¬ 
tory for Francis I. at Marignano, in 1515, and 
successfully defended Mezieres against the at¬ 
tacks of Charles V. These successes caused 
him to be called the “Savior of his country.” 
In 1523 he accompanied Admiral Bonnivet into 
Italy, where he was killed while guarding the 
passage of Sesia. 

BAYARD, Thomas Francis, statesman, 
born in Wilmington, Del., Oct. 29, 1828; died 
near Dedham, Mass., Sept. 28, 1898. He de¬ 
scended from Peter 
Bayard, son of a 
French Huguenot, 
whose widow and 
three sons came to 
America in 1647. In 
1851 he was admitted 
to the bar, served as 
United States district 
attorney of Dela¬ 
ware, and represent¬ 
ed his State in the 
Senate from 1869 to 
1885, being elected 
president pro tern, in 
1881. President Cleveland chose him for Sec¬ 
retary of State in 1885, and in 1893 appointed 
him the first ambassador to the Court of Saint 
James, London. In this capacity he aided in 
settling the boundary dispute between British 
Guiana and Venezuela, and stimulated cordial 
feelings between the United States and Eng¬ 
land. Oxford honored him with a doctorate 
of law. He ranks among the foremost states¬ 
men of America, and is classed as an able 
speaker and scholar. 

BAY CITY, county seat of Bay County, 
Michigan, on the Saginaw River, seventy-five 
miles northeast of Lansing. It occupies a fine 
site about four miles from Saginaw Bay, and is * 
on the Pere Marquette, the Michigan Central, 
and other railroads. The county courthouse, 
the post office, the city hall, the Masonic Tem¬ 
ple, and the First Presbyterian Church are 
among the chief buildings. It has" city water- 



THOMAS FRANCIS BAYARD. 


BAYEUX 


251 


BAZAINE 


works, fine public schools, and a large library. 
The manufactures include furniture, salt, earth¬ 
enware, machinery, hardware, clothing, and to¬ 
bacco products. The city is one of the most 
prosperous in the State, situated in a fine farm¬ 
ing and dairying country, and has a large job¬ 
bing trade. Its streets are well paved and 
lighted. It was settled in 1836 and incorporated 
in 1865. West Bay City, across the river, was 
annexed in 1905. Population, 1920, 47,554. 

BAYEUX (ba-ye'), a city of France, in the 
department of Calvados, Normandy, twenty 
miles northwest of Caen. It is nicely situated on 
the Aure River, five miles above its outlet 
into the English Channel, and has a trade in 
cattle, grain, and dairy products. The chief 
building is a cathedral said to be the oldest in 
Normandy. It occupies the site of the Roman 
town known as Augustodurum. Population, 
1911, 7,315. 

BAYEUX CATHEDRAL, the oldest 
cathedral in Normandy, located at Bayeux, 
France. Most of the present buildings date 
from the 11th to the 13th centuries. Many nota¬ 
ble improvements were made in 1077 by Wil¬ 
liam the Conqueror, and various additions have 
been added since. To the west are two 
steeples and several beautiful sculptured porches 
built in the 12th century. 

BAYEUX TAPESTRY, a linen cloth 
twenty inches wide and 214 feet long, on which 
scenes of the invasion and conquest of England 
by the Normans were skillfully worked. It 
is said to be the work of Matilda, the wife of 
William the Conqueror. The scenes begin 
with Harold’s visit to the Norman court and 
end with the defeat of the English and the 
death of Harold at Hastings. It is divided into 
seventy-two compartments, and on each one the 
subject of the scene is indicated in Latin in¬ 
scription. It was discovered in 1730, and 
is now kept in the library of Bayeux, France, 
as a valuable record of scenes , and customs in 
the early period of Norman-French history. 

BAYONET (ba'6-net), a short weapon of 
steel, constructed something like a dagger, and 
attached to the end of a musket or rifle. It 
was so named from the circumstance that the 
bayonet was first used at Bayonne, France, 
and it came into general use about the middle 
of the 17th century. The first bayonets were 
carried by the soldiers, and when used to re¬ 
pel a cavalry charge, or when making an advance 
upon the enemy, they were thrust into the 
muzzle of the gun. Later they were fastened 
on the outside so as to permit both the use 
of the bayonet and the gun for firing upon 
the enemy. With the introduction of modern 
firearms the bayonet lost some of its impor¬ 
tance as a weapon, but many military men still 
regard it highly serviceable in making a charge, 
especially when culminating an infantry attack. 

BAYONNE (ba-yon'), a city ,of New 
Jersey, in Hudson County, situated immedi¬ 


ately southwest of Jersey City, from which 
it is separated by the Morris Canal. The site 
is adjacent to New York and Newark bays, 
on the New Jersey Central Railroad, and within 
it are included the villages of Bergen Point, 
Salterville, Bayonne, and Centerville. It has 
dock facilities, electric street railways, water¬ 
works, pavements, public lighting, and numer¬ 
ous schools. The manufactures embrace lum¬ 
ber products, chemicals, machinery, textiles, 
and clothing. Many New York business men 
reside in Bayonne. It was chartered as a city 
in 1869. Population, 1905, 42,262; in 1920, 76,754. 

BAYONNE, a city of France, m the de¬ 
partment of Basses-Pyrenees, on the Adour 
River, near the Bay of Biscay. It is well built 
and strongly fortified. It has a commodious 
harbor, in which three lighthouses are main¬ 
tained, and its export and import trade is con¬ 
siderable. Sugar refineries and shipyards are 
among the industries. A cathedral built in the 
13th century is its chief building, and it is 
the seat of a naval school and a public library 
of 12,000 volumes. Charles IV. of Spain re¬ 
nounced the crown at Bayonne in 1808. 
Anciently it was called Lapurdum. Popula¬ 
tion, 27,500. 

BAYREUTH. See Baireuth. 

BAY RUM, a liquid used for toilet purposes 
and as a liniment in treating rheumatism. It 
is obtained by distilling with rum the leaves of 
the bayberry tree (Myrcia acris), which is na¬ 
tive to the West Indies. 

BAZAAR (ba-zar'), or Bazar, an exchange 
or market place where goods are kept for sale. 
The term is in common use in Eurasia, espe¬ 
cially in the East, where a number of shops, 
either open or covered, are grouped about a 
square or in a series along the streets. Retail 
traders occupy the bazaars and offer for sale 
a variety of small articles, such as shawls, 
jewelry, household utensils, and wearing ap¬ 
parel. The term is applied in America to 
places where fancy work and other articles 
are sold to raise money for the support of 
an enterprise or for charity. 

BAZAINE (ba-zan'), Frangois Achille, 
general and senator, born at Versailles, France, 
Feb. 13, 1811; died in Madrid, Spain, Sept. 
23, 1888. He became a soldier in 1831, and 
served with distinction in Algeria and Morocco, 
in Spain against the Carlists, and in the Crimea 
and Italy. When the French invaded Mexico, 
he was made commander in chief of the im¬ 
perial army. In the Franco-German War of 
1870-71 he was field marshal, and after the 
great battles of Mars-la-Tour and Gravelotte, 
he was besieged at Metz, where he was forced 
to surrender on Oct. 27, 1870, with an army 
of 170,000 men. His surrender was gener¬ 
ally condemned, and he was tried by court- 
martial and sentenced to death, which Presi¬ 
dent MacMahon commuted to imprisonment for 
twenty years. He escaped from Isle Sainte Mar- 


BEACH 


252 


BEAR 


guerite, where he was imprisoned, and met the 
French empress and prince imperial in Swit¬ 
zerland. Later he traveled in England and 
Portugal, and spent the remainder of his life 
in Spain. He is the author of a number of 
military works. 

BEACH, Charles Fiske, lawyer, born in 
Kentucky, Feb. 4, 1854. He attended school 
in Paris, Ky., and afterward studied at the 
Columbia University. In 1881 he was ad¬ 
mitted to the bar and practiced law in New 
York City until 1885, when he began to prac¬ 
tice as an American counsel in Paris, France. 
He published “Modern Equity Jurisprudence,” 
“The Law of Receivers,” “Modern Equity 
Practice,” and “Contributory Negligence.” 
BEACON CITY New York. See Matteawan. 

BEACONSFIELD (be'kunz-feld), Benja¬ 
min Disraeli, Earl of, eminent statesman of 
Jewish extraction, born in London, England, 
Dec. 21, 1804; died there April 19, 1881. He 
was elected to the House of Commons in 1837 
as a Tory, and was reelected in 1847 from 
Buckinghamshire, which seat he held thirty 
years, when he was raised to the peerage. In 
1858 he became chancellor of the exchequer, 
and in 1868 premier. He introduced a bill to 
reform the civil service and the church in Ire¬ 
land, which caused his defeat, but he again be¬ 
came prime minister in 1874, and held the posi¬ 
tion six years. He was of a literary turn of 
mind and wrote a number of romances. These 
include “Young Duke,” “Endymion,” “Lothaire,” 
and “Coningby.” In 1873 he was made lord 
rector of Glasgow University. 

BEAD (bed), or Bede, a small globular or 
cylindrical body, thirty or forty of which are 
strung together and worn for ornament or 
used for decoration. The name is from the 
Anglo-Saxon word beade, or bcde, signifying 
a prayer. The Roman Catholics string beads 
together, to the number of thirty or forty, to 
keep count of prayers offered. In this form 
they constitute a rosary. Every tenth one is 
larger than the rest, called a gaude. The 
gaudes are used for counting paternosters, and 
the ordinary beads for Ave Marias. 

BEAM (bem), in architecture, a piece of 
timber or other material placed across the walls 
of a building and which serves to support the 
rafters. It binds together the parts of the 
frame as a tie and supports weight. Wood was 
employed chiefly in architecture as beams until 
in more recent times iron and steel came into 
very extensive use, and in some cases beams 
are now made of cement. 

The word beam is applied in different ways 
and has several technical uses. A plow beam 
is the main piece, either of wood or steel, and 
to it the colter, plowshare, and moldboard are 
fixed. The main cross timber in a ship is 
called a beam, and serves to support the deck 
and prevent the sides from falling apart. The 
beams used in large steamboats are of iron, 


extend across the hull, and are supported near 
the middle by pillars. In a balance the beam is 
the part from which the scales are suspended, 
and the term is applied to a part of a weaver’s 
apparatus, usually a wooden cylinder, on which 
the web is wound. 

BEAN (ben), an agricultural product grown 
for food in early history in Egypt and Pales¬ 
tine, and now largely cultivated in gardens 
and fields as food 
for man and beast. 

It is an annual, 
from two to twelve 
feet high. The 
seeds, usually from 
four to ten, grow 
in pods about 
ten inches long. 

They are kidney¬ 
shaped and meas¬ 
ure from one-sixth 
of an inch to over 
an inch in length. 

Beans are nutri¬ 
tious food, con¬ 
taining twenty-three 
per cent, of nitrog¬ 
enous matter, similar 
to casein in cheese, 
and thirty-six per 
cent of starch. There are many varieties, col¬ 
ors, and sizes. The so-called kidney bean is 
grown extensively in the gardens of Canada and 
the United States. Other popular species 

include the lima bean, which is quite large and 
is harvested for cooking before it is ripe, and 
the string bean, a variety with fleshy pods. 
Beans produce from fifteen to fifty bushels to 
the acre, a bushel weighing sixty pounds. 

BEAR (bar), the name of an animal com¬ 
mon to both the warm and cold climates. 
Numerous species are found in America and 



CLIMBING BEAN. 



GRIZZLY BEAR. 


Eurasia, but they do not occur in Australia 
and Africa. They belong to the carnivorous or 
flesh-eating animals, but show considerable 
fondness for honey and some kinds of vege¬ 
tables, and several species live largely on fruits. 








BEAR 


253 


BEARD 


In cold climates they attain a larger size and 
greater strength than in the warmer regions, 
and are much more savage. The body is stout 
and muscular, with strong legs, a short tail, and 
long shaggy fur, and the feet are supplied with 
strong claws well adapted for climbing and dig¬ 
ging. They delight to roam in mountain districts 
and on the seaside, and are skilled as swimmers. 
The winter season is spent largely by sleeping 
in caves, especially by the females, which rear 
their young in the winter. 

Among the many species is the grizzly bear 
of North America, which is found largely in 
the region of the Rocky Mountains. It is the 
most ferocious animal of North America and 
attains a large size, sometimes a length of nine 
feet, measuring from the nose to the tail, which 
is very short. It is colored brown, white, and 
black, and possesses grizzly or shaggy hair. 
The black bear has its home in all the unin¬ 
habited parts of North America. It is much 
smaller than the grizzly bear, about five feet 
long, has smooth, glossy, black fur, and lives 
largely on vegetable food, but in case of hun¬ 
ger will attack and carry off small animals like 
calves and hogs. It delights to climb trees and 
rob wild bees of their honey. Its character 
and habits are similar to those of the brown 
bear of Europe, which is solitary and subsists 
on animal and vegetable foods. The cinnamon 
bear has a color much like cinnamon and re¬ 
sembles the black bear in its habits. The polar 
bear inhabits the northern portions of America 
and Eurasia. This species is white and of 
large size, some species being as large as a 
horse and weighing 1,400 pounds. It hibernates 
in the winter season, usually in a deep hole 
dug in the snow or hillside. It lives near the 
sea or lakes, since it depends upon sea birds, 
seals, and fish for its principal food. In South¬ 
ern Asia the Malayan bear is found. It is 
the smallest of the bears and lives exclusively 
on insects and vegetables and vegetable fruits. 

The bear is a cunning animal, both in obtain¬ 
ing its food and in its habits when trained. In 
a wild state it often watches other animals 
from behind shelter, such as a rock or a tree, 
where it carefully studies their habits, and em¬ 
ploys ingenious devices whereby it may make 
a capture. Under training the bear becomes 
skilled in many arts of amusement and exhi¬ 
bition. It can be taught to carry a gun like a 
soldier, to dance to music, to beat a drum, and 
to perform various capers, and, therefore, is 
employed to a considerable extent in shows and 
exhibitions of trained wild animals. The clumsy 
motions, grave manners, and solemn face make 
its actions interesting. However, it loses none 
of its cunning in captivity, and has learned to 
secure rare bits of food from manager and 
spectators as compensation for exhibiting its 
best skill. 

The bear is hunted for its fur and flesh. 
Rugs, robes, and overcoats are made of the 


fur, which has become very expensive within 
recent years. The flesh is eaten and the fat 
is used in making bear’s grease. Ornaments 
are made of the teeth and claws. 

BEAR, Great and Little, known in 
astronomy as Ursa Major and Ursa Minor, 
two constellations in the northern sky near the 
north star. Ursa Major contains 138 stars 
visible to the naked eye. Among them are 
seven stars—six of the second and one of the 
fourth magnitude—which form the Great Dip¬ 
per. Ursa Minor contains twenty-four stars, 
seven of which constitute the Little Dipper, and 
at its handle is Polaris, known from time 
immemorial as the North Polar Star. The lat¬ 
ter was called Cynosure by the Greeks, and be¬ 
fore the invention of the mariner’s compass it 
was the star 

“ Whose faithful beams conduct the wandering ship 

Through the wide desert of the pathless deep.” 

BEAR and BULL, two terms applied in the 
stock exchange and at the board of trade. They 
were first used in London with reference to two 
parties having contracted, the one to deliver 
and the other to take stock at a future time 
at a specified price, and in the intervening time 
the party to deliver sought to depress the price 
and the party to receive sought to raise the 
value. From this circumstance the former came 
to be called a bear, in allusion to the habit of 
that animal to pull down with its paws, and 
the latter a bull, from the custom of that ani¬ 
mal to throw up its horns. At present the term 
is used very generally in America and Europe. 
Those who wish to lower the price are said 
to bear stock, and those who wish to raise it, 
bull stock. 

BEARBERRY (bar'ber-ry), a small shrub 
native to America and Eurasia, and found 
widely distributed in Canada and the northern 
part of the United States. It has evergreen 
leaves and produces red berries, which are 
eaten by wild fowl and other wild animals, 
especially the bear, hence the name. Some 
species are used in medicine as an astringent 
tonic. 

BEARD (berd), the hair on the lower part 
the face of a man, which appears at the age of 
puberty. Its color is usually lighter than the 
hair of the head. It is a protection against cold, 
and serves in preventing dust from being in¬ 
haled. Among ancients a long beard was a 
mark of manliness, and slaves were deprived of 
beards, though Alexander the Great required 
his army to shave. The barber’s art was first 
introduced in Rome about 300 b. c. The Nor¬ 
mans, at the time of their invasion of England, 
shaved the entire face and part of the back of 
the head. Louis XIII. of France was not 
endowed by nature with a beard, and during 
his time ornamental trimming of the beard 
and mustache became general in France, and 
thence spread over the continent. In the 16th 
century clergymen generally wore long beards, 


BEARD 


254 


BEAUMARCHAIS 


a custom still common among the priests of 
Western Asia. The face was wholly shaven at 
the beginning of the 18th century, but the prac¬ 
tice of wearing beards and mustaches was again 
inaugurated by France in the early part of 
the last century, and the custom is now quite 
general. 

BEARD, William Holbrook, a painter, 
born in Painesville, Ohio, April 13, 1825; died 
Feb. 20, 1900. He studied painting in America 
and Europe, and in 1857 visited and painted in 
Italy and Germany. In 1860 he settled in New 
York. The chief productions include “Bears 
on a Bender,” “Darwin Expounding His Theo¬ 
ries,” “Dance of Silenus,” and “Bulls and Bears 
in Wall Street.” 

BEARDSHEAR (berd'sher), William M., 

educator, born near Dayton, Ohio, Nov. 7, 1850; 
died Aug. 5, 1902. After attending the rural 
schools in his district, he took a course in vh<* 
schools at Dayton, and in 1864 joined the army 
of the Cumberland. Subsequent to the war he 
graduated from Otterbein University and took 
a post graduate course at Yale University, and 
in 1881 became president of Western College at 
Toledo, Iowa, where he rendered efficient serv¬ 
ices in 1881-89. In the latter year he was elected 
superintendent of schools in Des Moines, Iowa, 
and after two years was made president of the 
Iowa State College at Ames, which position he 
held until his death. He was president of the 
Iowa State Teachers’ Association and of the 
National Educational Association. He was 
active as a lecturer and published a number of 
addresses and pamphlets relating to education. 

BEARDSTOWN, a city in Cass County, 
Illinois, 45 miles northwest of Springfield, on 
the Illinois River and on the Baltimore and 
Ohio and the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy 
railroads. It has large machine shops and 
manufactures brick, flour, and machinery. The 
features include the city hall, high school, public 
library, federal building, and electric railways. 
It was settled in 1826 and incorporated as a city 
in 1849. Population, 1920, 7,111. 

BEAR LAKE. See Great Bear Lake. 

BEAR RIVER, a river of northern Utah 
and southern Idaho It rises in Summit 
County, Utah, in the Uinta Mountains, flows 
north into Idaho, and after a circuitous course 
of about 400 miles discharges into Bear River 
Bay, an inlet from Great Salt Lake. It is 
geologically an interesting stream and passes 
through a region greatly diversified by moun¬ 
tains and desert tracts of land. The Oregon 
Short Line Railway follows the valley through 
a portion of Wyoming and Idaho. In Bear 
Lake County, Idaho, it passes through the 
northern extremity of North Lake, which is 
considered a part of Bear Lake lying immedi¬ 
ately south. 

BEATRICE (be'a-tris), county seat of 
Gage County, Nebraska, on the Big Blue River, 
about forty miles south of Lincoln, on the Chi¬ 


cago, Rock Island and Pacific, the Union 
Pacific, the Burlington Route, and other rail¬ 
roads. Besides numerous substantial build¬ 
ings, it has a fine stone courthouse, a Fed¬ 
eral building, and a public library. The city 
has excellent public schools and a business 
college, and is the seat of the Nebraska Insti- 
tion for Feeble-Minded Youths. It is noted for 
its quarries of magnesian limestone, which is 
used largely for building material. The manu¬ 
factures consist of clothing, cigars, and machin¬ 
ery. Large quantities of cereals and live stock 
are shipped to eastern and southern markets. 
Population, 1900, 7,875; in 1920, 9,664. 

BEATRICE PORTINARI (bea-tres por- 
te-nii're), a woman famous in poetry, born in 
1266; died in 1290. She was the daughter of 
a wealthy family of Florence, Italy, and mar¬ 
ried Simone dei Bardi. Dante met her when she 
was nine years old, dressed in a gown of dark 
red color, and her appearance made a lasting 
impression upon him. He met her again nine 
years later, clad in a gown of white, and from 
that time she was his inspiring muse, though 
he never saw her again and she died at the 
age of twenty-four. It is doubtful whether she 
reciprocated his affection, but her soul glided 
about him and his poems afford evidence of the 
depth of his feeling. He recounts his love for 
her in the “Vita Nuova,” and in the 30th and 
31st cantos of “Purgatory” she is made the em¬ 
blematic personification of divine wisdom. 

BEAUHARNAIS (bo-ar-na/), Eugene de, 
soldier and statesman, born in Paris, France, 
Sept. 3, 1781; died in Munich, Germany, Feb. 
21, 1824. He was closely connected with Napo¬ 
leon Bonaparte; his mother, Josephine, be¬ 
came the wife of the latter. He accompanied 
Napoleon to Egypt in 1798, where he was 
severely wounded, and in 1805 became viceroy in 
Italy. After the defeat .of Napoleon at Water¬ 
loo he delivered Upper Italy and Lombardy io 
Austria. Later he was granted the title of 
Duke of Leuchtenberg by the King of Bavaria, 
whose daughter he married, and resided at 
Munich. His sister, Eugenie Hortense, became 
the Queen of Holland by her marriage with 
Louis Bonaparte, and Napoleon III. was her 
youngest son. 

BEAUMARCHAIS (bo-mar-sha'), Pierre 
Augustin Caron de, celebrated wit and drama¬ 
tist, born in Paris, France, Jan. 24, 1732; died 
there May 19, 1799. At first he engaged in lit¬ 
erature and published two dramas. Later he 
became a skilled musician and taught the 
daughters of Louis XV. to play the harp and 
other instruments. His close connection with 
the royal house caused his promotion to noble 
rank and to office. He greatly aided the Amer¬ 
ican revolutionists by supplying them with large 
quantities of arms and ammunition. Subse¬ 
quently he supported the French Revolution 
and was obliged to seek safety by leaving 
France. His reputation as a dramatist rest? 


BEAUMONT 


255 


BEAVER 


largely on his productions entitled “The Bar- 
ber of Seville,” “The Marriage of Figaro,” and 
‘ Eugenie.” Many of his writings are still 
widely read and are popular for their wit and 
satire. 

BEAUMONT (bo'mont), a city in Texas, 
county seat of Jefferson County, on the Neches 
River. It is situated on gently rolling ground 
and has transportation facilities by the Kansas 
City Southern, the Texas and New Orleans, 
and other railroads. The surrounding country 
contains productive deposits of petroleum and 
natural gas, which take high rank among the 
most important of America. The chief build¬ 
ings include the county courthouse, the central 
high school, the post office, the public library, 
and many churches. It has electric street rail¬ 
ways and other municipal improvements, and is 
an important market for petroleum, lumber, 
and farm produce. The manufactures include 
lumber products, machinery, cigars, flour, uten¬ 
sils, and clothing. Its rapid growth dates from 
the discovery of petroleum in 1901. Population, 
1900, 9,427; in 1920, 40,422. 

BEAUMONT, Francis, a contemporary of 
Shakespeare, born at Gracedieu, England, in 
1584; died in 1616. He was educated at Oxford 
University and studied law, but soon gave up 
the law profession to engage in literary work. 
He formed the friendship of John Fletcher 
(1576-1625), and in company with him did 
much of his writing. He was one of the most 
versatile writers of the Elizabethan age. The 
most noted productions of Beaumont and 
Fletcher are “Cupid’s Revenge,” “The Cocks¬ 
comb,” “The Maid’s Tragedy,” and “The Faith¬ 
ful Shepherd.” 

BEAUMONT, William, surgeon, born at 
Lebanon, Conn., in 1796; died in Saint Louis, 
Mo., April 25, 1853. His fame is due to observa¬ 
tions taken through an opening from the outside 
into the stomach of a Canadian, Alexis Saint 
Martin, who had been wounded in the United 
States army. Dr. Beaumont cared for the 
patient, who recovered and the wound in the 
side healed, but left an aperture of about two 
inches in diameter. Through this he examined 
the action of the gastric acid in the process of 
digestion, which he afterward described. His 
discoveries proved of importance in the study 
of physiology. 

BEAUREGARD (bo're-gard), Peter Gus¬ 
tave Toutant, soldier, born near New Orleans, 
La., May 28, 1818; died there Feb. 20, 1893. He 
was the son of an aristocratic family of Cana¬ 
dian-French origin and graduated at West 
Point in 1838, in a class with Generals Irvin 
McDowell and William F. Barry. He served 
as second lieutenant of engineers through the 
Mexican War, and was made captair and brevet 
major in 1847. In 1860 he became superintend¬ 
ent of the United States Military Academy with 
the rank of colonel, which position he resigned 
to enter the Confederate army as brigadier 


general. In April, 1861, he commanded at the 
bombardment of Fort Sumter and gained a vic¬ 
tory at Bull Run in July, for which victory he 
was made general, and a year later he assumed 
control of the Confederate army in the west. 
In 1862-64 he conducted the defenses of 
Charleston, S. C., then reinforced General Lee 
at Richmond and defeated B. F. Butler at 
Drury’s Bluff. At the close of the war he sur¬ 
rendered to General Sherman, returned to New 
Orleans, and served as president of the New 
Orleans and Jackson Railroad Company. In 
1866 and 1869 he was offered the command of 
the Rumanian and Egyptian armies, but de¬ 
clined. In 1878 he became president of the 
Louisiana Lottery Company. Beauregard 
attained to high rank among the Confederate 
military commanders. 

BEAUVAIS (bo-va'), a city in France, cap¬ 
ital of the department of Oise, on the Therian 
River, forty-one miles northwest of Paris. It is 
nicely situated in a fertile valley and has manu¬ 
factures of Goeblin tapestry, woolen goods, car¬ 
pets, and cotton textiles. Railroad and electric 
facilities are among its improvements. The 
chief building is the cathedral of Saint Pierre, 
in the Gothic style, but it is not entirely finished. 
Beauvais was besieged in 1472 by Charles the 
Bold, Duke of Burgundy, who was repulsed 
after a heroic defense under the leadership of 
the heroine Jeanne Laine. Population, 1921, 
17,265. 

BEAVER (be'ver), a rodent quadruped val¬ 
ued for its fur. The body is about two feet 
long, has a flat, scaly tail ten inches long, and 



weighs from thirty to sixty pounds. Its color 
is chestnut or reddish-brown, but sometimes 
black ones are found, and some are white. The 
feet have five toes. The fore feet are designed 
for work in preparing material for habitations, 
and the hind feet are webbed for swimming. 
Beavers are found mostly in the northern parts 
of North America and Eurasia, but small colo¬ 
nies still exist in Central Europe. They are 
most numerous in the northwestern parts of 
North America and Central Russia, but for¬ 
merly they were very common in all parts of 
these divisions. 

Beavers are classed among the semi-aquatic 





BEAVERDAM 


250 


BECKET 


animals that live near lakes, rivers, and other 
waters where trees and shrubs abound. Their 
houses are built at the edge of the water, and 
they dam bodies of water that are suffieiently 
shallow to freeze solid in the winter, in order 
to increase the water mass and thus prevent it 
from freezing to the bottom. These dams arc 
constructed of small trees, stones, and grasses 
mixed with mud. The mud is put on with the 
feet and smoothed down by the tail, which 
resembles a trowel. They are skillful at cutting 
down trees, even as thick as one foot in diam¬ 
eter, and usually cut in largely from the side 
near the water so as to cause the tree to fall in 
that direction. Their work is done at night. 
They subsist on roots, bark, and water plants, 
of which they lay by a sufficient supply for the 
winter. 

The beaver is valuable for its fur, which is 
used for ladies’ cloaks, for dress trimmings, 
and for men’s collars and gloves. In the 17th 
century beaver fur was used largely in the 
manufacture of men’s hats, from which high 
hats came to be called beavers. Similar hats 
are now made with silk plush covering. In the 
early part of the last century fully 200,000 
beaver skins were exported annually from 
America, but the trade has become greatly lim¬ 
ited, owing to a general destruction of the 
beaver in settled districts. The meat of the 
beaver is prized as an article of food, but the 
tail is a delicacy. The animal yields an anti- 
spasmodic medicine. 

BEAVERDAM, a city of Wisconsin, in 
Dodge County, about sixty miles northwest of 
Milwaukee, on the Chicago, Milwaukee and 
Saint Paul Railroad. It is beautifully situated 
on Beaver Lake, near the outlet, which fur¬ 
nishes water power. It has a public library 
and is the seat of Wayland Academy. The 
manufactures include flour, hardware, machin¬ 
ery, cigars, and farming utensils. It was set¬ 
tled in 1841 and incorporated in 1850. Popula¬ 
tion, 1905, 5,615; in 1920, 7,992. 

BEAVER FALLS, county seat of Beaver 
County, Pennsylvania, on Beaver River, near 
its junction with the Ohio, thirty miles north¬ 
west of Pittsburg. It is located in a fertile 
district, which produces cereals and live stock, 
and is on the Erie and the Pennsylvania rail¬ 
roads. The city has an abundance of water 
power, and coal and natural gas are obtained in 
the vicinity. The manufactures include cars, 
fence wire, ironware, stoves, machinery, flour, 
and farming implements. The chief buildings 
include the county court house, the public 
library, and Geneva College. It was formerly 
called Brighton. Population, 1920, 12,802. 

BEBEL (ba'bel), Ferdinand August, pub¬ 
lic man, born in Cologne, Germany, Feb. 22, 
1840. He learned the art of a turner and began 
business as a master turner at Leipzig in 1864, 
and soon became prominent in labor organiza¬ 
tions. In 1868 he was made chairman of a 


permanent committee appointed by the labor 
unions to promote legislation. At Eisenach, in 
1869, he founded the social-democratic party, 
an organization similar to that established by 
Carl Marx in London. In 1872 he was sen¬ 
tenced to imprisonment on a charge of lese- 
majeste against the Emperor of Germany. He 
served in the Reichstag as a social democrat 
almost continuously after 1871, and became 
prominent as a writer and lecturer in the social¬ 
istic movement. His chief publications are 
“The Woman and Socialism,” ‘‘The German 
Civil War,” “The Parliamentary Act of the 
German Reichstag and of the Landtage,” and 
“The Influence of Woman in the Past, Present, 
and Future.” He died Aug. 13, 1913. 

BECHUANA (bech-do-a'na), a race of peo¬ 
ple that occupy the interior part of South 
Africa, including the region north of Cape 
Colony and a large part of the Kalahari Desert. 
They have frizzled hair, but not kinky, thick 
lips and nostrils, and are of a dark brown or 
bronze color. The language spoken belongs to 
the Bantu family and is copious and expressive. 
Their chief occupation is cattle raising and agri¬ 
culture, and they engage in a small way in 
mining and manufacturing. In the mode of life 
they are not nomadic, but live in villages. The 
section occupied by them is known as Bechuana- 
land, which was long a crown colony of En¬ 
gland, but was annexed to Cape Colony in 1895. 
See Cape Colony. 

BECKER (bek'er), George Ferdinand, 

geologist, born in New York City, Jan. 5, 1847. 
He attended the public schools of his native 
city and in 1868 graduated at Harvard Univer¬ 
sity. Subsequently he took courses at the uni¬ 
versities of Heidelberg and Berlin, Germany, 
and in 1875-79 was instructor in mining and 
meteorology in the University of California. 
For a number of years he was associated with 
the United States geological survey, made a 
trip to South Africa in 1896 to examine the 
gold and silver mines of that region, and in 
1898 went as geologist to the Philippine Islands. 
Subsequent to the Spanish-American War he 
returned to the United States, when he was 
made director of the Division of Chemical and 
Physical Research. His study of ore deposits 
and geological formations led to a better under¬ 
standing of mineral deposits in the western 
states. Among his published works are “Geol¬ 
ogy of the Comstock Lode and the Washoe 
District,” “Gold Fields of the Southern Appa¬ 
lachians,” “Statistics and Technology of the 
Precious Metals,” and “Geology of the Quick¬ 
silver Deposits of the Pacific Slope.” 

BECKET, Thomas a, prelate and states¬ 
man, born in London, England, in 1118; mur¬ 
dered at Canterbury, Dec. 29, 1170. He studied 
theology at Oxford and Paris, and afterward 
took courses in law at Bologna and in Burgun¬ 
dy. At the recommendation of Theobald, Henry 
II. made him high chancellor, the duties of 


BECQUEREL 


257 


BEDFORD 


which office he discharged vigorously. After¬ 
ward he resigned his chancellorship and became 
a powerful factor in the religious history of 
England. On account of a disagreement with 
Henry II., he was slain before the altar of 
Saint Benedict by four barons. He was made 
a saint by the pope, and Canterbury cathedral 
was long an objective point for many pilgrims. 
One of these pilgrimages is described in Chau¬ 
cer’s “Canterbury Tales.” 

BECQUEREL (bek-rel'), Antoine Henri, 
physicist, born in Paris, France, in 1852; died 
Aug. 25, 1908. From his father, Edmond Bec- 
querel (1820-91), he inherited a taste for sci¬ 
ence. He entered the Ecole Polytechnique at 
the age of twenty, and subsequently took a 
course in engineering at the Ecole des Ponts et 
Chaussees. In 1878 he entered the Museum of 
Natural History, was made a member of the 
Academy of Sciences in 1889, and was chosen 
professor of physics at the Ecole Polytechnique 
in 1895. He carried on experiments in light 
and electricity and made a number of valuable 
discoveries relating to the solar spectrum. The 
phosphoroscope, an instrument useful in study¬ 
ing phosphorescence, was invented by him. He 
discovered the Becqucrel rays, emanations pro¬ 
jected by the X-rays, and did much to extend 
knowledge of radium and all radio-active sub¬ 
stances. He published many scientific papers. 
His “Researches on a New Property of Matter” 
is a treatise on radio-active substances. 

BED, an article of household furniture in 
which to sleep. Savages sleep on the ground 
or on skins of animals, while the Japanese sleep 
on mattresses, using a wooden rest for their 
heads which closely fits to the neck, and the 
Chinese use low bedsteads generally elevated 
only a small distance above the floor. The beds 
used in America are similar to those common to 
Europe. They consist of a mattress supported 
from the ground by a bedstead. Some use fold¬ 
ing beds, which serve for beds at night and 
articles of furniture in the daytime. In former 
times feathers were the principal articles used 
in making beds and bed coverings, and they are 
still used, but mattresses now form one of the 
chief articles used for bedding. Bedsteads were 
formerly made exclusively of wood; now they 
consist largely of iron frames with steel springs 
covered with mattresses. The best mattresses 
are made of horsehair, while cheaper grades 
are made of shavings of paper and wood. 

BED, or Stratum, in geology, a layer of 
stratified sedimentary rock of similar materials. 
Formations of this kind are due to the ebb and 
flow of the tide, and to the movement of silt or 
material deposited by rivers and the action of 
waves. The strata differ materially, consisting 
of several layers or of single sheets or beds. A 
thin layer is called lamina or seam, and where 
several beds of the same kind of rock are de¬ 
posited the aggregate is termed a formation. 

BEDBUG (bed'bug), an insect found in 

17 


pigeon houses, nests of swallows and bats, and 
in beds. It hides away in the daytime and comes 
out to seek its food at night. The body is flat 
and the head small. The younger insects arc 
almost white, while the adults have a reddish 
color. Their food consists largely of blood 
drawn from the body by pricking through the 
skin and sucking it out. Bedbugs are eaten 
by cockroaches, by which they are killed in large 
numbers. 

BEDDOES (bed'doz), Thomas, physician, 
born at Shiffnal, England, April 13, 1760; died 
Dec. 24, 1808. He studied at Oxford and in 
London, and in 1788 was appointed lecturer on 
chemistry in the University of Oxford, but 
resigned after four years to devote his atten¬ 
tion to literature. His work entitled “The 
History of Isaac Jenkins” is a moral tale in 
which the rules of health are laid down for 
the working classes. In 1798 he joined Hum¬ 
phry Davy in opening a hospital at Clifton for 
the treatment of diseases by medicated gases. 

BEDE (bed), or Baeda, eminent scholar, 
born in Wearmouth, England, in 673; died May 
26, 735. He studied at Saint Peter’s monas¬ 
tery in his native town, and in 703 was ordained 
priest by John of Beverley. His writings treat 
of a variety of subjects, including grammar, 
music, history, and astronomy. He is regarded 
the most distinguished scholar of his period in 
England and came to be surnamed The Vener¬ 
able. The most important of his writings is 
“Ecclesiastical History of the English Nation,” 
which was translated into Anglo-Saxon by King 
Alfred. 

BEDFORD (bed'ferd), a town in England, 
capital of Bedfordshire, forty-five miles north¬ 
west of London. It is pleasantly situated on the 
Ouse River and has railway facilities. The pub¬ 
lic buildings include a library, a prison, an insane 
asylum, and a fine Gothic church. Ironware is 
manufactured extensively, especially farming 
implements, and it has a large trade in lace, 
corn, and straw hats. Near the town is Elstow, 
the village where John Bunyan was born, and 
he wrote his “Pilgrim’s Progress” while a pris¬ 
oner in the town jail of Bedford. Population, 
1921, 35,114. 

BEDFORD, county seat of Lawrence Coun¬ 
ty, Indiana, in the southern part of the State, 
on the Baltimore and Ohio and other railroads. 
In its vicinity are important deposits of lime¬ 
stone, which is quarried extensively for building 
purposes. It has railroad shops, roundhouses, 
machine shops, and other industries. The city 
has a considerable trade and fine public build¬ 
ings, and is the seat of Bedford College. It was 
settled in 1756 and incorporated in 1817. Pop¬ 
ulation, 1900, 6,115; in 1920, 8,963. 

BEDFORD, Sir Frederick George Den¬ 
ham, British statesman, born Dec. 28, 1838. He 
entered the royal navy in 1852, and was present 
at the bombardment of Odessa and Sevastapol. 
In 1855 he took part in the bombardment of 


BEDFORD 


258 


BEE 


Sweaborg, commanded the Serapis during the 
visit of the Prince of Wales in India, and in 
1884 organized the flotilla on the Nile. He 
was made commander in chief at the Cape of 
Good Hope in 1892 and had charge of the west 
coast of Africa, and subsequently conducted an 
expedition against Fodi Silah in Gambia. For 
four years*, beginning in 1899, he was in com¬ 
mand of the military station of the West Indies 
and North America, and in 1903 became gov¬ 
ernor of Western Australia. 

BEDFORD, John Plantagenet, Duke of, 
son of Henry IV., King of England, born in 
1389; died at Rouen, France, Sept. 19, 1435. He 
rose to eminence in the military service. In 
1416 he defeated the French fleet and the next 
year commanded an expedition against Scot¬ 
land. Later he became regent of France, where 
he pursued ably and successfully a popular pol¬ 
icy. One of the most memorable, but saddest, 
events of his life, was the execution of the Maid 
of Orleans, known as Joan of Arc, in 1431. 

BEDLAM (bed'lam), or Bethlehem, a cele¬ 
brated hospital for the insane in London. It 
was formerly the priory of Saint Mary of Beth¬ 
lehem, and was converted into an asylum in 
1647. The patients were removed to Saint 
George’s Fields in 1814, where the accommoda¬ 
tions are first class. Bedlam became notorious 
because the inmates were treated very brutally, 
hence the name is synonymous with a place of 
uproar or wild confusion. 

BEDLOE’S ISLAND (bed'loz), so named 
from the former owner, and secured as property 
pf the government in 1800. It is located in New 
York Harbor, within the corporate limits of 
New York City, about one mile southwest of the 
Battery. The area is thirteen acres. In 1841 
the government erected a fort upon it, known 
as Fort Wood, and in 1884 it became the site of 
the statue of “Liberty Enlightening the World.” 

BEDOUINS (bed'oo-enz), meaning dwellers 
in the desert, a Mohammedan people of the 
Arab race who lead a wandering life in the 
deserts of Northern Africa and Western Asia. 
Originally they were confined to the deserts of 
Arabia, but at the present time they occupy 
many regions. They engage in the occupation 
of shepherds, horse breeders, and herdsmen, 
and often secure means of subsistence by rob¬ 
bery and plunder. Their government is in fam¬ 
ilies under shieks, or tribes under emirs. Though 
ignorant of written books, they know history 
by tradition, most of which relates to the gene¬ 
alogy of their own people. The men dress in 
long shirt-skirts, protect their feet with sandals, 
and wear red and yellow handkerchiefs to cover 
their heads. They manufacture their own 
material for clothing, subsist largely from their 
herds, and eat locusts, rice, honey, and the flesh 
of small animals. Some tribes are advanced 
in agriculture and have fixed homes. The lance 
is the weapon in genera 1 u^e among the Bedouin 
tribes. 


BEE, the name of any one of a large group 
of insects, of which the honeybee is the most 
important representative. In the classification 



A. Drone; B, Queen: C, Worker; D, Leg of Worker; 

B, Cells for Honey. 

of Linnaeus, all the insects .of this group were 
assigned to the genus A pis, but this term is 
now generally restricted to the honeybee, and 
the group is classified as two families, the Api- 
dae and the Andrenidae. In general, it may be 
said of bees that the head and thorax have 
feathery hairs, the hind feet are flattened, and 
the tongue is fitted to lap the nectar of flowers. 
Probably about 5,000 species are included in the 
group. The honeybee is considered the most 
intelligent of the insects. Owing to its indus¬ 
try and the useful product resulting from its 
labor, it has from remote times attracted gen¬ 
eral attention and interest. It is probable that 
more has been written about bees than about 
any nation of people. At present they abound 
in almost all parts of the world, except in 
extremely cold regions. 

The Honeybee. The honeybee lives in com¬ 
munities or swarms made up of three classes: 
queens, workers, and males. The workers are 
females whose generative organs are imper¬ 
fectly developed and they rarely produce eggs. 
In each swarm there is but one true female, 
called the queen. She is impregnated by the 
male while in the air and never leaves the hive 
at any other time, except when swarming. A 
few days after impregnation she begins to lay 
the eggs, one in each cell, and some days she 
deposits as many as 3,000. The queen bee is 
longer than either the males or the workers 
and can be easily distinguished from the others. 
The males are called drones from the low hum¬ 
ming sound which they make in their flight. 
They do not work and average usually about 
one drone to every thirty bees. All the work of 
the society is done by the workers. They gather 
the honey, make the wax, build the cells, and 
feed and take care of the young. After the 
swarming season is over, they kill or expel the 
drones, as if to economize the food which they 
lay up for winter. 

The eggs are deposited in different cells, some 
for workers, and others for drones and queens. 
The eggs produce small white larvae in about 
three days. They are fed with pollen or dust of 





















BEE 


259 


BEE 


flowers mixed with water and honey by the 
workers. After being fed five or six days, 
they begin to spin a cocoon around themselves. 
The young bees mature from the cocoon in 
about sixteen days. The queen bee inspects 
the size of the hive and the number of young 
queens about to leave the cocoons, and if she 
finds the swarm small the young queens are 
killed, but if the society is large one is permit¬ 
ted to come out. 

When the young queen appears, the old queen 
goes from the hive and takes with her a part 



OLD STYLE BEE HIVE. 


of the bees, forming a new community. This 
is called swarming and takes place in the sum¬ 
mer season; in the temperate climates this 
occurs two or three times each season. The 
new swarm may be easily secured by watching 
the society in the swarming season, and keeping 
an empty hive near by, in which the bees will 
soon begin to make honeycomb and deposit 
honey. But if no such hive is provided, and in 
timber districts where communities live in trees, 
the new swarm moves from place to place until 
it finds a hollow tree or some suitable place in 
which to found its home. The old hive is gov¬ 
erned by the new queen until another queen 
appears, when she forms a swarm and seeks a 
new location. In cases where two queens come 
out at the same time, as they sometimes do, 
they fight each other until one of them is killed. 

Bees are very active and strong. They make 
flights to gather food at great distances, which 
they easily endure without stopping to rest. 
When they are some distance from the hive, 
they fly up into the air to observe the direction, 
and then take the shortest line for the hive. In 
timber districts, where bees hive in trees, they 
seek water at the brooks, and their location may 
be found easily by observing the direction in 
which they fly after leaving the brook, or the 
flower where they gathered food. From this 
habit of bees we have the term bee line. The 
workers and queens each have stings in the 
back of the body, while the drones are sting¬ 
less. The sting of a bee is effected by making 
a wound with a sheath, into which poison is 
injected and a dart is thrust in to deepen the 
wound. When the sting is lost, the bee dies. 
Insects die from the effect of a bee sting, while 


man and animals have been killed by the at¬ 
tacks of large swarms. The health of bees is 
remarkable and their diseases are few. The 
greatest cause of harm is want of good sanita¬ 
tion, too close confinement, dampness, and want 
of ventilation. In caring for bees it is neces¬ 
sary to provide them with abundant pasture. 
New swarms should be fed with syrup. An 
abundant supply of water is essential to good 
health. 

Pollen and the sweet juices of flowers are 
the food of bees. They go from flower to flower 
and gather the pollen on the hairs of their 
legs, while the sweet juices of flowers are taken 
up by the trunk. The trunk is made up of sev¬ 
eral divisions so it can be turned easily, bent, 
shortened, or lengthened to fit the flower cup, 
which enables them to easily gather the sweets. 
The front legs and trunk serve to gather juices 
and pollen from flowers not full blown. The 
juices are passed from the trunk into a kind of 
stomach or honey-bag, where they are changed 
into honey. This stomach serves only for the 
purpose of making honey, as they possess a sec¬ 
ond stomach for the digestion of food. The 
stomach for honey is so constructed that its con¬ 
tents may be utilized at any time for storing 
in the cells or feeding the young. The workers 
make the wax by a process of growth on the 
back part of the body, where a pouch is located 
filled with wax slicks, from which it is taken by 
the bees and used in making honeycomb. The 
honeycomb is constructed of cells, some being 
used for honey and others for eggs. These 
cells are in the form of a hexagon, which form 
serves the best purpose and economizes space. 

The cells in which honey is deposited are 
slightly larger than those intended for hatching, 
and are constructed nearly horizontally, which 
admits of easy filling, and the honey is retained 
in the cells chiefly by capillary attraction. In 
constructing honeycomb the bees begin at the 
top of the hive and build downward, placing 
cells back to back in the process of construction. 
When the cells are filled with honey they are 
carefully sealed up with wax to prevent it from 
escaping. In the construction of honeycomb 
the entire space is utilized, with here and there 
small openings to allow the passage to and from 
the different parts of the hive. Large bee¬ 
keepers supply the hive with small frames con¬ 
taining the foundations for honeycomb, which, 
when filled with honey, are taken from the 
hive, put in a honey extractor, and the frame 
with the comb is afterward put back into the 
hive. In this way the bees are enabled to use 
one set of comb a number of times, thereby 
increasing their production of honey. Many 
bee-keepers feed their bees with syrup, more or 
less, the entire year, thereby maintaining the 
swarm and utilizing practically all the honey 
production. A fair-sized community includes 
one queen, from five to eight hundred drones, 
and from fifteen thousand to twenty-two thou- 







BEECH 


200 


BEE-EATER 


sand workers. The weight of a good swarm is 
from six to ten pounds. 

Classification. Bees have been variously 
classified according to their habits. The newest 
classification, which has been suggested by W. 
PI. Ashmead of the United States Museum, 
divides them into fourteen groups. Of these 
the first two, the honeybee and the bumblebee, 
are called social in their habits, because they 
live in communities. All other bees are solitary 
in their habits, each one living and working 
alone. They include some very interesting spe¬ 
cies, such as the leaf-cutting bee, which cuts 
off the leaves of plants to line its nest. Another 
is the carpenter bee, which bores tunnels into 
the stems of pithy plants, such as the brambles, 
in which the eggs are laid. The mason bee 
builds its nests of mud or moistened clay. 
Bees as a whole are extremely useful in the 
cross fertilization, since they carry the pollen as 
they pass from bloom to bloom. Indeed, clover 
can be grown successfully only where this work 
is done by bees. 

BEECH (bech), a useful and well known 
deciduous tree of America and Eurasia. It 
grows to a height of about one hundred feet and 
a diameter of four feet, and is a fine orna¬ 
mental tree, especially when standing alone. Its 
wood is solid, but brittle, and when exposed to 
air rots easily or is eaten by worms. Under 
water it is very durable, and thus serves a good 
purpose in constructing sluices and water mills. 
In France it is used in the manufacture of 
wooden shoes, and in many countries for fur¬ 
niture. The fruit is a three-sided nut and is 
used as a substitute in making coffee and a 
kind of bread. In some countries the fruit is 
pressed to express the oil, known as beech oil, 
which serves for food and lighting purposes. 
The common species include the white beech, 
red beech, and copper beech. Large beech for¬ 
ests were abundant in England and Western 
Europe in ancient times, where herds of swine 
were fed on the fruit. 

BEECHER (be'cher), Henry Ward, cler¬ 
gyman and orator, born at Litchfield, Conn., 
June 24, 1813; died in Brooklyn, N. Y., March 

8, 1887. He was the 
son of Dr. Lyman 
Beecher and for 
forty years, from 
1847 to 1887, ranked 
as the most elo¬ 
quent, powerful and 
magnetic minister 
of Plymouth 
Church, Brooklyn, 
N. Y. He was edu¬ 
cated at the Boston 
Latin School, Am¬ 
herst College, and 
Lane Seminary at 
Cincinnati. In 1837 he began his pastorate at 
Lawrenceburg, Ind. Two years later he was 


called to Indianapolis as pastor of a Presby¬ 
terian church, and in 1847 entered upon his 
famous career at Brooklyn. He was popular 
because of his unequaled boldness, general 
humor, power to illustrate, sonorous voice, and 
skill in undertaking the exposition of social 
and political evils. 

He delivered a masterful oration, in 1859, 
on the life and character of Robert Burns. In 
1863 he lectured to the people of England, who 
had formed a wrong impression of the Civil 
War in America and regarding the cause of 
perpetuating the American Union, and for his 
service in influencing public opinion in that 
country he was invited to deliver an oration 
on the anniversary of the surrender of Fort 
Sumter in 1865. A noted church trial between 
him and Tilton resulted in a disagreement of 
the jury; nine of the twelve decided for Mr. 
Beecher. He was in great demand as a lecturer 
and gave lecture courses at Yale and other 
institutions of learning. In 1882 he declared 
his disbelief in eternal punishment. Politically 
he was a Republican, but in the presidential 
campaign of 1884 he supported President Cleve¬ 
land. Among the many productions from his 
pen are articles published in the Cincinnati 
Journal, the Farmer and Gardener, the New 
York Independent, and the Christian Union. 
His best known books are “The Life of Christ,” 
“Lectures to Young Men,” and “Notes from 
Plymouth Pulpit.” 

BEECHER, Lyman, clergyman and theolo¬ 
gian, born at New Haven, Conn., Oct. 12, 1775; 
died in Brooklyn, N. Y., Jan. 10, 1863. He was 
a descendant of New England ancestors, who 
settled in New Haven in 1638, and father of 
Henry Ward Beecher and Harriet Beecher 
Stowe. His mother died while he was an 
infant, and he was adopted by Lot Benton, an 
uncle. In 1797 he graduated at Yale, and began 
his clerical career in the Presbyterian Church 
at East Hampton, Long Island, where he 
remained eleven years. He next accepted a 
call to Litchfield, Conn., where he ministered 
to the wants of the church for sixteen years 
and won renown by his powerful and fearless 
denunciations of intemperance. In 1826 he 
accepted a call to Hanover Church, Boston, and 
during the great controversy between Dr. Chan- 
ning and Congregationalism he warmly upheld 
the Puritan doctrine. After six years he be¬ 
came the president of the Lane Theological 
School near Cincinnati, and in 1842 returned 
to Boston to revise his books. His best known 
works are “Remedy for Duelling,” “Views on 
Theology,” and “Sermons on Temperance.” He 
spent the last years of his life at the home of 
Henry Ward Beecher, in Brooklyn. 

BEE-EATER (be'et-er), the name applied 
to several birds related to the kingfisher. They 
have long wings and a greenish color, resemble 
swallows in flight, and prey upon wasps, bees, 
and other insects. Their nests are built in 




BEEF 


261 


BEER 


holes, which they construct in river banks or 
on the seaside. In many places, especially on 
the Volga and Don, they have honeycombed the 
banks by excavations. In some countries they 
are a pest on account of their destruction of 
bees, which they catch on the wing. Their 
feathers are valuable as an article for orna¬ 
ments. 

BEEF (bef), the flesh of the ox or cow, 
used either fresh or salted. It is the most nutri¬ 
tious of all meats, and is well adapted to the 
most delicate constitutions. A beefsteak is 
known by the part of the animal from which 
it is taken, as rib, sirloin, or round. Porter¬ 
house, sirloin, and prime are considered the 
best cuts. The best quality comes from well- 
fed animals. The cut edge of good beef is 
bright red in color, and should be of a uniform 
tint, except where marked by fat and connective 
tissues. It loses twenty per cent, of its weight 
in roasting and thirty per cent, in boiling. In 
the raw state it contains fifty per cent, of water. 
It possesses the greatest amount of nutrition 
when fresh, but is preserved by canning, salting, 
drying, and many other ways with good results. 
Beef producing and beef packing are two highly 
important industries in the United States and 
Canada. 

BEEFEATER, the name of a bird of the 
starling family, native to South Africa. It 
associates with the buffalo, camel, and cattle, 
and feeds upon the larvae of flies. Birds of 
this class are sometimes called ox-pcckers. 
The name “beefeaters” has been applied for 
many years to the yeomen of the royal guard in 
Great Britain. Their costume is in the fashion 
of the time of Henry VII. and has been changed 
but slightly for four centuries. 

BEEF EXTRACT, an article of diet 
obtained by extracting the juice of beef and 
then evaporating the water. It is prepared by 
placing the meat in a large kettle with a dome¬ 
shaped cover, and extracting the juice by heat. 
An outer jacket, filled with water, surrounds 
the lower part of the kettle, serving to apply 
the heat uniformly, and after the juice is drawn 
off it is strained and put into jars or cans and 
sealed hermetically. Beef extract has about 
forty times the nutriment of beef, and is impor¬ 
tant as a food for infants and invalids. It is 
prepared for service in the form of soup or 
beef tea. 

BEER (ber), a beverage prepared by means 
of a process of fermentation from malt, hops, 
and water. The malt for general manufacture 
is made of barley, but wheat, oats, rye, corn, 
and India rice are used to some extent. The 
different kinds of beer are usually classed as 
porter and ale; the latter is prepared chiefly 
from pale malt and has a pale amber color, 
while the former is prepared by using a portion 
of roasted or black malt along with the pale 
malt. This has the effect of giving porter a 
somewhat bitter flavor and a darker color. 


These two classes are again subdivided into a 
great many varieties, depending upon the 
strength of the hops and the malt added. Mild 
ale, bitter ale, barley wine, pale ale, and table 
beer are terms by which the different varieties 
are known. 

From history we learn that beer was a well 
known beverage among the Egyptians 3,000 
years b. c., and was extensively manufactured 
by the early nations. Larger quantities of it are 
consumed than of any other beverage. In its 
manufacture Germany ranked first, Great Brit¬ 
ain second, and the United States third. In 
the United States there were over 2,000 brew¬ 
eries that manufactured annually over 40,000,000 
barrels, which was largely consumed within the 
country, together with several varieties im¬ 
ported from Europe. The consumption of beer 
in the United States averaged about fifteen 
gallons for each person, while the consumption 
in some of the countries of Europe is much 
larger. In Belgium the consumption per capita 
is fifty-one gallons; in Great Britain, thirty-six, 
and in Germany, thirty. 

The process of making beer is called brewing. 
The first step in the process is to place the bar¬ 
ley or cereal in an iron cistern, where it is 
soaked or steeped from 70 to 95 hours, when 
the water is drawn off and the barley placed on 
the floor of a dark room, where it swells and 
sprouts as if planted in the ground. This proc¬ 
ess is called germination. When the little 
sprouts have grown about half an inch long, the 
largest possible quantity of sugar has been 
formed. The malt is then taken to a drying 
kiln, where it is dried for a period depending 
upon the kind of beer to be made. In making 
light-colored ales the malt is dried only a short 
time, while in darker colored ales a longer time 
is allowed; this depends entirely upon the 
strength and color desired. After the malt is 
dried, it is crushed and mixed with hot water in 
a mash tub. Here another change takes place, 
by which the starch is converted into sugar, 
called grape sugar. After a few hours the 
liquid, now called sweet wort, is drawn off and 
boiled with hops in a copper kettle. It is next 
strained and cooled and put into a fermenting 
tun, where a little yeast is added, which causes 
it to froth and bubble up, which indicates that 
an important change is taking place; that is, 
the sugar is changed by the action of the yeast 
into carbonic acid and alcohol. 

Beer contains from one to ten per cent, of 
alcohol, the quantity depending of course upon 
the amount of sugar contained in the malt. 
Any liquor which has passed through the change 
of fermentation is known as fermented liquor. 
When this process has been completed, the 
beer is drawn off into hogsheads and allowed 
to settle. From this it is pumped into kegs or 
barrels and stored in cellars for use. While 
stored, fermentation goes on slowly for some 
time; the beer remaining in this state for a 


BEERSHEBA 


262 


BEETHOVEN 


long time is called lager beer, meaning, in Ger¬ 
man, stored beer, and the beer used immediately 
after fermentation is called schenk beer. The 
process differs somewhat in different breweries, 
but the general method is practically the same. 
The largest breweries in the United States were 
located at Saint Louis, Chicago, Milwaukee, 
Philadelphia, Baltimore, and New York. Mon¬ 
treal and Toronto are leading brewing centers 
of Canada. 

BEERSHEBA (be-er'she-ba), meaning well 
of the oath, a locality about fifty miles south¬ 
west of Jerusalem, now called Bir-es-Se-ba. 
At this place Abraham made an alliance with 
Abimelech, the Philistine King of Gerar, which 
he ratified with an oath and a valuable gift of 
lambs. It was a place of some importance down 
to the Crusades, but now is a dismal ruin. 

BEESWAX (bez'waks), the fatty substance 
secreted by bees and used by them in construct¬ 
ing the honeycomb. It is not collected from 
plants, but is a secretion elaborated within the 
body of the animal from saccharine matter or 
honey, and extruded in scales from beneath the 
rings of the abdomen. It is an article of com¬ 
merce, useful in modeling, for candles, and 
divers other purposes. Before being put on the 
market, it is purified and bleached or whitened. 

BEET (bet), a well known vegetable valued 
as food owing to the large quantities of sugar 
it contains. Four kinds of this vegetable are 



RED BEET. SUGAR BEET. 


cultivated—the common beet, the chard, the sea 
beet, and the mangel-wurzel. The common beet 
embraces several species, differing in size, color, 
and shape. The yellow and red beets, usually 
classed as common beets, are the best for table 
use, though the chard is a favorite among 
laborers and agriculturists in France and Ger¬ 
many Gardeners cultivate the sea beet largely 
for greens. The mangel-wurzel is a coarse, 
large beet. It is sweet and nutritious, and is 
stored in cellars for winter use as cattle feed. 


The white beet is used in the manufacture of 
sugar. 

In 1810 Napoleon began to encourage the 
manufacture of sugar from beets, but the in¬ 
dustry developed largely from the discoveries 
of Count von Arnim (q. v.). Since then large 
quantities of sugar have been manufactured in 
Europe from this vegetable, particularly in the 
German Empire. In the United States experi¬ 
ments in beet sugar manufacture were not ex¬ 
tensively made until 1890, when the Department 
of Agriculture at Washington sent 5,000 pack¬ 
ages of beet seed to different parts of the 
country for the purpose of experimenting in 
different localities. These seeds were distri¬ 
buted through twenty-eight states and territor-' 
ies, with directions for planting and the culture 
of the plant. After maturing the crop, about 
1,000 localities sent samples to Washington to 
be used in making tests of their value in beet 
sugar manufacture. It was found by careful 
examination that a zone about 200 miles wide, 
extending from the Atlantic to the Pacific, 
through portions of New York, Pennsylvania, 
Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, and Nebraska, 
possesses admirable qualities to develop this 
industry. California produces more beet sugar 
than any other State, while Washington, 
Nebraska, Kansas, Utah, and Colorado rank 
high. It is thought that by the larger develop¬ 
ment of the beet sugar industry the United 
States will be able to produce sufficient quan¬ 
tities of this product to supply the demand of 
the domestic market. California alone has suffi¬ 
cient available territory to produce all the sugar 
now imported, and many other states possess 
almost equal natural advantages. Canada has a 
large area of land suitable for the culture of the 
sugar beet, particularly in British Columbia, 
Ontario, and Alberta. The industry is de¬ 
veloped most extensively in Ontario. 

BEETHOVEN (ba -to'ven), Ludwig von, 
celebrated musical composer, born at Bonn, 
Germany, Dec. 16, 1770; died March 26, 1827. 
He takes preeminent 
rank in music, stand¬ 
ing above all the 
world’s composers, a 
position accorded him 
by general consent. 

His works mark a 
climax i n musical 
history, and usher into 
the musical world 
a phase of progress 
from which modern 
music has taken its 
rise. At the early 
age of four years his 
father guided the de¬ 
velopment of his 

musical talent, and at this early period he 
played successfully on the harpsichord, the 
name then applied to the piano. When four- 



LUDWIG VON BEETHOVEN. 





BEETLE 


263 


BEETS 


teen years old he became assistant court organ¬ 
ist, and gained a reputation by the skillful 
production and composition of music. At 
Vienna he studied under Mozart, and later 
under Haydn. The piano was his favorite 
instrument, and he excelled in performing upon 
it. His fame soon spread throughout Central 
Europe, and his name was known alike to the 
poor and rich, the peasant and the nobleman. 
Many honors were accorded to him by the most 
important personages of his time. At the age 
of thirty years he began to lose gradually his 
hearing, and later became totally deaf. This 
misfortune caused him to shut himself up with 
his books and music, but his work went on 
without intermission. 

The compositions of Beethoven include a 
total of 138. They comprise all the forms of 
vocal and instrumental music from the simple 
song to the opera and oratorio, from the sonata 
to the symphony. His depth of feeling and 
power of genius were displayed in each of these. 
Some attain an excellence never approached by 
composers before or since his time. He dis¬ 
played remarkable skill on the piano in his 
pianoforte sonatas, which brought forth the re¬ 
sources of that instrument to a perfection pre¬ 
viously unknown. Of his nine symphonies the 
last, “Choral Symphony,” is regarded the most 
wonderful composition. In dramatic work his 
“Fidelio” and “Coriolanus” display the deepest 
pathos and force. All his music excels in beauty 
and simplicity so perfect that in it is shown a 
mind bent on thoughts of eternal things and a 
heart full of love and sympathy. 

BEETLE (be't’l), an order of insects called 
by naturalists Colcoptcra, which means sheathed 
wings. They possess four wings, an inferior 



a, larva; b. pupa; c. beetle. 


pair, which are the real wings used in flying, 
and a superior pair that form a protection for 
the others. In walking they appear to have 
no wings, so nicely are the real wings covered 
and protected. The real wings are membra¬ 


nous, while the wing cov rs are horny, often 
beautified by green, yellow, blue, and diversified 
colors. There are no less than 150,000 species 
showing slight differences in color, size, form, 
or habits, of which fully 11,000 are native to 
the region of North America lying north of 
Mexico. They undergo three full stages in life. 
At first they are grabs or larvae, in which form 
they have three pairs of legs, horny heads, and 
wormlike bodies; those hatched in fruit and 
nuts have no legs. The second stage is entered 
after a case or cocoon has been prepared, 
though a cocoon is not always provided. This 
is called the pupa state, in which many varieties 
lie for years before developing into beetles. 
Most species live on land, though there are a 
large number that live in water. Land beetles 
live under rocks, logs, or leaves, among stones, 
and in holes drilled in wood. 

Various beetles have been named from their 
size, form, and habits of life. The carrion 
beetles are those that feed upon dead animals. 
Scavenger beetles live on filth and refuse 
matter, and are provided with feet fitted to 
dig holes in the ground. Sexton beetles 
have a very strong scent so they can easily 
find the dead bodies of small animals, such as 
frogs, snakes, and mice. These they take to a 
place where the ground is soft and bury them 
safely under cover. In these remains they 
deposit their eggs, and when the young are 
hatched they feed upon the food provided in 
this way. The ambrosia beetle, of which there 
are several species, bores in oak and other 
wood, often doing great damage. A class 
of beetles extensively known as tumble bugs 
belong to this class. In ancient Egypt they 
were called sacred beetles and were worshiped, 
for the reason that they are useful in clearing 
up manure and burying it below the surface. 
This they do by making round balls, in which 
they lay their eggs, and then bury them deep 
in the ground. Tiger beetles have stripes and 
are fierce in combat with other insects. They 
prey upon other beetles, flies, and caterpillars, 
and possess cannibalistic tendencies among 
themselves. The bombardier beetles possess a 
strong liquid, which they shoot at their enemies. 
Similar beetles include the spring beetles , 
horned bugs, and curculios. The last mentioned 
live in orchards and feed upon fruits and grains. 
The worms often found in plums, nuts, apples, 
and various other fruits are hatched from eggs 
laid by beetles. A species of beetle known as 
Spanish fly is used in making powder and 
blistering plasters. Other well known beetles 
are the potato bug, squash bug, oil beetle, lady¬ 
bird, glozv worm, blister beetle, and firefly. See 
illustration on following page. 

BEETS (bats), Nikolaas, poet and author, 
born at Haarlem, Holland, Sept. 13, 1814; died 
in 1905. He studied at Leyden and entered 
the Protestant ministry, and in 1875 became 
professor of theology in the University of 






















BEGGAR 


264 


BEHRING SEA 





Utrecht. His “Can era Obscura,” published are those known as Begonia, Beefsteak Gera < 

under the pseudonym of Hildebrand, is one of nium, and Glory of Lorraine. The flowers are 

the finest productions of the last century in largely pink or red. Young plants are raised 

the Dutch literature. Other works include from the seed, or they may be obtained by 

dividing the bulbous roots and 
by cutting and placing the 
stems in the soil. Many varie¬ 
ties of fine flowers have been 
propagated from the tuber-root 
kind. 

BEHEMOTH (be'he- 
moth), a large animal de¬ 
scribed in the Bible (Job xl, 
15-24). The description indi¬ 
cates that the animal referred 
to is grass-eating and lives in 
or near the water, hence it is 
thought the author referred 
to the hippopotamus. In Job 
xl, 25-31, it is associated with 
the leviathan. Some writers 
think that the crocodile, the 
ox, or the elephant was meant, 
while others associate the two 
names with primeval monsters. 


OAK WOOD DAMAGED BY THE AMBROSIA BEETLE. 
a b, two species of beetles; c, log cut from damaged timber. 


“Poems,” “Ada of Holland,” and “Important 
Events in the Life of Saint Paul.” 

BEGGAR (beg'ger), one who continually 
implores people for alms. The practice of 
begging may be a necessity with some aged and 
physically defective persons, while others en¬ 
gage in it from the dislike for work. In 1572 
a law of England provided a severe penalty for 
all able-bodied persons convicted of the 
offense. Laws prohibiting vagrancy are on 
the statute books of many countries, the pur¬ 
pose being to prevent beggar vagrants from 
roaming over the country. 

BEGONIA (be-go'm-a), the name of a 
large family of plants, of which several spe- 


BEGONIA. 


cies are cultivated in flower pots and green¬ 
houses. The plants are perennial and include 
both herbs and shrubs. Among the popular 
species grown in gardens as flowering plants 


BEHISTUN (ba-his-toon'), or Bisutun, a 
town in Persia, located near a mountain of the 
same name, and celebrated for the remains of 
ancient sculptures and inscriptions found in the 
vicinity. The mountain has an altitude of 
1,700 feet, and the most remarkable inscrip¬ 
tion is in the limestone about 300 feet high. 
Sir Henry Rawlinson copied the inscription, 
which was made in the time of Darius I., 
King of Persia, about 518 b. c., and contains 
an account of his military triumphs. These 
inscriptions were made after polishing the rock 
and applying varnish harder than the lime¬ 
stone. The writing is in the cuneiform 
characters and in the Median, Persian, and 
Assyrian languages. 

BEHRING (ba'ring), Emil Adolf, physi¬ 
cian, born at Hansdorf, Germany, in 1854; died 
April 1, 1917. He studied medicine at Berlin, 
and in 1880 took up 
surgery in the army. 

In 1894 he became 
professor in the Uni¬ 
versity of Halle, and 
later w r as called to 
Marburg to a direc¬ 
torship in the Hygi¬ 
enic Institute. His 
reputation is based 
principally upon the 
discovery of diph¬ 
theria serum and its 
successful application 

■ i , j. y f • EMIL ADOLF BEHRING. 

that disease. His 

chief publications, “The Resistance to Infec¬ 
tious Diseases” and “The Blood Serum Ther¬ 
apy,” mark an era in medical literature. 

BEHRING SEA. See Bering Sea. 













































BEIRUT 


265 


BELGIUM 


BEIRUT. See Beyrout. 

BEJAPOOR (be'ja-pbbr), or Bijapur, a 
ruined city of India, in the presidency of 
Bombay, 245 miles southeast of Bombay. The 
site is on a tributary of the Kistna River, and 
surrounding it are lofty walls of hewn stone. 
Anciently the city was a great commercial 
center, and its downfall dates from 1686, when 
it was captured by Aurungzebe. The tomb of 
Mahomet Shah and other remains of Moham¬ 
medan construction are among the ruins, most 
of which indicate splendid workmanship and 
fine examples of eastern art. The modern 
town is not important and has a population of 
17,500. 

BELA (ba'la), the name of four kings of 
Hungary, of the Arpad family. Bela I. reigned 
in 1061-1063; Bela II., in 1131-1141; Bela III., 
in 1173-1196, and Bela IV., in 1235-1270. 

BEL AND THE DRAGON, a book of the 
Old Testament, belonging to the Apocrypha. 
The Roman Catholic Church regards it a 
canonical book of the Bible, and the Anglican, 
Lutheran, and a number of other churches 
recommend it to be studied for edification. It 
was probably written in Alexandria in the 
Greek, and dates from the 3rd century b. c. 
In the Vulgate version it is part of the Book 
of Daniel. 

BELASCO (be-las'ko), David, dramatic 
author, born in San Francisco, Cal., in 1862. 
In 1874 he took part as an actor in theatrical 
plays and early developed originality in devising 
plays for the local stage, and soon joined 
James A. Hearne in a tour of the leading 
American cities. For some time he was man¬ 
ager of Madison Square Theater in New York 
City and later was connected with the Lyceum 
Theater, and subsequently gave his time prin¬ 
cipally to literary work. Lie joined Franklin 
Fyles in writing “The Girl I Left Behind Me,” 
which was produced successfully at the Empire 
Theater. For several years he managed some 
of the notable actors of America, including 
David Warfield and Blanche Bates. His chief 
writings include “The Heart of Maryland,” 
“May Blossom,” “Men and Women,” “La Belle 
Russe,” “The Darling of the Gods,” and “Sweet 
Kitty Bellairs.” 

BELFAST (bel'fast), a city in Maine, 
county seat of Waldo County, thirty miles 
southwest of Bangor, on the Maine Central 
Railway. It has a good harbor on Penobscot 
Bay and railroad connection with the principal 
cities of the State. Shipbuilding, printing, and 
the manufacture of shoes and lumber products 
are among the chief industries. Granite quar¬ 
ries are worked near the city, and the surround¬ 
ing country is agricultural. A Masonic temple, 
a public library, and an Odd Fellows’ building 
are among the chief architectural structures. 
The first settlement on its site was made in 
1870 and its incorporation as a city dates from 
1850. Population, 1900, 4.615j in 1920, 5,083. 


BELFAST (bel-fast'), a city of Ireland, 
county seat of Antrim County, capital of the 
province of Ulster, about twelve miles from the 
Irish Sea. It has railway connection with the 
leading cities of Ireland, is on the Ulster Canal, 
and has a fine harbor on Belfast Lough. Near 
it flows the Lagan River, which is crossed by 
several bridges that connect the city with adja¬ 
cent villages. It occupies a fine site, but most 
of the ground is reclaimed marshland. The 
city is the seat of vast commercial and manu¬ 
facturing interests, the most important in Ire¬ 
land. Its products and exports consist of cot¬ 
ton and woolen goods, linen fabrics, ropes, 
canvas, ships, clothing, and machinery. It is 
the seat of fine schools and several institutions 
of higher learning, including Queen’s College 
and the Royal Academic Institution. Among 
the chief buildings are the museum, the gov¬ 
ernment offices, the Corn Exchange, and the 
public library. It has extensive botanical 
gardens, electric street railways, and munici¬ 
pal waterworks. The city is largely Protestant, 
among whom the Presbyterians predominate. 
Population, 1901, 349,180; in 1921, 395,492. 

BELGIUM (bel'gi-um), a kingdom of 
Europe, whose northern boundary is formed 
by Holland, eastern by Germany, southern by 
France, and western by the North Sea. In 
latitude it lies between 49° 30' and 51° 30' N., 
and in longitude 2° 33' and 6° 6' E. Its great¬ 
est length from southeast to northwest is 165 
miles; breadth, 120 miles. The area is 11,373 
square miles. 

Physical Features. The surface is made 
up largely of fertile lowland, though there are 
some sandy and marshy tracts. A range of the 
Ardennes Mountains, highest altitude 2,200 
feet, traverses the section lying southeast of 
the Meuse River. From the southeastern 
part the surface inclines toward the northwest, 
where dikes are utilized to prevent overflows 
from the sea. An unfertile tract, the Campine, 
is in the northern part of the province of Ant¬ 
werp, but this has been greatly improved by 
superior husbandry. 

The Meuse and Scheldt rivers, though both 
rise in France, are important for drainage and 
navigation. The Dender, Lys, and Rupel are 
tributaries of the Scheldt, and the Lesse, Sam- 
bre, and Ourthe flow into the Meuse. Rainfall is 
abundant and the average temperature is about 
50° Fahr. In summer the climate is some¬ 
what hotter than in Great Britain, and the 
winters are longer and more severe. 

Coal is the chief mineral and is found in 
fields having an area of about 550 square miles, 
chiefly along the Sambre and Meuse rivers. 
Marble, slate, and limestone quarries are 
worked extensively in the eastern part. Other 
deposits worked more or less extensively in¬ 
clude copper, lead, iron, peat, and calamine. 

Agriculture. Agriculture has declined some¬ 
what with the development of other enterprises. 


BELGIUM 


266 


BELGIUM 


in which capital and labor became interested. 
The demand for cereals and other farm prod¬ 
ucts is greater than the supply. All of the 
domesticated animals of Europe are grown 
profitably, especially cattle, and the dairying 
interests have been' developed very efficiently. 
Hogs, sheep, and horses are grown in all the 
provinces. Among the cereals may be men¬ 
tioned rye, which is grown most extensively, 
oats, barley, buckwheat, spelt, and sugar beets. 
The vine is cultivated on large tracts along the 
Mass River, and tobacco, hops, rape, flax, fruit, 
and vegetables are grown. About one-sixth of 
the surface is covered with forests, including 
beech, oak, elm, and poplar. Forestry is 
important as an enterprise, and the products 
have a high annual value. The fisheries of its 
coast and inland waters yield large returns. 

Manufactures. Manufacturing takes first 
rank among the industries of Belgium and is 
the chief source of its prosperity. Modern 
machinery is utilized extensively, but most of 
the work is done in small shops, in which only 
two or three workmen are employed. In 1908 
there were fully 80,000 establishments in the 
dwelling houses of workmen who carried on 
small manufacturing industries without any 
paid labor. Chief among the larger enterprises 
is the manufacture of textiles, both linen and 
woolen, and this industry is represented at 
Bruges, Brussels, Limburg, Ghent, Liege, and 
Mechlin.. Carpets are made in large quantities 
at Brussels and Tourney, and Brussels and 
Bruges are centers for the manufacture of lace 
and fine lawn and damask fabrics. Other 
products ranging high in value are machinery, 
leather, chemicals, glass, furniture, clothing, 
jewelry, and spirituous liquors. Cheap fuel 
has caused the development of large steel and 
iron works, though the ores are mostly im¬ 
ported. 

Transportation. A network of railroads 
covers the entire country, and in proportion 
to its area Belgium has the greatest railroad 
mileage in the world. In 1835 the first line ; 
from Mechlin to Brussels, was open for traffic. 
The government owns nearly all of the rail¬ 
roads, which aggregate a total of over 5,450 
miles. Electric lines are operated in all the 
cities and many suburban districts. Canal 
transportation of much value is utilized, and 
the Meuse and Scheldt rivers are navigable 
throughout their entire length in Belgium. 
The import and export trade is carried largely 
through Ostend and Antwerp, and the im¬ 
ports have exceeded the exports for the past 
fifty years. France, Germany, Great Britain, 
the Netherlands, and the United States have 
the largest proportion of trade in the order 
named. 

Government. For the purpose of govern¬ 
ment Belgium is divided into the nine provinces 
of Limburg, Namur, Luxemburg, Brabant, Ant¬ 
werp, Liege, Hainaul, East Flanders, and West 


Flanders. The executive power of the nation is 
vested in the king, and the crown is hereditary 
in the direct male line of descent. A council 
of ministers responsible to the chambers assist 
the monarch, and every royal act must be 
validated by the signature of a minister. Chief 
legislative power is vested in the king and the 
chambers, which consists of the senate and 
chamber of deputies. The senate has 102 
members, of whom fifty-six are appointed 
by the provincial councils and the remainder 
are elected by direct suffrage of male citizens. 
The chamber of deputies has 152 members, 
elected by direct suffrage, and in this branch 
originate all bills dealing with the revenue. 
Each province has a council chosen by direct 
vote, in which is vested the power to legislate 
in matters of local government. The provinces 
are divided into arrondissements, and these are 
again divided into smaller districts known as 
communes. Cases tried by the lower courts 
are subject to review by the court of cassation 
or supreme court. 

The standing army numbers 51,552 men, and 
the war footing is about 148,500. Wars of ag¬ 
gression are prohibited by the constitution, 
hence the army is intended only for national 
defense and the preservation of neutrality. 
The coins, weights, and measures correspond 
in name and value to those of France. 

Education. The church and state were 
separated by the constitution of 1831, but re¬ 
ligious instruction is directed in the public 
schools by the Roman Catholic clergy. Sup¬ 
port is given to the schools by the state and 
local governments, and the classes range from 
the elementary schools in the communes to 
the higher schools and universities. Higher 
education culminates in the state universities 
at Ghent and Liege, and free universities are 
maintained at Louvain and Brussels. In the 
higher institutions instruction is given in law, 
medicine, engineering, arts, and manufactures. 
Roman Catholic is the religion of most of the 
people, and this church maintains many paro¬ 
chial schools. 

Inhabitants. Belgium is so named from 
the people anciently called Belgae, who were 
of the ancient Celtic family. Two types make 
up the present population, those who descended 
directly from the ancient Belgae, and those 
who are a mixture of Celts and Germans. 
Flemish and French are spoken in the south¬ 
ern part, while German is the language of the 
northern section. However, these three are 
the national languages. Brussels, the capital, is 
a large and prosperous commercial center. 
Other cities of importance include Antwerp 
and Ostend, both important seaports, and 
Ghent, Bruges, Liege, Verviers, and Ixells. 
Belgium is the most densely populated country 
in Europe. Population, 1921, 7,580,548. 

History. Anciently Belgium was a part of 
Rome, when it was included in the territory 


BELGRADE 


267 


BELL 


known as Belgae. It was the battle ground 
and center of contention in many European 
wars, and its territory has belonged to many 
different nations. The Battle of Waterloo was 
fought in the province of Brabant, in 1815, 
after which it was united to Holland, the two 
countries forming the kingdom of the Nether¬ 
lands. In 1830 Belgium was separated from 
Holland and became a distinct kingdom, form¬ 
ing a constitutional monarchy. Prince Leopold 
of Saxe-Coburg was elected its first king, in 
1831, with the title of Leopold I. He was 
succeeded after a prosperous reign of thirty- 
four years by his son, Leopold II., who gave 
support to the explorations of Stanley in Cen¬ 
tral Africa, and consistently opposed the main¬ 
tenance of slavery in that region. The Congo 
International Congress held at Berlin made his 
government the controlling influence in the 
Congo Free State, Belgium reserving the right 
of annexation after 1900. Albert I., the present 
king, born April 8, 1875, son of the Count of 
Flanders, the brother of Leopold II., succeeded 
to the throne in 1909. He married Princess 
Elizabeth of Bavaria in 1900. At the beginning 
of the Great European War, in 1914, the Ger¬ 
mans invaded Belgium, captured Brussels and 
Antwerp, and took possession of almost the 
entire country before the end of the year. After 
the defeat of the Central Powers, in 1918, the 
country was restored to the Belgians and re¬ 
ceived indemnity for losses sustained during 
the war. 

BELGRADE (bel-grad'). the capital of 
Servia, called by the Turks “the House of the 
Holy War,” at the junction of the Save and 
the Danube Rivers. It is on several railroads 
and has electric street railways. The chief 
buildings include the cathedral, the public library 
with 100,000 volumes, the national theater, the 
royal palace, and a number of fine churches. It 
has water works, electric lights, pavements, a 
considerable trade, and numerous manufactures. 

Several fine gardens and drives beautify it, and 
statuary adorns its public places, among them 
the statue of Prince Michael III. The Greeks 
were in possession of Belgrade until 1073, when 
it was captured by the Hungarians. Later it 
fell into the hands of the Bulgarians, Servians, 
Austrians, French, and Turks. In 1862 it 
became the capital of Servia, and was finally 
evacuated by the Turks in 1867. The Treaty 
of Berlin, in July, 1878, after the close of the 
war between Russia and Turkey, recognized 
Servia as an independent state. Belgrade was 
captured by the Austrians in 1914. The city is 
fast losing its Turkish appearance and partaking 
of European characteristics. Population, 1922, 
92,890. 

BELIEF (be-lef'), the mental act or opera¬ 
tion of accepting as true and real any propo¬ 
sition on proof afforded by reasoning, or any 
alleged fact or opinion on evidence of testi¬ 
mony. It stands in opposition to the convic¬ 


tion that results from personal observation or 
experience, which is stronger than that resting 
on testimony or reasoning. The term belief is 
also used to express unwavering acceptance of 
anything as true. 

BELISARIUS (bel-T-sa'ri-us), eminent 
general, born in Illyria in 505; died March 13, 
565. Justinian I., Emperor of Byzantium, gave 
him chief command of the army in Asia, and 
in 530 he defeated the Persians at Dara. Two 
years later he suppressed an insurrection 
against Justinian at Constantinople, and de¬ 
feated the Vandals in Africa and took Gelimer, 
their king, a prisoner in 534, for which he re¬ 
ceived a triumphal procession on returning to 
Constantinople. He was made consul in 535, 
and subsequently commanded in wars against 
the Bulgarians and Ostrogoths. His enemies 
preferred against him a charge of treason 
and he was put in prison, but after six months 
was released and restored to his honors. 
Writers accord him distinction for loyalty and 
humanity. 

BELIZE (be-lez'), the capital of British 
Honduras, Central America, located on Hon¬ 
duras Bay, at the mouth of the Belize River. 
It is the center of a growing import and export 
trade in rosewood, cedar, logwood, mahogany, 
sugar, cocoanuts, and other tropical produc¬ 
tions. The city is well built. It has extensive 
telegraph connections, a good harbor, and sev¬ 
eral fine schools and churches. Population, 
1921, 10,580. 

BELKNAP (bel'nap), Georsre Eugene, rear- 
admiral, born at Newport, N. H., Jan. 22, 1832; 
died in 1903. He entered the navy as a mid¬ 
shipman in 1847, and commanded the New Iron¬ 
sides during the larger part of the Civil War. 
Subsequently he made deep-sea soundings be¬ 
tween the United States and Japan for a 
route of a submarine cable across the Pacific. 
In 1885 he was made commodore, and the 
same year became superintendent of the United 
States Naval Observatory. 

BELKNAP, William Worth, soldier, born 
near Newburgh, N. Y., Sept. 22, 1829; died 
Oct. 13, 1890. He studied at Princeton College 
and began the practice of law at Keokuk, Iowa. 
In 1861 he entered the Union army as major 
of volunteers, and distinguished himself in the 
campaign conducted by Sherman at Atlanta. 
President Grant made him Secretary of War 
for both of his administrations. In the last 
term he was impeached for receiving bribes, 
but the proceedings were dropped by the Senate 
after his resignation. 

BELL (bel), an instrument for producing a 
ringing sound, made chiefly of a kind of bronze 
called bell metal. It consists of a reversed cup, 
at the apex of which an ear or canon is formed, 
used for suspending it from a beam or some 
fixed body above. On the inside is a hammer 
or clapper, which generates the sound by per¬ 
cussion on the reversed side of the cup. In 


BELL 


268 


BELL 


Exodus xxviii, 33-34, golden bells are men¬ 
tioned in connection with worship. The an¬ 
tiquity of bells is also shown by the discovery 
of Sir Austin Layard (1819-94) at the site of 
the ancient city of Nineveh, where he secured 
bells made of one part tin and ten parts cop¬ 
per. In Greece and Rome bells were used, not 
only in religious observances, but were com¬ 
mon at the markets, camps, and baths. Those 
made at an early date were of a comparatively 
small size until about the year 400 a. d., when 
the Bishop of Nola introduced the use of larger 
sizes in Campania. Their use in England began 
in the 7th century, and they were first cast in 
that country about 940, but in Ireland and Scot¬ 
land they were probably used at an earlier date. 
The great bell of Saint Paul’s Cathedral in Lon¬ 
don was cast in 1882. It has a diameter of 9.07 
feet and weighs 35,470 pounds. The bell of 
Westminster, known as Big Ben, was cast in 
1856 and has a weight of 30,324 pounds. 

Bells are now in common use in churches, 
either singly or in a series, and are employed 
extensively in city buildings, at private houses, 
and in .offices and hotels. Some bells are famous 
in history on account of their large size, beauty, 
and clearness, or some important historic event 
announced by their ringing. Among the most 
famous are the following: 


WHERE LOCATED. 

WEIGHT 

IN TONS. 

WHEN 

MADE. 

Cologne, Germany. 

11 

1448 

Halberstadt, Germany. 

8 

1457 

Rouen, France. 

16 

1501 

1507 

1680 

Breslau, Germany. 

11 

Lucerne, Switzerland. 

8 

Paris, France. 

15 

1680 

Vienna, Austria. 

18 

1711 

Moscow, Russia. 

216 

1736 

Montreal, Canada. 

14 

1847 



Several of these bells have been recast, nota¬ 
bly the Keiserklocke at Cologne, in 1875, which 
now weighs twenty-five tons. The great bell 
of Moscow is the largest ever made, and hung 
suspended only a short time, owing to a fire. It 
now serves as a dome to a chapel that was exca¬ 
vated below it. The famous Liberty Bell, which 
rung when the Declaration of Independence 
was issued in 1776, was made in 1751. Montreal, 
Canada, has the largest bell in America, weigh¬ 
ing thirteen and a half tons. 

The material used chiefly in making bells, 
known as bell metal, consists of an alloy of tin 
and copper with a little zinc and lead added. 
In England and Germany good results have 
been secured by casting bells of cast steel. Glass 
has been used with excellent results as to tone, 
but durability is wanting. Bells are cast in 
molds made of fine sand. The molten metal 
is drawn off from a great furnace into an 
earthen or crucible pot, which is swung by a 
crane. The molten metal is poured over the 
mold into a pit beneath the floor of the foundry. 
When the bell has been cast, it is drawn out of 


the pit and its rough places are finished 
with files and chisels. The size of the bells 
and their thickness depends upon the purpose 
they are to serve. The small bells are propor- 



GREAT BELL OF MOSCOW. 


tional in weight to the larger ones, and are 
rung by means of ropes, which cause them to 
swing to and fro. Others are struck by hand, 
and some by means of a hammer on the out- 



LIBERTY BELL, PHILADELPHIA. 


side. Curfew bells are rung in some towns to 
warn the people that it is time to retire, fire bells 
give warning of and indicate the location of 
fire, and church bells call to service, or toll the 
announcement that death has visited the com- 








































































































































BELL 


2G9 


BELL 


munity. Many churches in the larger cities 
have chimes, which consist of a set of bells, 
and the sounds produced are pleasing and musi¬ 
cal. The most recent inventions in bells in¬ 
clude electrical contrivances, such as are used 
for danger signals and to call attendants in 
hotels and offices. They provide both rapidity 
and convenience at short and long distances. 
Bells of this kind are constructed of two elec¬ 
tro-magnets, provided with an armature, to 
which a clapper is fixed that vibrates between 
two gongs. When an alternating current is 

generated, the attraction and repulsion of the 
armature causes the bell to ring. 

BELL, Alexander Graham, American 
inventor, born in Edinburgh, Scotland, March 
3, 1847. He was educated at the high school 

and the University of 
Edinburgh and came to 
the United States in 
1872, making it his 
permanent home. His 
father, Alexander Mel¬ 
ville Bell, was the in¬ 
ventor of a system of 
instruction for deaf 
mutes, which the son 
introduced in America. 
He became professor of 
vocal physiology at the 
Boston University in 
1872, and while there 
invented the telephone. 
His invention was first exhibited in Philadel¬ 
phia in 1876, but since then many improve¬ 
ments have been made to bring the telephone 
to its present state of efficiency. In 1880 he 
and Taintor introduced the photophone, an in¬ 
strument in which a vibratory beam of light 
takes the place of a wire in conveying speech. 
The graphophone, an instrument to reproduce 
the human voice and similar to the Edison 
phonograph, was also invented by him. He 
wrote extensively on electricity and attained 
to prominence as a member of many scien¬ 
tific societies. While he was an independent 
inventor of the telephone, there is reason to 
doubt whether he was the first inventor. See 
Telephone. 

BELL, Andrew, clergyman, born at Saint 
Andrews, Scotland, in 1753; died at Cheltenham, 
Jan. 27, 1832. He studied at the Saint Andrews 
University, and in 1789 went to India, from 
whence he originated the “Monitorial Sys¬ 
tem of Education/’ which, as the name im¬ 
plies, utilizes some of the advanced pupils of 
the school or system of schools to aid in giv¬ 
ing instruction. Besides writing on educa¬ 
tional subjects, he lectured extensively, and 
at his death left $600,000 for the establishment 
of schools in the British Isles. He was buried 
at Westminster Abbey. 

BELL, Sir Charles, surgeon, famous for his 
discoveries in the nervous system, born at 


Edinburgh, Scotland, in 1774; died near Worces¬ 
ter, April 29, 1842. He was admitted as 
a member to the Edinburgh College of Sur¬ 
geons, and later became one of the surgeons 
of the Royal Infirmary. To gain practical 
knowledge of gun-shot wounds, he visited the 
Battle of Corunna in 1809 and the Battle of 
Waterloo in 1815. He published many works 
on different phases - of anatomy and surgery. 
The following is taken from his epitaph: 
“Sacred to the memory of Sir Charles Bell, 
who, after unfolding with unrivaled sagacity, 
patience, and success the wonderful structure 
of our mortal bodies, esteemed lightly of his 
greatest discoveries, except only as they tend 
to impress himself and others with a deeper 
sense of the infinite wisdom of the ineffable 
goodness of the Almighty Creator.” 

BELL, Henry, engineer, born in Linlith¬ 
gow, Scotland, April 7, 1776; died Nov. 14, 
1830. He took up the business of a millwright 
and later studied ship modeling. Subsequently 
he made a study of mechanics at Bell’s Hill 
and conducted experiments with the steam en¬ 
gine. In 1812 he supervised the construction 
of a small vessel called the Comet, which was 
launched on the Clyde. This vessel had a 
three horse power engine and was the first 
European boat in which steam was used as 
power. 

BELL, John, statesman, born at Nashville, 
Tenn., Feb. 15, 1797; died Sept. 10, 1869. 

After practicing law successfully, he be¬ 
came -a member of the State Senate, and in 
1827 was elected to Congress from Tennessee, 
serving till 1841. He was speaker of the 

House from 1835 until 1837. In 1841 he was 
chosen by President William Henry Harrison 
as Secretary of War, and in 1847 elected Sena¬ 
tor from Tennessee, which position he held 
until 1859. Politically he was a Whig. In 

1860 he became the candidate of the Constitu¬ 
tional Union party with Edward Everett for 
Vice President, and received the electoral 
votes of three states. 

BELL, Robert, surveyor and geologist, born 
in Toronto, Canada, June 3, 1841. He at¬ 

tended school in Prescott County and studied 
at McGill and Edinburgh universities, and in 
1881 became a member of the American Insti¬ 
tute of Mining Engineers. He joined the geo¬ 
logical survey of Canada in 1857, and devoted 
nearly fifty years to making geological and top¬ 
ographical surveys in the Dominion of Canada. 
Among his important surveys are those of the 
south coast of Baffin Land, the great rivers of 
Northwestern Canada, and many of the lakes, 
including Lake Winnipeg, Great Slave Lake, and 
Lake of the Woods. The Bell River, a branch 
of the Nottaway, which flows into James Bay, 
was named after him. He published several 
hundred reports relating to geology, geography, 
and folklore. In 1888 he was a royal com¬ 
missioner on the mineral resources of Ontario. 



BELLADONNA 


270 


BELLEVILLE 


His surveys and reports are basic and impor¬ 
tant records. 

BELLADONNA (bel-la-don'na), or Dead¬ 
ly Nightshade, a plant native to Eurasia, but 
some species are now cultivated successfully in 
America. It is widely distributed over Europe, 
where it grows wild in forests, near fences, 
and in waste places. The berries are shining 
black and, like all parts of the plant, are very 
poisonous. Vinegar is an antidote to counter¬ 
act the effects of this poison. The plant at¬ 
tains a height of four or five feet. Its leaves, 
roots, and fruit are used in making medicine, 
which is useful in palsy, fevers, epilepsy, and 
other ailments. Some species are beautiful 
flowering plants. 

BELLAIRE (bel-ar'), a city of Belmont 
County, Ohio, five miles from Wheeling, 
W. Va., on the Ohio River. It is on the Penn¬ 
sylvania, the Baltimore and Ohio, and other 
railroads, and is important as an industrial and 
commercial center. Its has a public library 
and several fine school and church buildings. 
The manufactures include window glass, pig 
iron, farm machinery, nails, hardware, cigars, 
and clothing. Gas and electric lights, pave¬ 
ments, waterworks, and street railways are 
among the improvements. In the vicinity are 
extensive deposits of coal, clay, and lime¬ 
stone. Population, 1900, 9,912; in 1920, 15,061. 

BELLAMY (bel'a-mi), Edward, writer and 
journalist, born at Chicopee Falls, Mass., March 
26, 1850; died May 22, 1898. His education 
was received at Union College and in Ger¬ 
many, after which he was admitted to the bar. 
In 1871-72 he was connected with the New York 
Evening Post, and later with the Springfield 
Union. He is the author of “Looking Back¬ 
ward,” of which about four hundred thousand 
copies were sold in America within a few 
years after its publication. In it is given a pic¬ 
ture of the idealistic effects of socialism, of 
which theory he was an advocate. Several com¬ 
munities based on the doctrine of socialism 
were founded by him. He published “Dr. Heid- 
enhoff’s Process,” “Six to One,” “Miss Ludding- 
ton’s Sister,” and “Equality.” In 1898 he visited 
Colorado with the view of recuperating his 
health, but returned to his native State with¬ 
out being materially benefited, and soon after 
died at his home in Chicopee Falls. 

BELLBIRD, a bird native to South Amer¬ 
ica and the West Indies, so named from the 
metallic sound of its voice, which resembles 
the tolling of a bell. The bill is broad and de¬ 
pressed and flexible at the base, and at the 
upper side is a tubular appendix about three 
inches in length. This hornlike growth stands 
erect when the bird becomes excited, or when 
it utters its note. A similar bird in found in 
Australia and New Zealand. 

BELLEFONTAINE (bel-fon'tan), a city 
in Ohio, county seat of Logan County, forty-five 
miles northwest of Columbus, on the Ohio Cen¬ 


tral and other railroads. It is located on the 
highest ground in the State. The chief buildings 
include the county courthouse, the high school, 
and several churches. Railroad machine shops, 
flouring mills, and carriage works are among 
the chief manufacturing establishments. It has 
a growing trade in farm produce and merchan¬ 
dise. The waterworks and lighting plants are 
municipal properties. The first settlement was 
made in 1818. Population, 1920, 9,336. 

BELLE ISLE, an island north of New¬ 
foundland, at the northern extremity of the 
Strait of Belle Isle. Much of the surface is 
rocky. The area is about fifteen square miles. 
At the southern extremity is a lighthouse 470 
feet high. The Strait of Belle Isle separates 
Newfoundland from Labrador, and is the con¬ 
necting link between the Atlantic and the Gulf 
of Saint Lawrence. 

BELLEROPHON (bel-ler'6-fon), the son 
of Glaucus, King of Corinth, and the slayer of 
Chimaera. It is related that he killed Bellerus 
and fled for protection to the King of Argos, 
who sent him to the King of Lycia with a 
sealed letter requesting that he kill Beller- 
ophon, but that king decided that he should 
fight with Chimaera, a fire-breathing monster. 
He mounted the winged horse Pegasus, and 
while in midair slew the monster and defeated 
the Amazons. Sophocles and Euripides made 
the myth of Bellerophon the subject of trage¬ 
dies. 

BELLEVILLE (bel'vil), a city in Illinois, 
county seat of Saint Clair County, about four¬ 
teen miles southeast of Saint Louis, on an ele¬ 
vated district in the midst of a fertile farm¬ 
ing country. It is on the Southern, the Illinois 
Central, and the Louisville and Nashville rail¬ 
roads. The city is a prosperous commercial 
and manufacturing center, and has modern 
municipal facilities, and adjacent to it are pro¬ 
ductive coal mines. Its manufactures consist 
of ironware, woolen goods, fermented and dis¬ 
tilled liquors, flour, and machinery. It has 
a public library, the Saint Peter’s Cathedral, a 
fine courthouse, and a convent for the educa¬ 
tion of young ladies. The municipal improve¬ 
ments include electric street railways, brick 
and macadam pavements, and waterworks. The 
first settlement was made in 1814 and it was in¬ 
corporated in 1846. Population, 1920, 24,741. 

BELLEVILLE, a city in Ontario, Canada, 
and county seat of Hastings County, on the 
Grand Trunk Railroad. It is located on the 
Bay of Quinte, at the mouth of the Moira 
River, and is an important commercial center. 
The manufactures include ironware, clothing, 
fermented and distilled liquors, and dairy 
products. It is the seat of several educational 
institutions, including an asylum for the deaf 
and dumb and Albert University, founded in 
1857. The principal improvements include 
waterworks, sewerage, and street pavements. 
Population, 1901, 9,117; in 1921, 12,163. 


BELLEVUE 


271 


BELMONT 


BELLEVUE (bel-vu), a city of Kentucky, 
in Campbell County, on the Ohio River, oppo¬ 
site Cincinnati, Ohio. It has a growing trade, 
is improved by good municipal facilities, and 
has several fine schools and church buildings. 
Many Cincinnati business men reside here. It 
was incorporated in 1871. Population, 1900, 
6,832; in 1920, 7,379. 

BELLINGHAM (bel'ing-am), a city in 
Washington, county seat of Whatcom County, 
seventy-eight miles north of Seattle, on the 
Northern Pacific, the Great Northern, and other 
railroads. It is located on Bellingham Bay, an 
inlet from the Gulf of Georgia, and has a large 
coastwise trade. The harbor is safe and well 
improved. It is important as an export market 
for merchandise and produce. Sawmills, tan¬ 
neries, brickyards, flouring mills, and machine 
shops are among the leading manufacturing 
enterprises. The trade is largely in fruit, 
cereals, live stock, fish, and products from the 
farm and dairy. Coal mines, and stone quar¬ 
ries are operated in the vicinity, and the sur¬ 
rounding country is devoted to farming and 
fruit culture. It is the seat of a State normal 
school and has a public library, a substantial 
courthouse, and numerous schools and churches. 
The public improvements include a library, 
waterworks, and electric street railways. Set¬ 
tlements were made in the vicinity in 1858 
and the town was named Whatcom. Bellingham 
dates from 1903 when Fairhaven and Whatcom 
were united to form the city. Population, 1908, 
11,062; in 1920, 25,570. 

BELLINI (bel-le'ne), Jacopo, eminent 
painter, born in Venice, Italy, in 1395; died in 
1470. He and his two sons, Giovanni and Gen¬ 
tile, are regarded the founders of the Venetian 
school of painting. The two sons did much to 
make oil painting popular. Giovanni Bellini 
(1426-1516) and Gentile Bellini (1427-1507) 
are names well known in the history of paint¬ 
ing. 

BELLINI, Vincenzo, famous composer, 
born at Castania, Sicily, Nov. 3, 1802; died 
near Paris, France, Sept. 24, 1835. He studied 
composition at Naples under Zingarelli, wrote 
operas before reaching the age of twenty, and 
was patronized by the principal musical estab¬ 
lishments of Europe. His operas include many 
productions filled with sweet melodies, among 
them “La Sonnambula,” “Norma,” “El Pirata,” 
and “I Puritani.” 

BELLMAN (bel'man), Karl Michael, lyric 
poet, born in Stockholm, Sweden, Feb. 4, 
1740; died Feb. 11, 1795. He was the son of 
a professor at Upsala, where he studied for 
some time, and subsequently took up literature. 
Gustavus III. gave him financial aid and moral 
encouragement, but he suffered from ill health. 
His poems are pathetic and remarkable for 
joyous melody. They express the joy of life 
and have been published extensively. “The 
Temple of Bacchus” is his longest poem. His 


more important writings were collected in 1790 
and published under the title of “Letters to 
Fredman.” 

BELLONA (bel-16'na), the Roman goddess 
of war, sometimes confounded with Minerva. 
Her temple stood in the Campus Martius, near 
the circus of Flaminius, and was of great im¬ 
portance in the time of the republic. The 24th 
day of March was set aside for her worship. 

BELLOWS (bel'lus), a machine or instru¬ 
ment for producing a blast of air, used prin¬ 
cipally for blowing fires in furnaces, forges, 
and mines, or for filling pipe organs. It was 
used by the ancients, both nomadic and civil¬ 
ized. The common bellows are made by join¬ 
ing two wooden sides together with leather 
stretched entirely around, and so fastened that 
two handles moved back and forth cause air 
to be forced out through the nozzle. A valve 
on the side admits the air as the handles are 
moved apart, but closes when brought together. 
This results in the air being driven out with 
much force. More powerful instruments de¬ 
signed for factories or workshops are provided 
with machinery to obtain propulsive force. In 
the larger industrial establishments where large 
quantities of coal are burned fan-blast machines 
are used for the same purpose. They have the 
advantage of furnishing a continuous current of 
air. 

BELL ROCK, or Inch Cape, a reef of 
rocks in the North Sea, opposite the mouth 
of the Tay, about twelve miles from Arbroath, 
Scotland. The danger of this reef to naviga¬ 
tion has been partly overcome by the erection 
of a large lighthouse, in 1810, under the direc¬ 
tion of Robert Stevenson. The lighthouse is 
120 feet high, has an alternating red and white 
revolving light, and is enforced by the ring¬ 
ing of two bells during storms. The reef, 
which is about 2,000 feet long, is partly uncov¬ 
ered at spring tides. 

BELMONT, August, financier, born at 
Alzey, Germany, in 1816; died in New York 
City, Nov. 24, 1890. He was educated at 
Frankfort and was employed by the Rothchilds 
as their agent in New York. In 1844 he was 
made consul general at New York by the gov¬ 
ernment of Austria, and subsequently served 
as American minister to Holland. He was 
chairman of the national Democratic commit¬ 
tee for twelve years, beginning in 1860, and 
during the Civil War was of great assistance 
to the United States by furnishing valuable 
information to the government, and in a large 
measure preventing the Confederacy from 
floating loans in the foreign money market. 

BELMONT, August, financier, born in 
New York City, Feb. 18, 1853. He suc¬ 
ceeded his father, August Belmont, in the 
management of the banking house of August 
Belmont & Co., American representatives of 
the banking firm of the Rothchilds, and became 
an officer and director of imany corporations 


BELOIT 


BEM 


070 

Ll I *_J 


interested in railroads and manufacturing. In 
politics he affiliated with the opponents of Bryan 
in 1896, and was influential as a Democrat in 
State and national organizations. He has held 
important offices in the company that controls 
the consolidated traction lines of New York 
City. He died Mar. 29, 1919. 

BELOIT (be-loit'), a city of Rock County, 
Wisconsin, on the Rock River, about forty- 
seven miles southeast of Madison, on the Chi¬ 
cago and Northwestern and the Chicago, Mil¬ 
waukee and Saint Paul railroads. It is the cen¬ 
ter of a fine agricultural country and the seat of 
large factories engaged in the construction of 
plows, reaping and mowing machines, boots and 
shoes, engines, and machinery. Besides having 
good public schools, it is the seat of Beloit 
College, a well established institution of higher 
learning under the direction of the Congrega- 
tionalists. The chief buildings include the 
public library, the city hall, and the central 
high school. Gas and electric lights, street 
railways, and waterworks are among the munic¬ 
ipal improvements. It was first settled in 1824 
and became an incorporated town in 1856. Pop¬ 
ulation, 1905, 12,855; in 1920, 21,284. 

BELSHAZZAR (bel-shaz'zar), the last king 
of the Chaldean dynasty, who, according to 
some historians, ruled conjointly with his 
father, Nabonidus. His death occurred in 538, 
when Cyrus, King of Persia, conquered Baby¬ 
lon. For an account of the circumstances of 
his overthrow see the Book of Daniel. 

BELT, or Belting, in machinery, an endless 
flexible cord or band used to transmit power 
or motion between two parallel shafts. Driv¬ 
ing belts are usually broad or flat bands of 
leather or rubber, but there are a vast number 
of forms made of different materials, such as 
ropes, chains, and cables, which are used to 
transmit power from one roller, wheel, or pulley 
to another. The best leather belts are made of 
oak-tanned leather, cut from the back of hides 
and curried in tallow and cod oil. Under suit¬ 
able care and with proper connections, belts 
of this kind can be used to drive machinery 
from twenty to thirty years. India rubber is 
preferred as a material for belting by a num¬ 
ber of manufacturers, as it does not absorb 
moisture or stretch and decay, but its tendency 
to'deteriorate with age makes it less durable. 
Iron and steel wire and chains are used ex¬ 
tensively, but they require a peculiar construc¬ 
tion of pulleys. A variety of woven-fabric 
belts are employed, including hair, cotton, and 
various textile fabrics, though in general they 
are most serviceable in smaller machinery. 
The two ends of a belt may be united together 
by riveting, or by clamps of various construc¬ 
tion, and in the lighter class of belting it is 
customary to lace the ends together with a 
strap of leather. Where great power is trans¬ 
mitted, it is necessary to have leather belts of 
several thicknesses, frequently as much as four 


layers, and the width ranges from twenty to 
fifty inches. Heavy rubber belting is some¬ 
times six-ply thick, from thirty to fifty inches 
wide, and about 300 feet long, depending, of 
course, upon the construction of the machinery 
and the power to be transmitted. 

BELT, Great and Little, the names of two 
narrow channels which connect the Baltic Sea 
with the Cattegat. The Great Belt is thirty- 
seven miles long and about eighteen miles wide, 
and passes between the islands of Fiinen and 
Zealand. It has dangerous shoals and sand 
banks, and a swift current prevents the strait 
from being frozen over except in very severe 
winters. The Little Belt separates Fiinen from 
Jutland. It is thirty miles long and from one to 
twelve miles wide, and in general respects re¬ 
sembles the Great Belt. 

BELUCHISTAN. See Baluchistan. 

BELTEIN (bel'tan), or Beltane, a festival 
common among the Celtic people in former 
times, which was celebrated annually in the 
beginning of May down to the early part of 
the 19th century. Some writers have asso¬ 
ciated it with fire worship or with the worship 
of the sun, while others regard it a season for 
burning rubbish at the time of cleaning house 
yards. In some localities festivals known by 
this name were celebrated in the month of 
November. 

BELUGA (be-lu'ga), or White Whale, a 

kind of whale or dolphin found in the Arctic 
Sea. It has a broad head and is from ten to 
fifteen feet long, and is hunted for its skin 
and oil, known as porpoise oil. The sturgeon 
of Southern Russia is known as beluga, and is 
hunted for its flesh and a kind of isinglass ob¬ 
tained from it. 

BELVIDERE (bel-vi-der'), a city of Illi¬ 
nois, county seat of Boone County, on the 
Kishwaukee River, seventy-six miles northwest 
of Chicago, on the Chicago and Northwestern 
Railroad. A public library, an opera house, and 
the county courthouse are among the chief 
buildings. The manufactures include flour, 
farming implements, and machinery. The city 
has several fine churches and schools, water¬ 
works, and an electric system of lighting. It 
was settled in 1836 and incorporated in 1857. 
Population, 1900, 6,937; in 1920, 7,760. 

BELZONI (bel-tso'ne), Giovanni Battista, 
explorer, born in Padua, Italy, Nov. 5, 1778; 
died Dec. 3, 1823. He emigrated to England 
in 1803 and subsequently went to Egypt at the 
invitation of Mehemet Ali, for whom he made 
a hydraulic machine. While in Egypt he ex¬ 
plored the antiquities at Gizeh and in the 
region between the Nile and the Red Sea. He 
secured a colossal bust of Raineses II., now in 
the British Museum, and opened one of the 
pyramids of Gizeh. He published “Operations 
and Discoveries in Egypt and Nubia/’ 

BEM (bem), Jozef, revolutionist and patriot, 
born in Galicia, Austria, in 1795; died Dec. 





BELSHAZZAR’S FEAST 





























■ 














(Opp. 273) 


POPE BENEDICT XV. 





BEMBA 


273 


BENEFIT ASSOCIATIONS 


10, 1850. He joined the French under Napoleon, 
and subsequently entered the Polish army. In 
1884 he took command of the army of Transyl¬ 
vania, consisting of 10,000 men. He was at 
first unsuccessful, but later defeated the 
Austrians at the bridge of Piski, and in 1849 
repulsed them and their Russian allies. How¬ 
ever, he was defeated at Schassburg in 1849, 
and was compelled to retreat into Transylvania. 
He obtained a command in the Turkish army. 
In 1850 he suppressed an insurrection of the 
Arabs at Aleppo, and soon after died of a fever. 

BEMBA. See Bangweolo. 

BEMIDJI, county seat of Beltrami County, 
Minnesota, 180 miles northwest of St. Paul, on 
Bemidji Lake and on the Northern Pacific and 
other railroads. Among the features are the 
city hall, court house, high school, public library, 
and saw mills. It has a large trade. The place 
was settled in 1889 and incorporated in 1896. 
Population, 1920, 7,086. 

BENARES (ben-a'rez), a city in the north¬ 
ern part of India held sacred by the Hindus. 
It is the focus of a network of railroads, on 
the Ganges River, which makes a turn at this 
place. The site on which the city is built rises 
like an amphitheater, thus presenting a mag¬ 
nificent view of its beautiful palaces, mosques, 
and other buildings. The city is the residence 
of many priests. Vast numbers of religious 
mendicants and Hindu pilgrims wend their 
way to this revered city to worship in its 
ancient-edifices, or to temporarily wash away 
their sins in the sacred waters of the Ganges. 
Historically sacred bulls wander at large to indi¬ 
cate the sacredness of the city. There are no 
less than 1,500 Hindu temples within the city 
limits, besides 275 Mohammedan mosques. 
Benares is surrounded by a fertile district 
and has a large trade in merchandise. The 
manufactures include utensils, embroidered 
cloth, clothing, shawls, silk, jewelry, and other 
Eastern products. A portion of the city is 
occupied by Europeans, who founded a gov¬ 
ernment college which is now attended by 
about 1,250 students. They constructed a beau¬ 
tiful bridge across the Ganges River, containing 
sixteen spans. Little is known of the early his¬ 
tory of the city. According to Hindu tradition 
it was founded at the time of the creation. 
Population, 1921, 225,173. 

BENDER (ben'der), or Bendery, a town of 
Russia, in the government of Bessarabia, sixty 
miles northwest of Odessa. It is located on 
the Dniester River, fifty miles from its mouth, 
and has a large trade in grain and live stock. 
The manufactures embrace machinery and 
clothing. A fine Greek church, a gymnasium, 
and the government buildings are its chief 
improvements. Many of the people are Jews 
and Armenians. Russia captured it in 1 m 0, 
but it was ceded to Turkey in 1774, and in 1812 
it was finally given to Russia by the Peace 
of Bucharest. Population, 32,350. 


BENEDICT (ben'e-dikt), the name of four¬ 
teen popes, who ruled within 574 and 1750. 
They were more or less distinguished, but 
Benedict XIV. was the most celebrated. This 
pontiff was born at Bologna in 1675 and died 
May 3, 1758. He was distinguished for exten¬ 
sive learning, piety, and tolerance, and his doc¬ 
trines were exemplified in his practice. It was 
his anxiety that the clergy should be untainted 
in morals. To attain this object he established 
a board of examiners for all candidates to 
vacant sees. His manner was frank and his 
intercourse with strangers showed a high 
degree of kindness, whatever the nature of 
their religious opinions. Among his written 
works are “On the Sacrifice of the Mass,” “On 
the Beatification and Canonization of Saints,” 
and “On the Diocesan Synod.” 

BENEDICT XV., Pope of Rome, born at 
Genoa, Italy, Nov. 21, 1854. He studied at the 
University of Genoa, where he graduated in law 
in 1875, and later studied theology at Capranica 
College. After serving as prelate at Madrid, 
Spain, he was made archbishop at Bologna. In 
1914 he succeeded Pius X. as pope, well equipped 
by training and by nature for this position. His 
policy in the Great European War was in the in¬ 
terest of peace. He died Jan. 22, 1922. 

BENEDICTINES (ben-e-dik'tms), an 
order or society of monks who observe the 
rules of Saint Benedict. It dates from 529, 
when Saint Benedict founded the first monas¬ 
tery of this order on Monte Cassino, near 
Naples. The rule of living requires that its 
members be industrious, avoid laughter, take 
the vow of poverty, and exercise frugality in 
living. They teach the trades and industries, 
especially weaving, dyeing, tanning, glass-blow¬ 
ing, sculpturing, masonry, and other industrial 
and fine arts. In the Middle Ages the Bene¬ 
dictines were concerned in the preservation of 
the ancient classics, and through them many 
art and literary treasures have been trans¬ 
mitted to modern times. The monks of this 
order include many scholars and learned men 
noted for their piety and interest in disseminat¬ 
ing knowledge. The order lays claim to the dis¬ 
tinction that twenty-four of its members became 
popes; 200, cardinals; and 4,250, bishops. 

BENEFIT ASSOCIATIONS, or Frater¬ 
nal Societies, the organizations whose chief 
objects include the cultivation of social rela¬ 
tions, the assistance of members during the 
time of sickness and disability, and the payment 
of benefits in case of death. Their busi¬ 
ness, so far as it pertains to life insurance, is 
conducted on an assessment basis, classified in 
accordance with the age of the assured. They 
are particularly numerous in the United States, 
where the annual income of this class of fra¬ 
ternal societies is about $63,500,000, while the 
expenditures are about $61,285,000. The largest 
among these are the Odd Fellows, the Knights 
of Pythias, the Ancient Order of United 


18 


BENEVENTO 


274 


BENGAL 


Workmen, and the Knights of the Maccabees, 
but many others have a large membership. A 
comparatively large business is transacted in 
Canada, where they are generally termed 
friendly societies, and many are established by 
the workingmen themselves. Although life in¬ 
surance is issued by most of the societies 
named below, it is not strictly compulsory. A 
member may belong to and enjoy all the privi¬ 
leges of many of them without carrying life 
insurance, and under such circumstances his 
privileges are fraternal and for personal edi¬ 
fication. These associations have been a 
source of benefit to manv homes on account 
of the payment of small life policies, and be¬ 
cause of the friendship and acquaintance of 
friends of deceased members. Below is a fairly 
complete list of benefit associations, together 
with the dates when organized: 


NAME or ASSOCIATION. ORGANIZED. 

American Legion of Honor.1877 

Ben Hur, Tribe of.1894 

B’nai B’rith, Independent Order of.1843 

Brith Abraham Order.1859 

Catholic Knights of America.1877 

Catholic Mutual Benefit Association.1876 

Choppers, Order of.1900 

Chosen Friends, Order of.1879 

Druids, United Ancient Order of.1839 

Elks, Benevolent and Protective Order of.1868 

Equitable, Aid Union. 1879 

Foresters, Ancient Order of.1832 

Foresters, Ancient Order of, of America.1874 

Foresters, Independent Order of.1874 

Golden Chain, Order of.1880 

Golden Cross, United Order of.1876 

Good Fellows, Royal Society of.1882 

Heptasophs, Improved Order.1878 

Hibernians of America, Ancient Order of.1836 

Home Circle.1§80 

Independent Order Free Sons of Israel.1849 

Irish Catholic Benevolent Union.1869 

Knights and Ladies of Honor.1877 

Knights of Honor.1873 

Knights of Pythias.1864 

Knights of Saint John and Malta.1883 

Knights of the Golden Eagle.1873 

Knights of Maccabees.1880 

Mystic Circle, The Fraternal.1884 

National Provident Union.1883 

National Union.1880 

New England Order of Protection.1887 

Odd Fellows, Independent Order of.1819 

Pilgrim Fathers, United Order of.1879 

Rechabites, Independent Order of.1842 

Red Men, Improved Order of.1870 

Royal Arcanum.1878 

Royal Templars of Temperance.1870 

United American Mechanics, Order of.1845 

United American Mechanics, Junior Order of.1853 

United Friends, Order of.1881 

United Workmen, Ancient Order of.1868 

Woodmen of America, Fraternity of Modern....1883 

Woodmen of the World.1890 


BENEVENTO (ba-na-ven'to), a city of 
Southern Italy, in a province of the same 
name, near the junction of the Sabbato and 
Calore rivers. It occupies the site of the an¬ 
cient Beneventum, and is "noted for its remains 
of antiquity. The famous arch of Trajan, 
built in 114 a. d., and its cathedral, constructed 
after the Lombard-Saracenic style in the 12th 
century, are among the most noted buildings. 
Population, 1921, 24,893. 

BENGAL (ben-gal'), the largest of the gov¬ 
ernmental divisions of British India, contain¬ 
ing an area ol 111,513 square miles. It consti¬ 
tutes a lieutenant governorship and, besides 


Bengal proper, includes Behar, Orissa, Chota 
Nagpur, and the tributary states. The tribu¬ 
tary states have an area of 58,500 square miles. 
Bengal is located south of the Himalaya Moun¬ 
tains, and north of the Gulf of Bengal. 
Through it flow the Brahmaputra and Ganges 
rivers, two valuable water courses, which, below 
their confluence, form the greatest delta in 
the world. The glaciers of the Himalaya 
Mountains supply the two chief rivers of the 
district with immense volumes of water in 
the months of June and July, and cause a 
large region to be inundated similar to the 
inundations of the Nile. As a result of this 
the low lands of the delta are fertile and pro¬ 
duce large quantities of cereals and fruits. 

The mean temperature of Bengal for the 
year is about 80° near the coast, and in the 
elevated regions to the north it is about 54°. 
In the eastern part the rainfall is extremely 
large, averaging over 100 inches in a year, 
and is equaled only by the precipitation of the 
Amazon valley and the lake region of Africa. 
Three seasons make up the year, including the 
hot, from March to June; the rainy, from 
June to October; and the cold, from October 
to March. The district is generally unhealthy 
for Europeans on account of its variations in 
moisture and temperature. Along the coast 
extend great trackless forests, in which the 
Bengal tiger and the rhinoceros are numerous. 
Many reptiles and carnivorous animals infest 
the swamps and canebrakes of the low and 
marshy coast and the delta. The district is 
frequented by destructive floods and occasion¬ 
ally by cyclones, while earthquakes have visited 
it at numerous times. Among the chief prod¬ 
ucts are opium, cane sugar, tobacco, indigo, 
cotton, rice, and many varieties of tropical 
fruits. In the northern portions, adjacent to 
the foothills of the Himalayas, are extensive 
deposits of copper, petroleum, and coal, while 
salt beds are common in various parts of that 
region. A large commerce is carried on with 
Great Britain, China, Germany, the United 
States, and the Straits Settlements. 

The first British settlement in Bengal was 
made by the East India Company in the early 
part of the 17th century. Calcutta was founded 
in the latter part of that century, and is the 
largest city and most important commercial 
center of British India. Large additions of 
territory were made subsequently by conquest, 
and the country became a crown province in 
1858. It is the most highly developed district of 
British India, and has made material advance¬ 
ment in educational arts and sciences. At Cal¬ 
cutta several colleges and a fine university have 
flourished for many years. The district has a 
well organized system of public schools, at 
which the fundamental arts of an education and 
higher instruction are given free of tuition. 
A number of industrial, professional, and der 
nominational institutions are in a flourishing 














































BENGAL 


275 


BENNETT 


condition. Bengal contains many cities and is 
penetrated by a network of telephone and tele¬ 
graph lines. It has transportation facilities by 
the Indus, the Brahmaputra, and about 24,850 
miles of railways. The dialect spoken chiefly 
is known as Bengali, but the people of some 
of the regions speak the Hindi and Uriya dia¬ 
lects. The inhabitants belong largely to the 
Hindu race, but along the river valleys the 
Burmese predominate. About one-third of the 
people affiliate with the Mohammedan religion 
and the remainder are Animists, Buddhists, 
and Christians. Population, 1921, 58,448,735* 

BENGAL, Bay of, a part of the Indian 
Ocean, south of Asia, located between India 
and Farther India. It is visited by southwest 
monsoons in winter and northeast monsoons 
in summer. The Andaman and the Nicobar 
Islands are the chief land masses within the 
bay. It receives the inflow from the Ganges, 
Irawadi, and Brahmaputra rivers. The tides 
sometimes rise to the height of seventy feet 
where the shores are elevated. Rangoon, Cal¬ 
cutta, and Madras are the chief cities tributary 
to the Bay. 

BENGALI (ben-ga'le), a branch of the 
Aryan language spoken in Bengal and other 
parts of India. Calcutta is the chief center of 
influence among the people who speak this 
language. It is thought to be an outgrowth 
from the Sanskrit and bears to it about the 
same relation that the Romance languages 
have to Latin. About 45,000,000 people speak 
the language. It has an interesting literature 
and numerous periodicals are published in the 
Bengali. 

BENGUELA (ben-ga'la), a district in the 
western part of Africa, one of the divisions 
of the Portuguese colony of Angola. It is 
situated in a mountainous section between 
Mossamedes and Loanda. It has deposits of 
sulphur, copper, and petroleum, and the region 
is considered rich in mineral wealth and fer¬ 
tility of soil. Benguela, the capital, is a market 
for rubber, coffee, and fruit. It was founded 
in 1617 and was long a center of the slave trade. 

BENI (ba'ne), a river of Bolivia, rises in 
the Bolivian Andes, and after a course of 900 
miles unites with the Mamore to form the 
Madeira. It is navigable about half its length, 
and provides direct communication for a large 
part of Bolivia with the Amazon. 

BENIN (ben-en'), a district of Western 
Africa, in Upper Guinea. It is bounded by 
Dahomey, the Niger, and the Bight of Benin, 
an extension from the Gulf of Guinea. The 
soil is fertile and produces yams, cotton, fruit, 
and sugar cane. The region was discovered 
and partly explored by the Portuguese in 1484. 
It became a possession of Great Britain in 
1897, when it was incorporated in the pro¬ 
tectorate of the Niger coast called Nigeria. 

BENJAMIN (ben'ja-min), “son of the right 
hand,” the youngest son of Jacob and Rachel. 


He was loved by Jacob most of all his children, 
and was especially beloved by his elder brother, 
Joseph. From him one of the twelve tribes 
of Israel descended, known as the Benjamites. 
They numbered 45,600 warriors when Joshua 
led the hosts into Canaan. The portion allotted 
to them was situated between the tribes of 
Judah and Ephraim, on the west side of the 
Jordan. After the reign of Solomon, the king¬ 
dom of Judah was formed of Judah and Ben¬ 
jamin. These two tribes constituted the prin¬ 
cipal part of the Jewish nation after the Baby¬ 
lonian captivity under Nebuchadnezzar. Saul, 
the first King of Israel, and the Apostle Paul 
were Benjamites. 

BENJAMIN, Judah Philip, called “The 
brains of the Confederacy,” born at Saint 
Croix, West Indies, Aug. 11, 1811; died in 
Paris, France, May 8, 1884. He was a descend¬ 
ant of Jewish parents, studied at Yale, and was 
admitted to the bar in 1834 at New Orleans, 
where he became a member of the law firm 
of Slidell, Benjamin & Conrad. In 1852 he was 
elected to the United States Senate as a Whig. 
While in office he went over to the Democratic 
party and was reelected in 1857, but resigned 
when Louisiana seceded from the Union. He 
advocated the Kansas-Nebraska bill, but after¬ 
ward held that the Dred Scott decision should 
be accepted as conclusive. He was appointed 
Secretary of State for the Confederacy by Jef¬ 
ferson Davis, which office he filled with excep¬ 
tional ability. After the war he fled from 
Richmond to the Bahamas, and later to Liver¬ 
pool. Subsequently he studied English law at 
Lincoln’s Inn, was admitted to the bar at Lon¬ 
don, and in 1872 became counsel to the queen. 

BEN LOMOND (ben lo'mund), a mountain 
in the Grampian Highlands of Scotland, twenty- 
seven miles northwest of Stirling. It is on the 
east side of Loch Lomond and rises to an eleva¬ 
tion of 3,192 feet. Duchary Water, a feeder of 
the Forth, has its source in Ben Lomond. On 
clear days a fine view may be had of the sur¬ 
rounding country, including Loch Lomond and 
the fertile plains of Ayrshire and Renfrewshire. 
Scott in his “Lady of the Lake” makes this 
mountain a place of prominence. 

BENNETT, James Gordon, journalist and 
founder of the New York Herald, born in Scot¬ 
land, Sept 1, 1795; died in New York City, 
June 1, 1872. He first studied to become a 
Roman Catholic priest, but gave up that pur¬ 
pose, and in 1819 emigrated to America, where 
he engaged in public teaching. Subsequently he 
lectured and contributed to various magazines 
and newspapers. In 1835 he founded the New 
York Herald as a one-cent newspaper, and 
issued it from a cellar basement, where he was 
proprietor, editor, and salesman. On account 
of his habits of industry and practical applica¬ 
tion to business the paper was made spicy and 
newsy, and contained much personal gossip 
and public criticism. It was the first daily 


BENNETT 


276 


BENTLEY 


newspaper that published reports of stock sales, 
financial reviews, and other features now com¬ 
mon to the great daily publications. When 
steamship lines and telegraph connections were 
established, he secured correspondents in all 
countries and made the paper a great commer¬ 
cial success. His editorials were independent 
in politics, but he generally supported the Dem¬ 
ocratic party. He continued to edit the paper 
until his death. 

BENNETT, James Gordon, Jr., son of the 

founder of the New York Herald, born in New 
York City, May 10, 1841. He became managing 
editor of the Herald in 1866, and at the death 
of his father succeeded him as editor, publisher, 
and proprietor. His enterprise in fitting out 
the Jeanette for an expedition to the North 
Pole gave his newspaper considerable promi¬ 
nence, as also did the aid given by him to the 
London Daily Telegraph for a relief expedition 
under Henry M. Stanley, in search of Living¬ 
stone, whose whereabouts in Africa were 
unknown. In 1883 he joined John W. Mackey 
in organizing the Commercial Cable Company 
for transatlantic service. The New York Eve¬ 
ning Telegram and several other newspapers 
were founded by him. He died May 14, 1918. 

BEN NEVIS (ben ne'vis), a mountain in 
Inverness-shire, Scotland. Its height is 4,406 
feet, with a precipice of 1,500 feet on the 
northeast side. It is the highest eminence in the 
British Isles. In 1883 an observatory was 
erected on its summit, and subsequently a car¬ 
riage road was established to its top. 

BENNINGTON (ben'mng-ton), the county 
seat of Bennington County, Vermont, famous 
for the battle fought here in the Revolution. 
It is located on the Rutland and the Lebanon 
Springs railroads, thirty-seven miles northeast 
of Troy, N. Y., and is a manufacturing center 
of considerable importance. The leading manu¬ 
factures are woolen goods, pottery, ironware, 
furniture, and machinery. The chief buildings 
include the county courthouse and several public 
schools. It has waterworks and a system of 
electric lighting. It is the seat of a soldiers’ 
home, and near the city is a monument 300 
feet high to commemorate the Battle of Ben¬ 
nington. This engagement took place on Aug. 
16, 1777, when General Stark at the head of 
the “Green Mountain Boys” defeated a detach¬ 
ment of Burgoyne’s army commanded by 
Colonel Baum. It resulted in the capture of 
public stores and 600 British prisoners, and a 
complete victory for the Americans. Before 
the battle the American commander made his 
well known statement, “We will bag the fox, 
or Mollie Stark will be a widow.” A successful 
celebration of the centennial of the battle was 
held in 1877, at which the President of the 
United States, his Cabinet, and many prominent 
men took part. Population, 1920, 9,982. 

BENOIT (be-nwii'), Pierre Leonard Leo¬ 
pold, composer, born at Harlebeke, Belgium, 


Aug. 17, 1834; died March 5, 1901. He received 
a musical education at the Conservatory in 
Brussels, where he graduated with high honors 
in 1857, and afterward studied in Germany 
under Wagner and Liszt. Subsequently he 
filled a musical appointment in Paris and in 
1867 became director of the Conservatory at 
Antwerp, in which institution he was director 
until 1899. He established a rich style of com¬ 
position, and wrote many volumes on musical 
subjects. 

BENSON (ben'sun), Frederick William, 

statesman, born at Saint Catherine’s, Canada, 
August 2, 1849. He studied at Upper Canada 
College, Toronto, and the Royal Military Col¬ 
lege, at Sandhurst. In 1866 he served as a 
volunteer during the Fenian raids in Canada, 
and in 1877 rendered valuable military service 
in India. He commanded Egyptian cavalry in 
1892-94 and subsequently in South Africa. In 
1903 he was made director of transports and 
recounts. 

BENTHAM (ben'tam), George, botanist, 
born near Portsmouth, England, Sept. 22, 1800; 
died Sept. 10, 1884. He was a nephew of Jer¬ 
emy Bentham (q. v.) and studied law at Lin¬ 
coln’s Inn, but devoted his attention to botany. 
For some time he resided in France, where he 
catalogued many plants, and subsequently 
studied the flora of China and Australia. He 
was made president of the Linnaean Society in 
1861. He joined Sir Joseph Hooker in pub¬ 
lishing “Genera Plantarum,” an exhaustive 
work on botanical science. 

BENTHAM, Jeremy, jurist and philoso¬ 
pher, born in London, England, Feb. 18, 1748; 
died June 6, 1832. He attended Westminster 
School and in 1766 graduated at Queen’s Col¬ 
lege, Oxford. Though admitted to the bar in 
1772, he did not take up the practice of that 
profession, but instead gave his attention to the 
theory and philosophy of law. He was a stu¬ 
dent of reforms in legislation and government, 
advocated universal suffrage, and held to the 
view that utility is the test and measure of 
virtue. In 1776 he published “A Fragment on 
Government,” a critical and well written essay, 
and soon after issued a work entitled “Intro¬ 
duction to the Principles of Morals and Legis¬ 
lation.” Many reforms advocated by him were 
put into practice, but not until public sentiment 
had developed along the line of his views. 
Among his publications not mentioned above 
are “Treatise on Civil and Penal Legislation,” 
“Poor Laws and Pauper Management,” and 
“Theory of Penalties and Rewards.” 

BENTLEY, Richard, classical scholar, born 
in Yorkshire, England, Jan. 27, 1662; died July 
14, 1742. He was of high standing in the 
Established Church and a minister of recog¬ 
nized ability. His training was obtained at 
Saint John’s College, Cambridge. Subsequently 
he became headmaster of the Spalding Gram¬ 
mar School, later_dean of Saint Paul’s, and 


BENTON 


277 


BERANGER 


subsequently Bishop of Worcester. In 1700 he 
was chosen master of Trinity College, Cam¬ 
bridge. His reputation is based largely upon 
-his movement in favor of more extensive 
research in the literature of the Greek Church 
and the instigation of a new era of criticism. 
He published “Dissertation upon the Epistles.” 

BENTON (ben'tun), Thomas Hart, states¬ 
man, born at Hillsboro, N. C., March 14, 1782; 
died at Washington, D. C., April 10, 1858. He 
was admitted to the bar of Tennessee in 1811, 
and became aid-de-camp to Andrew Jackson 
in the War of 1812, but owing to a disagree¬ 
ment, which resulted in a personal combat, he 
resigned. Subsequently he raised a regiment 
and was appointed colonel, and later made 
lieutenant by President Madison. After the 
war he moved to Missouri, founded the Mis¬ 
souri Inquirer, and was chosen United States 
Senator in 1820. His influence in public legis¬ 
lation was marked and effective. He advocated 
the Pacific railroad, favored the establishment 
of post roads, counseled a friendly policy with 
the Indians, opposed public deposits in national 
banks, and favored the adoption of gold and 
silver as a currency basis. His speeches on 
the money question are among the best delivered 
in the Senate. He represented his State in the 
United States Senate for thirty years. Among 
his writings are “Thirty Years’ Views,” 
“Abridgment of the Debates of Congress,” and 
“An Examination of the Dred Scott Case.” 

BENTON HARBOR, a city of Michigan, 
in Berrien County, sixty miles east of Chicago, 
Ill. It is situated on the Saint Joseph River 
and has transportation facilities by the Pere 
Marquette and other railroads. The Benton 
Harbor Canal connects it with Lake Michigan, 
which is about one mile from the city, and 
steamers from all principal points on the Great 
Lakes enter its harbor. The manufactures 
include furniture, flour, machinery, and cloth¬ 
ing. It has a growing trade in fruit, cereals, and 
merchandise. In the vicinity are mineral 
springs whose water has medicinal properties. 
Population, 1904, 6,702; in 1920, 12,227. 

BENZENE (ben'zen). or Benzole, a min¬ 
eral fluid obtained from the distillation of coal 
tar and usually classed with the hydrocarbons. 
It is secured from a grade of oil that floats on 
water when coal tar is distilled. At about the 
freezing point of water it solidifies and forms 
a mass of crystals. It is a good solvent for 
fatty substances, hence is much used for clean¬ 
ing purposes. It burns with a bright flame. 
Nitrobenzene is formed by mixing benzene with 
nitric acid. Aniline (q. v.) is made from nitro¬ 
benzene. 

BENZINE (ben'zin), a liquid obtained from 
coal tar and petroleum, consisting of hydro¬ 
carbon. It is highly inflammable and nearly col¬ 
orless, and has a peculiar but agreeable odor. 
It is used in the manufacture of gutta-percha 
and India rubber on account of its solvent pow¬ 


ers. Benzine is also used in removing grease 
spots from clothing, for cleaning gloves, in the 
manufacture of paints and varnishes, and as a 
burning fluid. 

BENZOIN (ben-zoin'), or Gum Benjamin, 

a resinous substance obtained from a tree native 
to Southern Asia and the East Indies. It is 
fragrant and is used in perfumery and in medi¬ 
cine. The trees that yield benzoin, of which 
there are several species, are cultivated, and 
the resin is obtained by making incisions in the 
bark. The Roman and Greek Catholic churches 
use it as incense. 

BEOWULF (ba'6-wulf), an epic poem of 
the Anglo-Saxons dating from the 8th or 9th 
century, the original manuscript of which is 
in the British Museum. . The manuscript is 
imperfect and many points are obscure, but 
it is regarded the longest and most important 
writing in Anglo-Saxon literature. In it the 
adventures of Beowulf, an Anglo-Saxon hero, 
are recounted, particularly his defense and 
delivery of the Danish kingdom from the mon¬ 
ster Grendel and his ferocious mother. 

BERANGER (ba-ran-zha'), Pierre Jean de, 
celebrated lyric poet, born in Paris, France, 
Aug. 19, 1780; died July 17, 1857. His early 
instruction was given by his grandfather, a 
tutor, and by his aunt. At the age of fourteen 
he became an apprentice printer, in which capa¬ 
city he worked for three years. At Paris he 
aided his father, a loyalist, in questionable 
political schemes, but was himself an opponent 
of that party. Later he became so poor that 
he lived in a garret, where he devoted himself 
to the study of literature. At length his wants 
were so great that he was forced to seek aid. 
Lucian Bonaparte extended assistance in the 
form of a pension of one thousand francs, and 
five years later secured him a clerkship in the 
Imperial University. In 1815 he published a 
collection of poems directed against the Bour¬ 
bons, which made him popular with the masses. 
This was followed in 1825 by another large col¬ 
lection, and in 1828 still another. Among these 
were some that met with serious opposition 
and led to his prosecution. He was accordingly 
imprisoned for nine months and a fine of ten 
thousand francs was placed upon him. How¬ 
ever, his productions were so popular that many 
noted literary men came to visit him in prison, 
among them Dumas, Victor Hugo, and Sainte- 
Beuve. His last collection of poems was pub¬ 
lished in 1833. In 1848 his popularity was gen¬ 
eral, when he was elected to the assembly even 
against his wishes, with 4,471 votes. His life 
was full of wisdom and kindness, and his songs 
teem with wit and pathos, while through all 
his writings flows a vein of pleasantry. His 
memoirs were written by himself, and a treat¬ 
ise on “Social and Political Morality” was un¬ 
dertaken by him with the view of circulating it 
among the people, but, owing to physical weak¬ 
ness late in life, he was unable to complete it 


BERBERS 


278 


BERGH 


BERBERS (ber'berz), the name of a his¬ 
toric people in Northern Africa, found mostly 
in the mountainous districts of Morocco, 
Algeria, and Tripoli, and in the northern part 
of the Sahara Desert. They are of middle 
stature, possess dark hair and dark, piercing 
eyes, and are austere in manner and cruel in 
disposition. Their life is largely pastoral, but 
they engage to a limited extent in hunting and 
trading, and in some districts follow agricul¬ 
ture and mining. They manufacture various 
rude implements for cultivating the soil, cloth¬ 
ing, water mills, and implements of war. In 
government they are subject to the Turks in 
Tripoli, to the French in Algeria, and to the 
Sultan in Morocco, but large numbers are still 
unconquered, or livq in tribes under independ¬ 
ent chiefs. In early history they were con¬ 
quered successively by the Phoenicians, Romans, 
Vandals, and Arabs. The predominating reli¬ 
gion is Mohammedanism, and the spoken lan¬ 
guage is classed with the Hamitic tongues. 
Their peculiar characteristics show that they 
are a distinct and peculiar race. They number 
about 5,000,000. The four different classes of 
Berbers are known as the Amazirgh in north¬ 
ern Morocco; the Shulah in southern Morocco ; 
the Kabyles in Algeria, and the Berbers in the 

sohora TApopt'f' 

BERESFORD (ber'es-f ord), Charles 
William de la Poer, naval commander, born in 
Philiptown, Ireland, Feb. 10, 1846. He attended 
private schools and in 1859 entered the royal 
navy. In 1868 he was made lieutenant, in 1875 
became commander, in 1882 was made captain, 
and in 1897 rose to the rank of rear admiral. 
He was aid-de-camp to Queen Victoria in 
1897. In the course of his naval experience he 
served in Asiatic and African campaigns and 
was four times elected to Parliament. In 1898 
he went to China as representative of the Asso¬ 
ciated British Chambers of Commerce, visited 
the United States on the return trip, and while 
abroad made many important speeches on inter¬ 
national questions. He published “Life of 
Nelson.” He died Sept. 6, 1919. 

BERGAMO (ber'ga-mo), a city of Lom¬ 
bardy, in northern Italy, twenty-eight miles 
northeast of Milan. It is an important market 
and manufacturing center. The city consists of 
two sections, the upper and the lower, which are 
connected by a system of street railways. A fine 
statue of Garibaldi stands in Garibaldi Place. 
The public library contains 70,000 volumes. 
Other buildings include the city hall, the cathe¬ 
dral, and an academy of arts. In early history 
it was strongly fortified. It was destroyed by 
Attila in 452 a. d., and later became one of the 
chief cities of the Lombard kings. Population, 
1921, 47,772. 

BERGAMOT (ber'ga-mot), the name of a 
genus of fruit trees, including several species 
of pears and citrons. Bergamot oil is made of 
the citron, or bergamot orange. It is cultivated 


in Eurasia, and bears a fruit shaped like a pear, 
yellow in color, which yields a fragrant oil val¬ 
ued as a perfume. This oil is obtained by 



BERGAMOT ORANGE. 


pressure or by distillation. It is used for fla¬ 
voring, and in the manufacture of cologne, 
pomades, and essences. 

BERGEN (ber'gen), a seaport city of Nor¬ 
way, on the coast of Vaagen Bay, in the prov¬ 
ince of Bergen. The chief buildings include the 
Lutheran cathedral, the museum, and the nauti¬ 
cal school. It has a fine library of 80,000 vol¬ 
umes. Bergen is the second city of Norway, 
carries on extensive manufactures, and is noted 
for its fisheries. The stock fisheries yield an 
income of about $2,500,000 annually, while its 
cod-liver oil industry, distilleries, and shipbuild¬ 
ing are likewise extensive. It has railroad and 
electric street railway facilities, electric lighting, 
pavements, and good schools. Population, 1905, 
72,251; in 1920, 91,081. 


BERGH (berg), Henry, philanthropist, born 
in New York City, May 8, 1820; died there 
March 12, 1888. His parents were Germans, 
and his father was a 
wealthy shipbuilder. He 
joined his brother in 
shipbuilding, but soon 
abandoned that busi¬ 
ness to enter Columbia 
College, and after leav¬ 
ing college spent sev¬ 
eral years in European 
travels. In 1862 he 
was made secretary of 
legation at Saint Pe¬ 
tersburg, but resigned 
after two years and re¬ 
turned to New York, 
where he organized the Society for the Preven-' 











BERGMAN 


279 


BERING SEA QUESTION 


tion of Cruelty to Animals. The society was 
incorporated on April 10, 1866, and has since 
grown rapidly in membership. The State of 
New York passed several laws to protect birds 
and other animals at his suggestion, and these 
were since adopted by many states of the 
Union, Canada, Argentina, Brazil, and other 
countries. His attention was called to the 
cruelty practiced upon children in many in¬ 
stances, and in 1874 he organized the Society 
for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children. 
These two societies have influenced for good 
in many communities. Bergh did not only 
give his time and money to place them on a 
secure basis, but enlisted the interest and coop¬ 
eration of many wealthy and talented persons. 
He wrote a number of poems and sketches. 

BERGMAN (berg'man), Torbern Olaf, 
chemist, born at Catherinberg, Sweden, March, 
20, 1735; died July 8, 1784. He studied at the 
University' of Upsala, and became distin¬ 
guished as a chemist and mathematician. In 
1758 he was appointed professor of physics at 
Upsala, where he taught and lectured effi¬ 
ciently a number of years, giving special atten¬ 
tion to instruction in chemistry after 1767. He 
was the first to use the blowpipe successfully, 
discovered sulphureted hydrogen gas in min¬ 
eral springs, and laid the foundation of the sci¬ 
ence of crystallography. He published a num¬ 
ber of important works, including “Elective 
Attractions” and “On the Aerial Acid.” 

BERGMANN, Ernst von, German sur¬ 
geon, born in Riga, Russia, Dec. 16, 1836; 
died March 25, 1907. He studied in the uni¬ 
versities of Dorpat, 
Vienna, and Berlin, 
and served in the 
army of Prussia 
during the wars of 
1866 and 1870. In 
1871 he was made 
professor of sur¬ 
gery at the Univer- 
^ sity of Dorpat, 
where he remained 
until 1878, when he 
became professor at 
Wurzburg. He was 
appointed professor 
of surgery at Berlin in 1882. In this institu¬ 
tion he remained a long term of years, treat¬ 
ing in the meantime many celebrated cases in 
surgery. He was made a life member of the 
diet of Prussia in 1906. His works include 
“The Theory of Treating Injuries of the 
Head,” “The Putrid Poison,” and “The Chirur- 
gical Treatment of Diseases of the Brain.” 

BERHAMPUR (ber'um-poor), a town of 
India, in the lieutenant governorship of Ben¬ 
gal, 115 miles north of Calcutta. It was long 
a military station of Great Britain. A col¬ 
lege, several churches, and the government 
buildings are among the most important struc¬ 



ERNST VON BERGMANN. 


tures. It was the scene of hostilities in the 
Sepoy mutiny of 1857. Population, 25,380. 

BERIBERI (ba-ri-ba'ri), or Kakke, a dis¬ 
ease more or less prevalent in Japan and 
Southern Asia. It is a form of neuritis, but 
is known as kakke in Japan and beriberi in 
India. The patient becomes numb or paral¬ 
yzed and sometimes madness and paroxysms 
occur. Death frequently results from this dis¬ 
ease in from twenty to thirty hours, though 
many cases are protracted or do not prove fatal. 

BERING, or Behring (be'ring), Vitus, 
famous navigator, born in Horsens, Denmark, 
in 1680; died on Bering’s Island, Dec. 8, 1741. 
During the war between Russia and Sweden 
he displayed great courage and was chosen by 
Peter the Great to command a voyage of dis¬ 
covery in the vicinity of Kamchatka. In 1828 
he explored the coasts of Kamchatka and 
Okhotsk and the Arctic Ocean north of 
Siberia. The following year he made surveys 
of Bering Strait and examined the northwest¬ 
ern coast of North America. He was wrecked 
on the Island of Awatska, now known as 
Bering’s Island, where he died. Bering Sea 
and Bering Strait were named in his honor. 

BERING SEA (be'ring), the northern 
extension of the Pacific Ocean, bounded on 
the north by Asia and Bering Strait, east by 
Alaska, south by the Aleutian Islands, and 
west by Kamchatka. It communicates with 
Bering Strait, which separates Asia from 
North America, and connects Bering Sea with 
the Arctic Ocean. Bering’s Island is northwest 
of the Aleutian chain, off the coast of Kam¬ 
chatka, and is of no value except as a station 
for seal fishing. It is not inhabited and pos¬ 
sesses no timber. The island has an area of 
thirty square miles, and is noted as the bury¬ 
ing place of its discoverer, Vitus Bering. 

BERING SEA QUESTION, a controversy 
between the United States and Great Britain, 
which originated after the transfer of Alaska 
from Russia in 1867. In 1870 the Alaska 
Commercial Company leased of the United 
States'the Pribilof Islands, in Bering Sea, and 
the Commander Islands of Russia. The 
company was limited to capture not over 100,- 
000 seals each year, and was required to pay 
the government $50,000 rental annually. The 
seals taken from the territory in twenty-three 
years and sold in the London market were val¬ 
ued at $33,000,000. A dispute arose between 
Great Britain and the United States as to the 
control of the seal fisheries, both claiming the 
territory in dispute. An arbitration commis¬ 
sion met at Paris, March 23, 1893, to settle the 
controversy, after receiving a report from 
experts. The result of the arbitration was 
that definite boundaries were fixed for the 
sealers of Canada and the United States, and 
proper precaution was taken for the protec¬ 
tion of young seals. This adjustment led to 
a satisfactory conclusion, both on the part 



BERING STRAIT 


280 


BERLIN 


of England and the United States, and the 
maintenance of the law, whereby the seal 
fisheries are regulated and the seals protected 
from extermination. 

BERING STRAIT, the narrow passage of 
water which connects the Arctic with the 
Pacific Ocean, separating Asia from America. 
The distance at the narrowest point, between 
East Cape in Asia and Cape Prince of Wales 
in America, is about thirty-eight miles. Three 
small islands lie about midway between these 
points. The depth ranges from 150 to 200 feet. 
It is frozen in winter, when the ice is formed in 
great ridges due to the action of the waves, 
and fog prevails most of the time in the 
warmer season. It was discovered by the 
Russians in 1648, and subsequently explored 
by Vitus Bering and Captain Cook. 

BERKELEY (berk'll), a city in Alameda 
County, California, nine miles northeast of 
San Francisco, on the California and Nevada 
and the Southern Pacific railroads. It is the 
seat of the California State College of Agri¬ 
culture, the University of California, and the 
California Institution for the Deaf, Dumb, and 
Blind. Other institutions include the Berke¬ 
ley Bible Seminary, the Bowen Academy, and 
the Boone University School. The city is 
noted as one of the leading educational cen¬ 
ters of the far west. Its industries include 
planing mills, canning factories, machine shops, 
and commerce. It has waterworks and elec¬ 
tric street railways. It was settled in 1868 and 
incorporated in 1878. Population, 1920, 55,886. 

BERKELEY, George, Bishop of Cloyne, 
born in Kilcrin, Ireland, March 12, 1684; died 
Jan. 14, 1753. He became celebrated for his 
theory called Idealism, which explains the phe¬ 
nomena of the universe by referring them to 
ideas in some form. In 1707 he became fellow 
of Trinity College, Dublin, and in 1714 trav¬ 
eled in Europe, and again in 1716-20. The 
following year he was appointed chaplain to 
the Duke of Grafton, the lord lieutenant of 
Ireland, and in 1774 became dean of Derry. 
In 1728 he set sail for Rhode Island with the 
avowed intention of converting the American 
savages to Christianity by the establishment of 
a college in the Bermuda Islands, for which 
purpose he expected to receive a grant of 
$100,000 from the government. His philosophy 
maintains the belief that the world exists only 
in our thoughts, and that the external objects 
around us are merely impressions made upon 
our minds by the action of God, according to 
certain rules known as laws of nature, which 
God, as the highest reason, causes to impress 
our minds. He enjoyed activity and work, and 
was one of the most persevering thinkers and 
writers of his time. Among his works are 
“Treatise Concerning the Principles of Human 
Knowledge,” “Philosophy of the Human 
Mind,” “A Word to the Wise,” and “Prospect 
of Planting Art and Learning in America.” 


In the last mentioned occurs the well known 
expression, “Westward the course of empire 
takes its way.” 

BERKELEY, Sir William, colonial gov¬ 
ernor of Virginia, born near London, Eng¬ 
land, in 1610; died at Twickenham, July 13, 
1677. He was of noble birth, a graduate of 
Oxford, and an extensive traveler. In 1632 
he was granted a commission to a part of 
Canada by the king, and in 1641 became gov¬ 
ernor of Virginia. At first his administration 
was popular, but later he became involved in 
disputes with Cromwell and was obliged to 
resign. When Charles II. was restored, he 
reinstated Berkeley as governor. His last 
administration was very unsuccessful. He 
became involved in a disagreement with Bacon, 
which ended in an insurrection known as Ba¬ 
con’s Rebellion. Charles II. said of him that he 
had “taken more lives in that naked country 
than I have for the murder of my father.” 

BERKSHIRE HILLS (berk'shir), the 
name of a hilly region of Massachusetts, sit¬ 
uated in Berkshire County. These highlands 
are an extension of the Green Mountains of 
Vermont, and trend in chains north and south 
through the western part of the State. Gray- 
lock, the highest peak, has an elevation of 
3,500 feet, and Mount Everett is about 2,600 
feet high. The scenery is beautiful in the 
summer season, when many tourists visit the 
points of interest. 

BERLIN (ber'lm), a city of Coos County, 
New Plampshire, on the Androscoggin River, 
about twenty miles east of Lancaster. It has 
transportation facilities by the Boston and 
Maine and the Grand Trunk railroads, and 
about fifteen miles distant is Mount Wash¬ 
ington. The public improvements include a 
public library, electric lights, waterworks, and 
several fine school and church buildings. The 
chief manufactures are pulp, flour, machinery, 
earthenware, vehicles, cigars, and clothing. An 
abundance of water power is obtained from the 
river, which has a fall of 400 feet in six miles. 
Population, 1900, 8,886; in 1919, 21,052. 

BERLIN, the county seat of Waterloo 
County, Ontario, on the Grand Trunk Railway. 
It is located on the Grand River, about sixty 
miles west of Toronto. The manufactures 
include butter, malt liquors, leather goods, 
clothing, and machinery. It has a public library, 
street railways, waterworks, and electric light¬ 
ing. The chief buildings include a high school, 
and the city hall. The name was changed to 
Kitchener in 1916. Population, 1921, 21,605. 

BERLIN, the third city in Europe, and the 
capital of the German Empire. It is situated in 
the province of Brandenburg, on the Spree 
River, and is the capital of the kingdom of 
Prussia. The* city is located in the center of 
what was originally a sandy plain, but the region 
has been improved by fertilization and culti¬ 
vation and produces abundantly. In the 13th 



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BERLIN 


281 


BERLIN 


century it was a small fishing village inhabited 
by Wends. Its growth and prosperity date 
from the reign of Frederick William, the Great 
Elector, from 1640 to 1688, who united the sep¬ 
arate duchies of which Prussia is now formed 
and made Berlin the capital, largely because of 
its central location. In 1861 it covered an area 
of 14,000 acres; in 1888, over 28,000 acres, 
and at the present time it is the largest city in 
Germany. 

The original or older part of Berlin has nar¬ 
row streets and is built irregularly, but the 
newer part is well platted, has wide streets 
covered with substantial paving, and its edifices 
and public buildings are constructed of durable 
stone in fine architectural forms. Frederick I., 
successor of Frederick William, devoted much 
energy to enlarging and beautifying the city, 
and at the end of his reign it had a population 
of 50,000. Many substantial improvements made 
by him are still intact. At the end of the reign 


of Frederick II. the city had grown to a popu¬ 
lation of 145,000. After the defeat of Napo¬ 
leon in 1815, the rise of German power made 
Berlin a center of art and science, and an 
important seat of commerce, while, following 
the successes of Germany in 1870-71, its growth 
became greater than before. Population, 1920, 
2,070,695; Greater Berlin, 3,709,504. 

Berlin is one of the great centers of art and 
intelligence. The royal library contains more 
than a million volumes, besides 16,000 manu¬ 
scripts and charts. Its museums are among the 
most famous, containing magnificent specimens 
of ancient and modern treasures. Eight public 
museums, besides the National Gallery and 
Royal Museum, are maintained and liberally 
endowed. Each has an old and new part, in 
which the different exhibits are located. Among 
them are antiquities of remote ages; casts of 
ancient, mediaeval, and modern sculptors; pic¬ 
tures representing the six great epochs in 


human progress; collections of engravings; and 
galleries of curiosities. 

Among the many elegant churches of Berlin 
are the Michaelskirche (Catholic), and the 
Protestant Dankeskirche, Heiligekranskirche, 
Zionskirche, and Thomaskirche. The system 
of education is compulsory. Schools, public 
and private, are divided into kindergarten, ele¬ 
mentary, middle, and higher. There are about 
thirty high schools, some of which have gymna¬ 
siums attached, while others are called real- 
scliulen, in which Latin, higher mathematics, 
modern languages, sciences, and commercial 
pursuits are taught. The universities, normal 
schools, and academies culminate in the Uni¬ 
versity of Berlin, one of the great seats of 
modern learning. 

Among the noted thoroughfares of Berlin is 
Unter den Linden, reputed to be the most beau¬ 
tiful street in the world. It is adorned by mag¬ 
nificent structures its entire length of two-thirds 
of a mile. Many public places are 
beautified with costly monuments. 
The most noted is the one dedicated 
to Frederick the Great, opposite the 
emperor’s palace, which was com¬ 
pleted by Rauch in 1703, and is re¬ 
garded the finest monument in Eu¬ 
rope. Other noted monuments are 
those dedicated to Frederick Wil¬ 
liam III., those commemorating the 
generals of the Seven Years’ War 
and the generals who fought against 
Napoleon I., and a beautiful bronze 
Gothic monument erected by Fred¬ 
erick William III. to commemorate 
the victories of 1813-15. The mon¬ 
ument built by Emperor William I., 
in the Konigsplatz, to commemorate 
the triumphs of 1864, 1866, and 
1870, rises to a height of 187 feet. 
These and others represent by 
statues and busts the celebrated 
German promoters of literature, science, and 
political and military life. There are zoological 
and botanical gardens remarkable for extensive 
and beautiful collections of animal and plant 
growth. The city has 750 public buildings, in¬ 
cluding the Royal Palace, the Reichstags Build¬ 
ing, and the Brandenburg Gate. 

The interior of the city is devoted almost 
exclusively to commerce, while the residence 
portion is distributed around the outside. Rail¬ 
roads, electric street railways, extensive canals, 
and tramways are accessible in all parts of the 
city, and make it at once a notable center of 
modern convenience and business activity. The 
electric lights, gas system, telephones, and tram¬ 
ways are owned, controlled, and operated under 
the government of the city. The sewer system 
of Berlin is not only complete and serviceable, 
but is counted one of the most practical in the 
world. All the refuse matter is carried to a 
central point, from which it is pumped by means 




































































BERLIN 


282 


BERMUDA GRASS 


of great tunnels to outlying districts and used 
for fertilizing the soil. This condition makes it 
possible to utilize the refuse animal and vegeta¬ 
ble matter of the city for the purpose of increas¬ 
ing the production of vast areas of tillable land, 
a result that should be obtained in all cities. 
Manufactures and trades are conducted on a 
large scale. The production of ladies’ mantles 
alone is over twenty-five million dollars annu¬ 
ally, while sewing machines, clothing, machin¬ 
ery, hardware, jewelry, musical instruments, 
and other productions are of equal proportions. 

The government of the city is under the di¬ 
rection of a mayor and thirty-four magistrates, 
who are elected without regard to politics. The 
council consists of 108 members, elected for 
six years, the term of one-third expiring every 
two years. Voters are divided into three classes; 
those who pay one-third of the whole city tax, 
those who pay taxes equal to two-thirds, and 
the remainder. Each of these classes has an 
equal representation on the council. Under 
this system the problem of city government 
has been successfully solved, and Berlin is not 
plagued with the usual corruption in govern¬ 
ment common to most large cities. 

BERLIN, Treaty of, a treaty concluded at 
Berlin, Germany, July 13, 1878, by the Berlin 
Congress, made up of representatives from Tur¬ 
key and the six great powers, at the conclusion 
of the war between Russia and Turkey. The 
six great powers are Russia, Germany, England, 
France, Italy, and Austria. It was called at the 
suggestion of Prince Bismarck. By its terms 
Greece was enlarged, Britain got Cyprus, Rus¬ 
sia took Bessarabia, Austria received Bosnia 
and Herzegovina, Bulgaria was divided into 
Rumelia and Bulgaria proper, Persia and Rus¬ 
sia got part of Armenia, and the independence 
of Servia, Rumania, and Montenegro was rec¬ 
ognized. 

BERLIN, University of, the great national 
university of Germany, and one of the largest 
and best equipped institutions of higher educa¬ 
tion in the world. It may be said to date from 
1807, when Frederick William III. called a con¬ 
vention of the most noted German scholars to 
consider the establishment of an academy or 
university. The plan was supported by Wil¬ 
helm von Humboldt, a brother of Alexander 
von Humboldt, and he was made first minister 
of education in 1808 to cooperate with the min¬ 
istry of the interior in securing support. The 
palace of Prince Henry and a stipulated annual 
income were assigned to the foundation in 1809, 
from which year the present organization may 
be said to date. It has departments of medi¬ 
cine, theology, philosophy, including the arts 
and sciences, and jurisprudence, and with it are 
affiliated several institutions, such as museums, 
seminaries, and observatories. The minister of 
education has general control, and support is 
given by the state through endowments and 
appropriations. The library has 175,000 vol¬ 


umes, and students have access to the royal 
library, which has more than a million volumes 
and many ancient and modern manuscripts. 
Admission is granted to men of all nationali¬ 
ties and to women under certain restriction. 
About 400 professors and instructors have 
charge of the work, and the attendance approx¬ 
imates 14000 students. 

BERLIOZ (ber-le-oz'), Hector, 'i'amous 
composer, born at Cote-Saint-Andre, France, 
Dec. 11, 1803; died in Paris, March 8, 1869. 
He was the son of a successful physician, who 
desired him to study for the medical profession. 
However, he preferred music, and studied at 
the Conservatoire of Paris and in Italy. In the 
latter country he met Mendelssohn and Liszt. 
On his return to Paris he published many can¬ 
tatas and symphonies, and in 1884 played exten¬ 
sively in Germany, England, and Russia. In 
1856 he was elected a member of the Institute 
of Paris, and for some time served as librarian 
of the Conservatoire. Among his most popular 
productions are his symphony “Romeo and 
Juliet,” the composition “Faust,” the overture 
“Carnival of Rome,” and the sacred selection 
“Childhood of Christ.” He gained much inspira¬ 
tion from the German masters, including Gluck, 
Weber, and Beethoven, and the Irish actress, 
Miss Smithson, who afterward became his wife. 

BERMUDA (ber-mu'da), or Somers 
Islands, a group of 360 islands in the Atlantic 
Ocean, about 675 miles southeast of New York. 
Only twenty islands of the group are inhabited 
and the total area is only twenty square miles. 
Their formation is largely of coral remains, and 
they are surrounded by living coral growths. 
The productions consist of vegetables, including 
onions, potatoes, and lily-bulbs, and some cere¬ 
als. A public school system of fifty-five schools, 
with 1,790 students, is supported by government 
grants. The islands are a favorite summer 
resort for people from the United States and 
Canada, and furnish the New York markets a 
considerable supply of vegetable products. The 
value of exports aggregates $600,000, while the 
imports are somewhat larger. They have a 
favorable, healthful, and pleasant climate, but 
the soil is sandy and not productive without 
fertilizing. These islands are divided into nine 
parishes that are represented in an assembly and 
council, and are under the direction of a gov¬ 
ernor appointed by Great Britain, to which 
country they belong. They were first discovered 
by Juan Bermudez, a Spaniard, in 1522, and 
rediscovered by Sir George Somers in 1609. A 
cable line connects the group with Halifax, 
Nova Scotia. Hamilton, the chief town, has a 
population ,of 2,246. The total population, in 
1915, was 17,860. 

BERMUDA GRASS, a kind of grass 
thought to be native to India, but now culti¬ 
vated extensively for fodder. It grows in 
height from one to two feet, depending upon the 
quality of the soil, and roots at the joints. In 



BERNADOTTE 


283 


BERNE 


many regions it is esteemed as a lawn grass, 
since it is hardy and remains green until late in 
autumn. It does not endure in shade, but 
thrives in either dry or wet places, though it 
is killed by standing water. 

BERNADOTTE (ber-na-dot'), Jean Bap¬ 
tiste Jules, later Charles XIV., of Sweden and 
Norway, born at Pau, France, Jan. 26, 17G4; 
died in Stockholm, March 8, 1844. His father 
was a lawyer and chose him for the law, but 
he preferred the profession of arms and en¬ 
listed in the Royal Marines in 1780. He rose 
rapidly in rank and was a colonel under Na¬ 
poleon in 1792, and a general in 1797. When 
Napoleon was in Egypt he served as minister 
of war, in which capacity he reorganized the 
army and prepared the way for the conquest 
of Holland. When the empire was established, 
he became marshal, and in 1805 commanded an 
army of 20,000 men. He distinguished himself 
at Austerlitz, which led to his creation as 
• Prince of Ponte-Corvo, a place near Naples. 
The diet of Sweden elected him crown prince 
in 1810, as Charles XIII. had no heir. He 
adopted him as his son, under the name of 
Charles John. This scheme was at first op¬ 
posed by Napoleon, but he finally gave 
his consent notwithstanding the refusal of 
Bernadotte to pledge himself not to engage in 
hostilities against France. His interest for 
the welfare of Sweden was manifest from the 
first, and he employed every means to further 
the prosperity of his adopted country. When 
the army of France invaded Sweden, he re¬ 
sisted, and in the Battle of Leipsic rendered 
effectual aid to the allied forces of Europe. In 
1814 he required Denmark to cede Norway to 
Sweden, and the two countries remained united 
under one crown until 1905. On the death of 
Charles XIII., in 1818, he became King of 
Sweden with the title of Charles XIV., al¬ 
though the Emperor of Russia attempted to 
restore the family of Gustavus IV. His reign 
of 26 years was marked with great strides of 
advancement in commerce, manufacture, and 
agriculture. He succeeded in effecting internal 
improvements, laying a foundation for public 
instruction, and enhancing a spirit of national 
interest. At his death his only son, Oscar I., 
became King of Sweden. His great-grandson, 
Gustaf V., is now on the Swedish throne. 

BERNARD, (ber'nard), Saint, theologian, 
born near Dijon, France, in 1091; died Aug. 
20, 1153. He became a monk at Citeaux in 
1113, and two years later founded the Cister¬ 
cian order at Clairvaux, over which he pre¬ 
sided as the first abbot. He studied in solitude 
and his stirring eloquence and thoughtful writ¬ 
ing made him an influential factor in the 
church of his time. Potentates consulted him 
upon public policies. He was an opponent of 
Abelard, whose condemnation by the Synod of 
Paris he approved. He established many mon¬ 
asteries and left numerous sermons and 


epistles. The English translations of his works 
include “The Holy War,” “Sermons for the 
Seasons of the Church,” “Four Homilies Upon 
the Incarnation,” and “The Jubilee Rhythm on 
the Name of Jesus.” 

BERNARD DOG, Great Saint, a variety of 
dog that derived its name from the hospice of 
Saint Bernard, where a number are kept for 
the purpose of assisting in the rescue of per¬ 
ishing travelers. The monks of the hospice 
are accompanied by these dogs when in search 
of travelers. They have long been trained to 
search for persons who might be lost in the 
mountain passes of the Alps, and are still 
used for that purpose. When sent in search 
of persons they carry a flask of wine or brandy 
about the neck for the relief of the travelers. 
These dogs have saved many lives in the re¬ 
gions of perpetual snow, not only in the Alps, 
but elsewhere. 

BERNARD, Great Saint, a celebrated pass 
in the canton Valais, Switzerland, leading over 
the Alps between Switzerland and Italy. At 
the crest of the pass is the famous monastery 
of Saint Bernard, a mile and a half above the 
sea, the highest dwelling in Europe, first estab¬ 
lished in the year 962. The snow covers the 
pass nearly the entire year, and terrible storms 
often overtake the travelers. This pass has 
been a famous outlet across the Alps. The 
armies of Charlemagne, of Frederick Bar- 
barossa, and of Napoleon crossed at this pass. 
The last mentioned took his army in 1800, in¬ 
cluding infantry, cavalry, and artillery, num¬ 
bering about 30,000 men, safely into Italy. It 
is thought that Hannibal also crossed by the 
Great Saint Bernard. 

BERNE (bern), or Bern, the seat of gov¬ 
ernment of a canton by the same name and 
the capital of the republic of Switzerland. It 
is located on the Aar River, on a beautiful 
promontory, and is the center of numerous 
railroads and extensive commercial enterprises. 
It is one of the pleasantest cities of Europe, 
built largely of freestone, and walks and trees 
extend along both sides of the streets. The 
public buildings include the Gothic Cathedral, 
built in the latter part of the 15th century, 
the Federal Building, the Church of the Holy 
Spirit, the university, the townhouse, the public 
mint, and the theater. It has a city library 
of 100,000 volumes and the finely constructed 
Swiss National Library. Other institutions in¬ 
clude the public museum, the armory, and 
many academies and hospitals. All modern 
municipal conveniences have been provided. 
Canals wind through the streets from the 
Aar River, and numerous fountains and monu¬ 
ments adorn its public places. The manufac¬ 
tures include gunpowder, leather goods, dress 
fabrics, firearms, paper, musical instruments, 
and other products, although it is not a great 
manufacturing center. The city was founded 
by Berthold V. in 1191. It became a free city 


BERNHARDT 



SARAH BERNHARDT. 


in 12.18, and in 1353 united with the Swiss 
Confederacy. The spoken language is Ger¬ 
man and the people are mostly Protestants, 
only a small per cent, being Catholics and 
Jews. Population, 1920, 105,096. 

BERNHARDT (bern'hart), Rosine, com¬ 
monly called Sarah, famous actress, born in 
Paris, France, Oct. 22, 1844. She descended 

from Jewish parents, but 
was baptized in the Chris¬ 
tian faith, and was in¬ 
structed in the convent at 
Versailles. In 1858 she 
entered the Paris Conser¬ 
vatoire, where she gained 
credit as a student and 
made her debut in 1862 
at the Theatre Francais, 

. but did not attain success 
and temporarily left the 
stage. In 1867 she w r as 
successful in playing the 
part of the Queen of 
Spain in “Ruy Bias,” and of Zanneto in “Pas¬ 
sant.” In 1872 she reappeared in the Theatre 
Francais and in 1879 played in London, and 
attained excellent success in both cities. Sub¬ 
sequently she visited North and South America 
and many of the large cities of Europe, meet¬ 
ing everywhere with good success. She made 
visits to the United States and Canada in 
1887, 1891, 1896, and 1900, and greatly increased 
her popularity with each visit. In 1906 she 
made her farewell tour of American cities, and 
played in the leading theaters of the United 
States and Canada to large audiences with the 
result that her popularity was maintained. 
While on this tour she appeared in “Sapho,” 
“Fedora,” “La Dame aux Camelias,” “Magda,” 
“La Tosca,” and “Le Femme de Claude.” 
Critics consider her one of the greatest recent 
actresses of tragedy. She also attained marked 
success in painting and sculpture. 

BERNINI (ber-ne'ne), Giovanni Lorenzo, 
sculptor and architect, born in Naples, Italy, 
Dec. 7, 1598; died Nov. 28, 1680. lie studied 
at Rome, where he was patronized by Urban 
VIII. and a number of succeeding popes. He 
went to France in 1664 and made an equestrian 
statue of Louis XIV. Subsequently he made 
monuments of Urban VIII. and a number of 
other popes, and constructed the altar of Saint 
Peter’s in Rome. “Apollo and Daphne” is one 
of his fine sculptures. 

BERRY (ber'ry), a small, fleshy and juicy 
fruit which does not open when ripe. It con¬ 
tains a pulpy mass in which the seeds are im¬ 
mersed. Some varieties are one-celled, but 
others contain compartments united at the 
axis, and from the axis to the rind. Good ex¬ 
amples are gooseberries, currants, grapes, and 
belladonna. The term is applied to strawber¬ 
ries, which bear seeds on a pulpy receptacle. 

BERNSTORFF, Count Johann Heinrich, 


284 BESANCON 

* 

diplomatist, born in Germany in 1862. His 
father, Count Albrecht Bernstorff (1819-1873), 
was prominent in diplomacy, serving many years 
as ambassador at London. The son served in 
the army and in 1889 entered the diplomatic ser¬ 
vice of Germany. In this capacity he served in 
Turkey, Servia, Russia, England and Egypt, and 
in 1908 was made ambassador to the United 
States. The Great European War caused his 
position to be a very delicate one and his efforts 
were untiring for a peaceful solution of the 
questions involved. He remained at his task until 
1917, when diplomatic relations were broken off 
and he received his passports. 

BERWYN, a city of Illinois, in Cook 
County, on the Illinois Central, and the Chicago, 
Burlington and Quincy railways. It is noted 
as a residential center of Chicago business men. 
The features include the high school and the 
Berwyn Club building. It was incorporated as 
a city in 1908. Population, 1920, 14,150. 

BERYL (ber'il), a mineral found in many 
parts of Canada, the United States, and other 
countries. It crystallizes in six-sided prisms, 
and ranges as colorless, blue, green, or yellow, 
though always quite pale. Those of a sea-green 
or clear yellow color are preferred as gems, 
and the rich green kinds are emeralds. Jew¬ 
elers call the finer grades acqua marine. 

BERZELIUS (ber-ze'li-us), John Jacob, 
Baron, chemist, born in East Gothland, Sweden, 
Aug. 20, 1779; died Aug. 7, 1848. He studied 
medicine and chemistry at Upsala, and in 1806 
was made lecturer on chemistry in the military 
academy at Stockholm, where he was chosen a 
member of the Academy of Sciences, of which 
he was secretary until his death. His work 
entitled “Treatise on Animal Chemistry” has 
been translated into several languages. The 
system of chemical symbols now in general 
use was originated by him, and he is the dis¬ 
coverer of the elements selenium and thorium. 
He investigated and treated in writings plati¬ 
num, vanadium, fluoric acid, and sulphur salts. 

^ “System of Chemistry” is his chief work. 

BESANCON (be-zon-son'), a city of France, 
located on the Doubs River, and capital of the 
department of Doubs. It is considered one of 
the strongest cities of France, owing to its 
citadel, which is located on an elevated rock 
410 feet high. The chief buildings include 
the cathedral, the museum, the public library, 
a college, and the prefecture. In the time of 
the Caesars it was known as Vesontio and 
was occupied by the Romans a long term of 
years. It has many structures dating from 
the Romans, including a triumphal arch built 
by Marcus Aurelius. The Burgundians held 
it in the 5th century, and the Germans in the 
12th. In 1679 it was ceded to France. The 
city now is a railroad and manufacturing cen¬ 
ter. Its products include cotton, woolen, and 
silk goods, machinery, ironware, and watches. 




BESANT 


285 


BETHANY 


1 he latter industry employs over 3,400 hands. 
It is the birthplace of Abel Remusat and Victor 
Hugo. Population, 1921, 56,168. 

BESANT (be-sant'), Sir Walter, novelist, 
born in Portsmouth, England, Aug. 14, 1838; 
died June 9, 1901. He was the son of a mer¬ 
chant, attended King’s College, and subse¬ 
quently graduated from Cambridge University. 
In 1861-67 he was professor of mathematics 
in the Royal College of Mauritius, and while 
occupying that position wrote his first novel, 
but it was not published until he subsequently 
revised it. His first work, “Studies in Early 
French Poetry,” is a production which gives 
evidence of profound study and scholarship. 
Much of his writing was clone in connection 
with James Rice, and he contributed independ¬ 
ently to numerous magazines and cyclopaedias. 
In 1895 he was knighted, a distinction 
bestowed on him because of his success in 
letters and for the reason that he established 
the People’s Palace, an institution founded in 
the interest of social reform in London. 
Among his best known works are “Bell of 
Saint Paul’s,” “In Faith and Freedom,” “All 
Sorts and Conditions of Men,” “Children of 
Gibeon,” and “History of London.” 

BESSARABIA (bes-sa-ra'bi-a), a province 
of Russia, bordering on Rumania and the 
Black Sea. The surface is level except in the 
northwest, where timbered ranges of the Car¬ 
pathian Mountains attain to considerable ele¬ 
vations. Much of the soil is fertile and in a 
state of good cultivation, and all classes of 
live stock and cereals common to Europe are 
grown profitably. The inhabitants are made 
up of different races and include Bulgarians, 
Russians, Poles, Jews, and Tartars. Turkey 
governed the region from 1503 until 1812, 
when it was ceded to Russia by the Peace 
of Bucharest. The Treaty of Paris gave the 
southeastern part to Turkey in 1856, but it 
was restored to Russia in 1878 by the Treaty 
of Berlin. It was invaded by an Austro-German 
army in 1915. Kishinev (population, 1911, 129,- 
728) is the capital and largest city. Area, 17,600 
square miles; population, 1921, 2,004,545. 

BESSEMER (bes'e-mer), a city of Jeffer¬ 
son County, Alabama, fifteen miles southwest 
of Birmingham, on the Southern, the Louis¬ 
ville and Nashville, and other railroads. It is 
noted as the center of an iron producing 
region, and is the seat of extensive rolling 
mills and blast furnaces. The manufactures 
include tobacco, machinery, clothing, and brick. 
It has a large trade in cereals and merchan¬ 
dise. The city is improved by waterworks, 
sewerage, and excellent school and church 
buildings. Population, 1920, 18,674. 

BESSEMER, Sir Henry, engineer and 
inventor, born in Hertfordshire, England, Jan. 
9, 1813; died in London, March 14, 1898. He 
was largely self-taught, but became a prolific 
inventor. Among his inventions are the per¬ 


forated figure stamps used in the British 
stamp office, the Bessemer process of manufac¬ 
turing gold and bronze powders, and Bessemer 
steel. The last mentioned is his greatest in¬ 
vention and has had a wide influence upon the 
commerce of the world. By the adoption of 
this process the production of steel has been 
increased very materially, both in the com¬ 
mercial countries of Europe and in America. 
This process has not only facilitated the pro¬ 
duction of steel, but has reduced the cost 
more than 500 per cent. The inventor became 
very wealthy from the profits of his inven¬ 
tions. He was knighted in 1879 and granted 
many gold medals by scientific institutions. He 
was also made a fellow of the Royal Society 
and a member of the Institution of Civil 
Engineers. 

BESSEY (bes'si), Charles Edwin, edu¬ 
cator and botanist, born at Milton, Ohio, May 
21, 1845. He studied with Asa Gray at Har¬ 
vard and in 1870 became professor of botany 
in the Iowa Agricultural College at Ames, 
where he taught and lectured successfully until 
1884, when he was elected professor of botany 
at the University of Nebraska. In 1882 he was 
acting president of the Iowa Agricultural Col¬ 
lege and for a number of years was acting 
chancellor of the University of Nebraska. 
Several important educational and scientific 
societies recognized his ability by placing him 
on important committees and in official posi¬ 
tions. He contributed to “Johnson’s Universal 
Cyclopedia” and to numerous journals. Among 
his publications are “Elementary Botanical 
Exercises,” “Botany for High Schools and 
Colleges,” “The Essentials of Botany,” and 
“Plant Migration.” 

BETEL (be't’l), or Betle, the name of a 
narcotic stimulant derived from a certain spe¬ 
cies of pepper. In the market it is known as 
betel pepper or as betel nut, depending upon 
the form in which it is sold. The betel nut 
used as a stimulant in Asia is made by slicing 
the nut of areca palm, flavoring with a little 
quicklime, and wrapping it with the leaf of the 
betel pepper. It has aromatic and astringent 
properties, colors the teeth black and the tongue 
and lips scarlet, and is bitter and unpleasant 
to a person not in the habit of using it. Both 
male and female, young and old, chew it habit¬ 
ually. A supply is carried in small cases, and 
people offer it to each other as snuff or cigars 
are offered by Europeans. The plant, of which 
there are several species, is cultivated exten¬ 
sively. The fruit of the areca palm is about 
the size of a cherry and is grown for the 
market in Ceylon and Southern Asia. 

BETHANY (beth'a-ni), a village about two 
miles east of Jerusalem, Palestine, containing 
at present about 200 inhabitants. It was the 
home of Mary, Martha, and Lazarus, where 
Christ often visited and worked numerous of 
his greatest miracles. Near this place Christ’s 


BETHESDA 


286 


BEWICK 


ascension took place. Travelers are shown a 
cave near Bethany in which Lazarus was buried 
and the site of his home. 

BETHESDA (be-thez'da), which implies 
“home of the stream,” a pool near Saint 
Stephen’s Gate and the Temple of Omar in 
Jerusalem. It is associated with the healing 
of the impotent man. The length of the pool 
is 460 feet; width, 130; depth, seventy-five feet. 
It is now called Briket Israel. See John v, 2-9. 

BETHLEHEM (beth'le-hem), a borough 
of Northampton County, Pennsylvania, about 
fifty miles north of Philadelphia, on the Lehigh 
River. It is on the Lehigh Valley, the Central 
of New Jersey, and other railroads, and a 
bridge across the Lehigh River connects it with 
South Bethlehem, the seat of Lehigh University 
and the Bethlehem Ironworks. The chief 
buildings include the public library, the Church 
of the Nativity, and Saint Luke’s Hospital. It 
has manufactures of silk textiles, graphite 
products, brass and iron implements, machinery, 
flour, and cigars. A system of theological insti¬ 
tutions is supported by the Moravians, in one 
of which General Lafayette was nursed after 
being wounded at the Battle of Brandywine. 
Bethlehem was founded by the Moravians in 
1742 and was chartered in 1851. Population, 
1900, 7,293; in 1920, 50,358. 

BETHLEHEM, “the house of bread,” a 
small town six miles south of Jerusalem, in 
Palestine, the birthplace of Christ. It con¬ 
tains the Convent of the Nativity, built by 
Empress Helena in 327 a. d., destroyed in 1236 
by Moslems, and restored by the Crusaders. It 
is in charge of Armenian, Greek, and Latin 
Christians. Under a richly adorned grotto are 
crystal and silver lamps that mark the exact 
spot where Christ was born. The manger in 
which he was laid is one of the central attrac¬ 
tions. An elaborate inscription in Latin con¬ 
tains the information, “Here Jesus Christ was 
born of the Virgin Mary.” The town has 
three convents for Greeks, Armenians, and 
Roman Catholics. The inhabitants engage 
largely in trades and the manufacture of cru¬ 
cifixes and rosaries to sell to pilgrims. Popu¬ 
lation, 7,885. 

BETHSAIDA (beth-sa'i-da), the “house of 
the fish,” the name of two villages on the Sea 
of Galilee, one of which still remains. These 
villages were on the western and northern 
shores of the lake. The former was the birth¬ 
place of three of Christ’s disciples, Peter, 
Philip, and Andrew; the latter was the scene 
of the feeding of five thousand by Christ. 

BEUST (boist), Friedrich Ferdinand, 
Count von, eminent statesman, born in Dresden, 
Germany, Jan. 13, 1809; died in Vienna, 

Austria, Oct. 24, 1886. He attended the Uni¬ 
versities of Gottingen and Leipsic, became 
devoted to politics at an early age, and dis¬ 
tinguished himself both in the field and as a 
legislator. In 1849 he was made minister of 


foreign affairs, but opposed Prussia after the 
Battle of Sadowa, and entered the services of 
Austria as chancellor in 1867. Under his 
administration the Austrian Empire was reor¬ 
ganized by the powers and the present consti¬ 
tution was adopted. In 1871-78 he served as 
Austrian ambassador at London and in 1878-82 
at Paris. 

BETHMANN-HOLLWEG, Theobald The¬ 
odor von, jurist and statesman, born in Hohen- 
sinow, Germany, Nov. 29, 1856. He studied law 
and held official positions in Potsdam, Bromberg 
and the province of Brandenburg, serving as 
governor in the latter. In 1905 he was made 
Prussian minister of the interior and in 1909 
succeeded Prince von Bulow as chancellor of the 
empire. Count von Hertling succeeded him as 
chancellor in 1917. In his high position he advo¬ 
cated pan-Germanism, advised a conciliatory 
policy toward the United States, and favored 
concluding a treaty of peace with Russia at 
Brest-Litovsk. He died Jan. 1, 1921. 

BEVERIDGE (bev'er-ij), Albert Jeremiah, 
public man, born on a farm in Adams County, 
Ohio, Oct. 6, 1862. Shortly after the Civil War 
his family removed to 
Illinois, where he at¬ 
tended the common and 
high schools, and in 1885 
graduated at De Pauw 
University, Indiana. 

Subsequently he read 
law in the office of Sen¬ 
ator McDonald and was 
admitted to the bar. For 
some time he was asso¬ 
ciated with the firm of 
McDonald & Butler, 
after which he practiced 
for himself in Indianap¬ 
olis and was identified 
with many important cases. He became United 
States Senator in 1899 and was reelected in 
1905. In 1915 he visited Europe and wrote 
several books relating to the war. In 1922 he de¬ 
feated Harry S. New for United States Senator. 

BEVERLY (bev'er-ly), a city of Essex 
County, Massachusetts, on a bay of the Atlantic, 
eighteen miles northeast of Boston. It is on 
the Boston and Maine Railroad and is con¬ 
nected with Salem by a bridge which spans the 
bay. It has a good harbor, extensive leather 
and shoe factories, and grain elevators, and has 
modern municipal facilities, including gas and 
electric lights, pavements, and street railways. 
The public library contains 12,000 volumes. It 
is the seat of the New England Institute for the 
Deaf and Dumb. The region was settled in 
1630 and the city was chartered in 1894. Popu¬ 
lation, 1905, 15,222; in 1920, 22,561. 

BEWICK (bu'ik), Thomas, engraver, born 
near Newcastle-on-Tyne, England, Aug. 12, 
1753; died Nov. 8, 1828. He is considered the 
founder of the modern English school of wood 



ALBERT J. BEVERIDGE. 


BEYROUT 


287 


BIBLE 


engraving. A collection of about 2,000 prints 
engraved by himself and his brother, John 
Bewick, was published under the title, “Bewick 
Collection of Bewick’s Wood Cuts.” He illus¬ 
trated Goldsmith’s “Deserted Village,” joined 
Beilby in publishing “History of British Quad¬ 
rupeds,” and prepared the illustrations for “His¬ 
tory of British Birds.” 

BEYROUT (ba'rdot), or Beirut, formerly 
called Berytus, the chief seaport of Syria, sixty 
miles northwest of Damascus. It is of com¬ 
mercial importance, being visited by steamers 
of the regular service from French, German, 
British, and Egyptian ports. Its exports con¬ 
sist largely of tobacco, wool, olive oil, cereals, 
and gums. The chief manufactures include cot¬ 
ton and silk goods, jewelry, and clothing. Its 
commerce with foreign powers is tending to 
give it a modern appearance and many Euro¬ 
pean facilities. It has a number of fine schools, 
churches, synagogues, and government build¬ 
ings. It was an important city in the time of 
the Phoenicians. The Byzantine emperor, The¬ 
odosius II., greatly enlarged it, and its greatest 
importance was reached in the time of the Cru¬ 
sades. Subsequently it fell into the hands of 
the Druses, was bombarded by the British in 
1840, and is now under Turkish dominion. Pop¬ 
ulation, 1921, 148,890. 

BEZA (be'za), Theodore, early religious 
reformer, born in Burgundy, July 24, 1519; died 
Oct. 13, 1605. He was educated in Orleans un¬ 
der the German scholar Melchior Volmer, a 
strong advocate of the Reformation, whose prin¬ 
ciples he communicated to his pupil. In 1539 
he went to Paris and ten years later became 
professor of Greek at Lausanne. He supported 
the reforms of the King of Navarre and at¬ 
tended upon Conde and Coligny. Beza became 
distinguished as a reformer of the church at 
Geneva, which fell entirely to his care in 1564. 
Besides translating the New Testament into the 
French, he published a number of standard 
works, among them “History of Calvinism of 
France from 1521 to 1563,” “The Sacrifice of 
Abraham,” and “Theological Treatises.” 

BEZIERS (ba-zya'), a city of France, in the 
department of Herault, thirty-eight miles south¬ 
west ,of Montpelier. It is on the Orb River and 
the Canal du Midi, and has steam railroad and 
electric railway facilities. It is the seat of a fine 
Gothic cathedral, a college, and a public theater. 
Glass, silk textiles, leather goods, and machinery 
are among the manufactures. It was a fortified 
town in the time of the Romans, and the scene 
of a massacre of the Albigenses by Simon de 
Monfort, who killed about 20,000 of its citizens. 
Population, 1921, 52,268. 

BHUTAN (boo-tan'), or Bhotan, an in¬ 
dependent state of India, located south of the 
Himalaya Mountains and west of Tibet. The 
surface is greatly diversified by mountain ranges, 
some of whose peaks have an altitude of 16,500 
feet above the sea. Stock raising and agricul¬ 


ture are the chief industries, and the manufac¬ 
tures are confined largely to textiles, musk, and 
utensils. The people are a mixture of Aryan and 
Tibetan stock, and practice both polygamy and 
polyandry. Buddhism is the chief religion. The 
government is administered by two rulers, one 
a secular and the other a spiritual official. 
Dosen, or Punakha, is the capital. Great Brit¬ 
ain annexed a part of the territory of Bhutan 
in 1865. Population, about 200,000. 

BIAFRA (be-a'fra), Bight of, an inlet on 
the Atlantic coast of Africa, the eastern part 
of the Gulf of Guinea. It lies between Cape 
Lopez and Cape Formosa, and borders French 
Congo and the German possession of Kamerun. 
Prince’s Island and the islands of Saint Thomas 
and Fernando Po are near or in the bight. 

BIAS, a scholar of ancient times, one of the 
seven wise men of Greece, flourished in the 6th 
century b. c. He was a native of Priene, a son 
of Teutames, and a contemporary of Croesus, 
King of Lydia. Pie was distinguished for wis¬ 
dom and eloquence. Many of his short sayings 
have been preserved, such as “I carry all my 
goods (riches) with me.” 

BIBLE (bl-b’l), the book held by Christians 
to contain the word of God and regarded as 
infallibly true. The word Bible is derived 
from mediaeval Latin, in the singular num¬ 
ber, and means a book. The Greek form of 
the word is plural and means books. As 
commonly used it signifies the book, in com¬ 
parison with which other books or writings are 
unworthy; or, if they be called books, then the 
Bible becomes the book of books. The Latin 
words scriptura=wrhmg, scripturae=writings, 
convey the idea that the Scriptures are the only 
writings worthy of being called writings; there¬ 
fore, they stand higher than all other books. 
This use came from the Latin fathers and has 
met general acceptance by all Christian 
nations. 

The Bible consists of two parts, the Old 
and the New Testament, meaning covenants 
between God and his people. It includes also 
the Apocrypha, which is held to be canonical 
by some, and as good and useful for family 
reading by others. The Roman Catholics and 
several other Christian churches hold the 
Apocrypha canonical, but combine with it 
church traditions regarding faith and morals. 
Protestant churches do not accept more than 
the Old and New Testament as the canonical 
word of God. Jews accept only the Old Testa¬ 
ment. The Jewish religion holds that a com¬ 
pact exists between God and the Jews, while 
the Christian religion holds that God has given 
the Bible as a compact between Himself and 
the human race. 

The Greeks of Alexandria completed a 
translation of the Old Testament about 230 
b. c., known as the Septuagint. This is the 
earliest and most famous version, and was 
adopted by the early Christian Church as well 


BIBLE 


288 


BIBLE 


as by the Jews, and has always held an eminent 
place in Bible history and interpretation. There 
are other celebrated versions, known as the 
Syriac version, made in the 2d century b. c. ; 
the Coptic version, in the 3d or 4th century 
a. d., and the Gothic version, in the 4th cen¬ 
tury. Both the Coptic and Gothic were made 
from the Septuagint. Jerome in the year 405 
a. d. completed the most important Latin ver¬ 
sion, largely on the basis of the original 
Hebrew, which is known as the Vulgate. The 
first edition of the entire Hebrew Bible was 
published in 488 in Soncino. It was written 
on linen cloth, skins, or papyrus kept in rolls. 
The books of the New Testament were written 
in Greek, with the possible exception of Saint 
Matthew, which was, perhaps, originally written 
in Hebrew, but was early translated into the 
Greek. No other book has been so largely 
translated and generally read as the Bible. In 
modern times it has been extensively circulated 
in all languages. 

In 1382 the first English translation was 
made, known as the Wyclif’s Bible, but the first 
printed version of the New Testament was 
Tyndale’s, and in 1535 Miles Coverdale pub¬ 
lished the first complete English Bible. In the 
reign of Mary the English refugees at Geneva 
published the Great Bible through the efforts 
of Lord Cromwell, and later several other edi¬ 
tions were issued. In 1611 the authorized ver¬ 
sion of King James appeared, which is known 
as the King James Bible. It was instigated by 
Hugh Broughton, and undertaken after the 
Hampton Court Conference was suggested by 
King James I. Six companies, two at Cam¬ 
bridge, two at Oxford, and two at Westminster, 
consisting of forty-seven scholars, undertook 
the work, while at London a general committee 
revised the portion translated by each commit¬ 
tee. The entire work was done in three 
years. Owing to the purity of style and the 
general accuracy with which the translation 
was made, it has superseded all other versions 
in the English. The version recognized by the 
Roman Catholic Church is a translation made 
from the Latin Vulgate; the New Testament 
translation was completed at Rheims in 1582, 
and the Old Testament at Douay in 1609-10. 

In 1870 the convocation of Canterbury 
appointed a committee to investigate the neces¬ 
sity of making a new version in English. They 
reported favorably, and accordingly two com¬ 
panies were organized, one each for translating 
the Old and the New Testament. The com¬ 
pany consisted of members of the convocation 
and other eminent scholars, and was aided by 
two similar companies organized in America to 
aid the British scholars. They published what 
is known as the Revised Version of the New 
Testament in 1881 and that of the Old Testa¬ 
ment in 1884. Although some alterations were 
made and a number of points in accuracy, 
clearness, uniformity, and grammatical con¬ 


structions were effected, the King James edition 
still occupies a larger field. The German trans¬ 
lation holds equal rank with the English, and 
is the most famous for clearness and accuracy 
of the early translations into the modern lan¬ 
guages. It was made by Martin Luther in 1534, 
and is generally accepted by German speaking 
people as the most accurate in that language. 

The Jews divide the Old Testament into 
three divisions: the law, the prophets, and the 
sacred writings. The Pentateuch, as the five 
Books of Moses are usually called, contains 
the Jewish law, but of course includes also 
prophecy, history, and biography. The law 
is included in f hree parts: the Book of the 
Covenant, followed by the Israelites till the 
reign of Joshua; Deuteronomy, from Joshua to 
the exile; and the Priestly Code, which became 
authoritative after the Restoration. The proph¬ 
ets were divided by their scholars into the 
Former and the Latter. The Former Prophets 
embrace the historical books containing much 
of interest regarding the Jewish nation and 
their statesmen. They begin with Joshua and 
include all of the Old Testament books up to 
the prophet Isaiah. The Latter Prophets 
include the portion from Isaiah to Malachi, 
with the first and last included. The sacred 
writings of the Old Testament embrace the his¬ 
tory of the Jewish people, their praise of God 
in psalms, their lamentations, proverbs, and 
prophecies. The whole contains many promises 
that the people are to be delivered out of all 
earthly troubles, and attain perfect bliss by 
the advent of a Messiah. These prophecies 
are still held by the Jews to indicate the com¬ 
ing of a deliverer, to whose advent they still 
look with hopeful confidence, while to Christ¬ 
ians the prophecies mean a promised delivery 
which has been effected by the birth of Christ. 

The New Testament commences with the 
Gospels, four accounts of the life of Christ by 
his followers; the first by Matthew, the second 
by Mark, the third by Luke, and the fourth by 
John. Matthew and John were disciples of 
Christ, while Mark was a companion of Peter, 
and Luke a companion of Paul. The Gos¬ 
pels are followed by the Acts of the Apostles, 
which gives an account of the early church 
and its foundation. Later come the twenty- 
one letters of the apostles to the churches, and 
some to the apostles as they were engaged in 
the active work of organizing and spreading 
the gospel. The last Book of the New Testament 
is the Revelation of Saint John, commonly 
called the Apocalypse. The books of the New 
Testament usually appear in uniform order, 
while the order of the Old Testament depends 
largely upon its translation. In the Hebrew 
Bible the divisions are different from those of 
the English, which in this respect follows the 
Greek Septuagint and the Latin Vulgate. The 
Jewish division into the law, the prophets, and 
the psalms is quoted in Luke xxiv, 44, in these 


BIBLE 


289 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 


words, “that all things might be fulfilled that 
are written in the law, and in the prophets, 
and in the psalms.” While the books are ar¬ 
ranged differently, we give below the order in 
which they usually appear. The sixteen 
prophets, which belong to the Old Testament, 
are separated for convenience in reference: 


BOOKS OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 


Genesis, 

II Kings, 

Exodus, 

Leviticus, 

I Chronicles, 

II Chronicles, 

Numbers, 

Ezra, 

Deuteronomy, 

Nehemiah. 

Joshua, 

Esther, 

Judges, 

Job, 

Ruth, 

Psalms, 

I Samuel, 

Proverbs, 

II Samuel, 

Ecclesiastes, 

I Kings, 

Song of Solomon. 

THE SIXTEEN PROPHETS- 

Isaiah, 

Jonah. 

Jeremiah, 

Micah, 

Lamentations, 

Nahum, 

Ezekiel, 

Habakkr.k, 

Daniel, 

Zephaniah. 

Hosea, 

Haggai, 

Joel, 

Zachariah, 

Amos, 

Obadiah, 

Malachi. 

THE APOCRYPHA. 

I Esdras, 

Song of the Tin 

II Esdras, 

Children, 

Tobit, 

Susanna, 

Judith, 

Bel and the Dragon, 

The Rest of Esther, 

Manasses, 

Wisdom of Solomon, 

I Maccabees, 

Ecclesiasticus, 

Baruch, 

II Maccabees. 

BOOKS OF THE 

NEW TESTAMENT. 

Matthew, 

I Timothy, 

Mark, 

11 Timothy, 

Luke, 

Titus, 

John, 

Philemon, 

The Acts, 

Hebrews, 

Epistle to the Romans, 

Epistle of James, 

I Corinthians, 

I Peter, 

II Corinthians, 

II Peter, 

Galatians, 

I John, 

II John, 

Ephesians, 

Philippians, 

III John, 

Colossians, 

Jude, 

I Thessalonians, 

II Thessalonians, 

Revelation. 


No matter under what form of translation 
the various books appear, the contents of the 
Bible has for its object to give an account of 
the world- as the creation of an Almighty 
Creator, always and everywhere present. It 
accounts both for the origin and government 
of mankind, and exhibits the relation of man 
to his Creator. While it teaches him how to live 
and die, it inspires him with thoughts of the 
most momentous proportions that can occupy 
the human mind. It is the aim of all sacred 
books, no matter of what religion, to explain 
the origin of all things and account for the 
relations of nature and humanity to something 
divine. The Bible is immeasurably superior 
to all other sacred books in that it leads to a 
conception, and unfolds to the soul the divine 
nature, of one personal God, who exercises a 
divine love and care for his creatures. On this 
quality ascribed to God by the Bible many rest 
their claim that it is divinely inspired by direct 
revelation from heaven. 

The Mazarin Bible was the first book to be 
printed from movable type. It was issued by 


Gutenberg (q. v.) at Mainz, Germany, in 1450 
and it is in the Latin. The name is from Cardi¬ 
nal Mazarin (d. 1601), in whose library the first 
copy to attract attention was found in 1760. 
A number of Bible curiosities, including some 
points of general interest, were ascertained by 
a convict who was sentenced to solitary con¬ 
finement. Among them the following are the 
most noteworthy: The Bible contains 3,586,489 
letters, 773,692 words, 31,173 verses, 1,189 
chapters, and 66 books. The word and occurs 
46,277 times; Lord, 1,855, and reverend but 
once, which is in the 9th verse of the 111th 
Psalm. The middle verse is the 8th verse of the 
118th Psalm. In the 21st verse of the 7th chap¬ 
ter of Ezra are all the letters of the alphabet 
except /. The finest chapter to read is the 26th 
chapter of the Acts of the Apostles. The 19th 
chapter of II Kings and the 37th chapter of 
Isaiah are alike. It was found that the longest 
verse is the 9th verse of the 8th chapter of 
Esther, and the shortest is the 35th of the 
11th chapter of Saint John. The 8th, 15th, 21st, 
and 31st verses of the 107th Psalm are alike. 
Each verse of the 136th Psalm ends alike. 
There are no words or names of more than six 
syllables. 

BIBLE DISTRIBUTION, an enterprise 
having for its object the translation of the 
Bible into all spoken languages and its circu¬ 
lation for the dissemination of the Christian 
cause. The enterprise dates from the early 
part of the 19th century, but received its 
greatest impetus in 1820, up to which year 
2,843,291 Bibles had been circulated. The cir¬ 
culation in the past four decades has averaged 
about thirty million copies each ten years. 
Since this work was begun the total circulation 
exceeds 185,000,000 copies. The languages into 
which the Bible has been translated have now 
reached 363. They are distributed as follows: 
the British Isles 6, Continental Europe 71, Asia 
103, the Oceanic Islands 52, Africa 96, and 
America 35. There are no less than one hun¬ 
dred societies promulgating the spread of light 
and knowledge by means of the Bible through 
the world. No less than $25,500,000 has been 
spent for this laudable purpose the past seventy- 
five years. The societies that have been most 
potent in this enterprise are the American Bible 
Society, the British and Foreign Bible Society, 
the Prussian Bible Society, and the Imperial 
Russian Bible Society. In 1829, 1856, 1866, and 
1882 it was the aim of the American Society 
to place a Bible in every home in America not 
already supplied. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY (blb-li-og'ra-fy), the 
science or knowledge of books, relating both 
to the external features and the value of their 
contents. The subject is sometimes divided 
into pure bibliography, which relates to the 
external feature of books, and applied bibliogra¬ 
phy, which takes cognizance of their repute 
and degree of value. A classification of a list 


10 


BIBLIOMANIA 


290 


BIDDEFORD 


of works treating of some particular branch of 
knowledge is called a bibliography, such as a 
bibliography of electricity or one of political 
economy. Conrad von Gesner (1516-65), of 
Switzerland, prepared his “Bibliotheca Univer¬ 
salis,” in which he published a very extensive 
list of books issued in the Hebrew, Greek and 
Latin languages. The work known as “The 
American Catalogue,” published in New York 
City, contains a comprehensive list of authors 
and a title index of books published in the 
United States, supplemented with an annual 
issued from time to time. The “English Cata¬ 
logue” contains a similar list of books or works 
published in Great Britain. A large number of 
German works of this kind have been issued, 
notably among which is Kayser’s “Complete 
Book-Lexicon.” Lorenz’s “General Catalogue” 
is a very comprehensive French work. Ameri¬ 
can works that should be mentioned in this 
connection are Baker’s “Guide to the Best Fic¬ 
tion,” Scribner’s “Bibliographical Guide to 
American Literature,” and Duyckinck’s “Cyclo¬ 
paedia of American Literature.” Allibone’s 
“Critical Dictionary of English Literature” con¬ 
tains a comprehensive list of both English and 
American books. 

BIBLIOMANIA (bib-li-6-ma'm-a), the name 
used to describe the passion for acquiring 
or possessing books, especially those considered 
rare and of unusual value. Persons who make 
such collections regard rarity more important 
than utility and seek to acquire books issued 
from a certain press, of early and rare editions, 
or those in which the author personally signed 
his autograph. Editions do luxe were the first 
to be gathered, and later books issued by Cax- 
ton, Gutenberg, and other early printers came 
into great demand. The Mazarin Bible, with 
imprint of 1450, said to have belonged to Car¬ 
dinal Mazarin, sold in 1804 for £3,950. Books 
in which certain faults or typographical errors 
were overlooked by noted authors sometimes 
bring high prices, and copies of “Decameron” 
of the first edition are especially valuable. The 
Grolier Club of New York City is a society of 
book lovers who reprint rare works for their 
own use. 

BICEPS (bi'-seps), the large muscle of the 
upper arm, which gives a full appearance to 
the front part of that limb. At the lower end 
it is attached to the radius by a tendon, and 
at the upper extremity to the scapula. The 
action of the biceps is to bend the elbow. At 
the outer and posterior part of the thigh is an¬ 
other biceps. The muscle back of the arm, 
which works in unison with the biceps, is called 
triceps. 

BICYCLE (bi'-si-k’l), a two-wheeled ma¬ 
chine for riding by pressing the feet on pedals. 
The modern safety bicycle has been brought to 
a high state of perfection and has assumed an 
important place as a means of locomotion. It 
not only serves for pleasure and for convenience 


in travel, but is utilized in war by the equip¬ 
ment of soldiery for military service. In many 
countries large bodies of armed men are drilled 
and equipped to use the bicycle as a means of 
transportation and for service in the intelligence 
department. It is a popular machine for long 
trips into the interior of continents, or for the 



1. SAFETY BICYCLE. 2 AND 3. HIGH-WHEELED 

BICYCLES. 


purpose of crossing large bodies of land for 
exploration and newspaper reporting. 

The first bicycle was introduced into England 
in 1818. It consisted of a two-wheeled contriv¬ 
ance with a seat affixed to a wooden beam, on 
which the rider sat astraddle, and by kicking 
the ground facilitated moving forward. This 
finally led to the conclusion that two-wheeled 
machines could be made in such a manner that 
the rider would not need to depend upon his 
feet for aid in keeping it in an erect position. 
In 1869 a bicycle was manufactured in Europe 
known as the bone-shaker, which consisted of a 
wood and iron frame, and later rubber tires and 
steel frames were added. The bicycles made in 
1880 weighed about fifty pounds and were high¬ 
wheeled machines with rubber tires. 

The manufacture of high-grade bicycles dates 
from about 1895, when machines having a 
weight of twenty pounds were introduced. This 
pattern is now in general use. It is provided 
with pneumatic tires, tubular steel frames, ball 
bearings, and endless chains, and some patterns 
have chainless appliances. The pneumatic tire 
is made of several thicknesses of canvas en¬ 
forced by vulcanized rubber, and contains an 
endless air-tight rubber tube. It is held to a 
steel or wooden rim. By means of ball bearings 
friction is greatly reduced, and tubular frames 
aid in the reduction of weight. The modern 
safety bicycle is a popular invention and serves 
a variety of useful purposes. The most recent 
improvement is the addition of an electric stor¬ 
age battery, or a gas engine, by which the rider 
is aided in the use of the machine. The diffi¬ 
culty of riding against a strong current of wind 
or up grades is thus overcome, and facilities are 
provided to enable making greater speed at less 
exertion of the body. This machine in its vari¬ 
ous forms is popular and has displaced the use 
of the horse to a certain extent as a business 
conveyance. It is called a motor bicycle. 

BIDDEFORD (bid’de-ferd), a city of York 
County, Maine, on the Saco River, fifteen miles 
southwest of Portland. It is on the Boston 








BIDDLE 


291 


BIERSTADT 


and Maine Railroad. The city has excellent 
street railway service, fine schools, gas and elec¬ 
tric lighting, and other modern conveniences. 
Its public high school is one of the finest in 
the State. The granite in its vicinity is inex¬ 
haustible in quantity and superb in quality. The 
city is surrounded by an agricultural country 
and has extensive factories and a large com¬ 
merce. It was settled in 1630, incorporated in 
1718, and became a city in 1855. Population, 
1900, 16,145; in 1920, 18,008. 

BIDDLE (bld'd’l), James, naval officer, 
born in Philadelphia, Pa., Feb. 28, 1783; died 
Oct. 1, 1848. He -attended the University of 
Pennsylvania, and in 1800 entered the navy as a 
midshipman for service in the War with Tripoli. 
While on board the frigate Philadelphia, he was 
taken a prisoner and confined several months. 
In the War of 1812 he was lieutenant on the 
Wasp, which captured the Frolic, and later he 
commanded this vessel. Both the Wasp and 
Frolic were captured by the British and taken 
to Bermuda, but he was exchanged in 1813 and 
commanded in the operations in the East Indies. 
He received a gold medal from Congress for 
gallant services and subsequently was made cap¬ 
tain. He served on the Pacific coast during the 
Mexican War. 

BIDDLE, John, founder of modern Unitari- 
anism, born in Gloucestershire, England, in 
1615; died Sept. 22, 1662. His education was 
secured at Oxford, and soon after he became 
master of a school at Gloucester. The fearless 
manner in which he announced and advocated 
his views caused his imprisonment. A tract cir¬ 
culated by him, entitled “Twelve Arguments 
Drawn Out of Scripture, Wherein the Com¬ 
monly Received Opinion Touching the Deity 
of the Holy Spirit Is Clearly and Fully Re¬ 
futed,” caused him to be summoned before a 
committee of Parliament, and he was sentenced 
to imprisonment by that body. In 1652 an act 
was passed by which he was granted complete 
freedom. After holding numerous meetings and 
publishing his opinion in “Twofold Scripture 
Catechisms,” he was again imprisoned. Crom¬ 
well banished him to Saint Mary’s Castle, Scilly 
Islands. After three years he returned to Eng¬ 
land and was again committed to jail for advo¬ 
cating his views. 

BID WELL (bid'well), John, statesman, 
born in Chautauqua County, New York, in 1819; 
died in Chico, Cal., April 4, 1900. He was 
educated at Kingsville Academy, Ohio, and en¬ 
gaged in school teaching. In 1841 he emigrated 
to California and volunteered in the Mexican 
War, in which he rose from second lieutenant 
to major. He was elected to the State Senate 
in 1849 and to Congress in 1864. In 1892 he 
was the nominee of the Prohibition party for 
the Presidency. 

BIEDERMANN, Friedrich Karl, historian, 
born at Leipsic, Germany, Sept. 25, 1812; died 
March 5, 1901. He was educated at the univer¬ 


sities of Heidelberg and Leipsic, and in 1838 
became professor at the latter institution. This, 
position was lost when he expressed political 
opinions adverse to the government, but in 1865 
he was reinstated. Both as instructor of the 
university and as editor of a number of liberal 
newspapers he exercised a wide influence. 
Among his publications are “Recollections of 
Saint Paul’s Church,” “Fifty Years of Public 
Services,” “Philosophy of Kant up to the Pres¬ 
ent Time,” and “Frederick the Great and his 
Influence in Developing Spiritual Life in Ger¬ 
many.” 

BIELA’S COMET (be'la), a comet dis¬ 
covered in 1772, again in 1805, and again in 
1826, the last time by an Austrian officer named 
Wilhelm von Biela (1782-1856), from whom it 
was named. He calculated its orbit, and showed 
that the period was six and one-half years. It 
appeared in 1832, 1839, 1846, and 1852, but since 
then has not been observed. At its appearance 
in 1846 it was split into two parts, which phe¬ 
nomenon was also observed six years later. It 
is thought that the meteoric showers in 1885, 
1892, and 1899 were due to the earth passing 
through the orbit of the lost body. 

BIENVILLE (byan-vel'), Jean Baptiste 
le Moyne, officer and explorer, born in Mon¬ 
treal, Canada, Feb. 23, 1680; died in France in 
1768. He was joined by his brother, Lemoine 
Iberville, in an expedition to the mouth of the 
Mississippi River, and in 1699 made a settle¬ 
ment at Biloxi. In 1701 he was made director 
of the colony and removed the capital from 
Biloxi to Mobile. He was dismissed from office 
in 1707, but was reinstated in 1718 by John 
Law’s Mississippi company, and in the same year 
founded New Orleans and soon after made it 
the capital. He was again removed as governor 
in 1726 and reinstated in 1733, and returned to 
France in 1743. Bienville’s policy in respect to 
religion was one cause of his failure to make the 
colony a success, as he banished the Jews and 
prohibited worship except by the Roman Catho¬ 
lics. Flis code of laws remained in force until 
the Louisiana territory was acquired by the 
United States. 

BIERSTADT (ber'stat), Albert, eminent 
artist, born at Dusseldorf, Germany, Jan. 7, 
1830; died in New York City, Feb. 18, 1902. 
When two years old he came with his parents 
to the United States and early began the study 
of painting, but returned to Germany to com¬ 
plete his education and later studied in Rome. 
In 1857 he made an extended tour of the west¬ 
ern part of the United States, where he drew 
inspiration from the grandeur of the natural 
scenery. In 1867 he was granted the decoration 
of the Legion of Honor, having become a mem¬ 
ber of the National Academy in 1860. Among 
his most famous paintings are “The Valley of 
the Yosemite,” “Looking Down the Yosemite,” 
“California Oaks,” and “The Discovery of the 
Hudson River.” 



BIGAMY 


292 


BILL 


BIGAMY (big'a-my), the offense of marry¬ 
ing while the first wife is still living, or while 
the first husband is still alive, without first 
obtaining a divorce. It is defined in the crimi¬ 
nal law as a statutory offense and is punishable 
by fine and imprisonment, or both. 

BIG BETHEL (beth'el), a village of Vir¬ 
ginia, between the James and York rivers, ten 
miles northwest of Fortress Monroe. It was 
the scene of an engagement in the Civil War, 
on June 10, 1861, when Gen. B. F. Butler with 
2,500 Federals made an attack upon 1,800 
Confederates under Gen. F. W. Pierce. Sev¬ 
eral attempts were made by the Federals to 
carry the works by assault, but the attacks were 
repulsed, and the Confederates retired during 
the night. 

BIG BLACK RIVER, a tributary of the 
Mississippi, rises in Choctaw County, Missis¬ 
sippi. It is about two hundred miles in length, 
fifty miles of which are navigable. In 1863 Gen¬ 
eral Grant operated on the banks of this river 
and carried the works of the Confederates un¬ 
der General Pemberton May 17, and compelled 
the remaining forces to retreat to Vicksburg. 

BIGELOW (big'e-lo), Poultney, author, 
born in New York City, Sept. 10, 1855. His 
father, John Bigelow (1817-1911), was part 
owner of the New York Evening Post and 
prominent in State politics, and provided liber¬ 
ally for his educational advancement. After 
studying at Yale and Columbia Law School, he 
was admitted to the bar, but soon gave up his 
practice for journalism. In 1875-76 he made a 
tour of the world, visited the shores of New 
Guinea, traveled in China and Africa, and 
returned by way of Europe. He crossed the 
continent of Europe with a canoe, and was 
the first to pass with that kind of a vessel . 
through the Iron Gates of the Danube. The 
Royal Geographical Society elected him a mem¬ 
ber, and he received marks of recognition from 
many other scientific associations. He lectured 
at Yale, Columbia, Chicago, Leland Stanford, 
Jr., Johns Hopkins, and many other univer¬ 
sities. During the Spanish-American War he 
was correspondent to the London Times. He 
was expelled from Russia after publishing 
“The Borderland of the Czar and Kaiser.” 
Among his other works are “The German 
Emperor and His Neighbors,” “White Man’s 
Africa,” “Paddles and Politics Down the Dan¬ 
ube,” “Children of the Nations,” and “History 
of the German Struggle for Liberty.” 

BIG HORN. See Rocky Mountain Goat. 

BIG HORN RIVER, a tributary of the 
Yellowstone, which rises in the northwestern 
part of Wyoming, in the Wind River Range. In 
its upper course it flows toward the southeast, 
which part is known as the Wind River, then 
north through the Big Horn Mountains in Mon¬ 
tana, and joins the Yellowstone near Big Horn, 
Mont. The scenery in the upper part of its 
course is grand. Its length is about 380 miles. 


BIGNONIA (big-no'm-a), a genus of 
flowering shrubs, so named from the Abbe 
Bignon. About 100 species have been described, 
most of which are native to South America. 
Many are twining shrubs with tendrils and are 
cultivated extensively in gardens. The trumpet 
flower is a well-known species. 

BIG RAPIDS, a city in Michigan, county 
seat of Mecosta County, fifty-five miles north of 
Grand Rapids, on the Pere Marquette and the 
Grand Rapids and Indiana railroads. It is on 
the Muskegon River, which is crossed by a 
number of bridges, and is surrounded by a 
fertile region. The chief buildings include a 
public library and a courthouse, and it is the 
seat of the Ferris Institute. The chief manu¬ 
factures are furniture, hardware, and machin¬ 
ery. Big Rapids was settled in 1859 and was 
incorporated ten years later. Population, 1905, 
4,852; in 1920, 4,553. 

BIG SANDY, a tributary of the Ohio 
River, formed at Louisa, Ky., by the junction 
of the Tug Fork and West Fork. The West 
Fork has its source in the southwestern part 
of Virginia and flows through Kentucky, and 
the Tug Fork rises in West Virginia. The 
latter and the Big Sandy form a part of the 
boundary between Kentucky and West Vir¬ 
ginia. The Big Sandy is navigable its entire 
course of eighteen miles, from Louisa to the 
Ohio River, and the West Fork is navigable for 
eighty miles. 

BILE (bil), the fluid separated from the 
blood of the portal vein by the cells of the 
liver, where it is collected by the biliary ducts. 
These unite to form larger ones and finally 
merge into the right and left hepatic ducts, 
which unite to form the common hepatic duct. 
The last mentioned unites with the cystic duct 
to form the common bile-duct, which opens on 
the mucous surface of the second part of the 
duodenum. Bile is secreted continuously, 
though most rapidly an hour after eating, and 
a supply is retained in the gall bladder, whence 
it flows continuously. It is of a golden-red 
color, and bitter taste, and is somewhat viscid. 
In the process of digestion, it serves to aid 
more or less, especially in reducing the fatty 
substances and stimulating the peristaltic 
motion of the intestines, and in disenfecting 
the contents of the large intestine. The 
amount secreted daily is from twenty to fifty 
ounces. Gall stones result from solidification of 
the bile, and biliousness is caused when bile is 
not secreted in due quantity. 

BILL, in legislature, a form of statute 
proposed for passage in either branch of the 
legislative department, which, after passing 
both houses and receiving the executive’s signa¬ 
ture, becomes a law. In the United States 
and most countries a bill for raising revenue 
must originate in the Lower House, but amend¬ 
ments may be proposed and made in the 
Senate. 


BILL 


293 


BILLIARDS 


Bill, the statement of an account for goods 
sold, services rendered, or work done, either 
written or printed. It may state the amount 
claimed by the creditor in gross or by items. 
When the term is used to describe a legal 
or commercial document, it is associated with 
some other word or words that define its 
application. The principal kinds of bills are 
defined in the following list: 

Bill of Attainder, a legislative enactment to 
punish the person or persons guilty of treason 
or felony, involving the loss of all personal 
and real property and the infliction of cruel 
and unusual punishments. A person attainted 
cannot sue or testify in any court, or claim any 
civil rights or legal protection, and cannot 
receive or transmit any property by inheritance. 
Great Britain abolished bills of attainder in 
1870, and the Constitution of the United States 
prohibits the passage of such a bill. 

Bill of Costs, an itemized list of the costs 
of an action at law. It is filed by the success¬ 
ful party and is subject to the approval of the 
clerk or some similar officer, and the amount 
verified is added to the judgment. 

Bill of Exchange, a written order signed 
by the person issuing it, in which another is 
directed to pay a third party a specified sum 
of money and charge it to the account of the 
first. The person issuing it is the drawer; the 
one receiving it, the payee; and the one to 
pay it, the drawee, and frequently triplicates 
are written, one for each of the three parties 
interested. A foreign bill of exchange is 
drawn in one state or country and payable 
in another, and a domestic bill is drawn and 
payable within a State. Bills of exchange are 
commonly called drafts, and the largest volume 
of business in all commercial centers is trans¬ 
acted in drafts and personal checks. 

Bill of Exception, in law, a statement of 
objections made by an attorney in the course of 
a trial to the ruling of a judge. The objec¬ 
tions are made for the purpose of putting the 
points decided on record so they may be 
reviewed by the full bench or by a higher 
court to which an appeal may be taken, and if 
the exceptions are well founded the case is 
reversed or remanded for new trial. 

Bill of Indictment, a written document pre¬ 
sented to a grand jury, accusing one or more 
persons of having committed a felony or high 
crime. If the grand jurors consider the evi¬ 
dence sufficient to support the accusation, they 
indorse it A true bill, but if the evidence is 
insufficient it is marked Not a true bill. 

Bill of Health, a certificate issued by a 
consul or other proper officer to the master 
of a ship clearing out of a port in which con¬ 
tagious diseases are epidemic, or are suspected 
to be, certifying to the state of health of the 
crew and passengers on board. 

Btll of Lading, a memorandum of goods 
shipped by vessel bearing the signature of the 


master of the vessel, who acknowledges the 
receipt of the goods and agrees to transfer 
them in good condition to the point of destina¬ 
tion, natural damages excepted. The term is 
applied in the same manner to bills covering 
shipments made by railroads, but they are fre¬ 
quently called waybills or freight receipts. 

Bill of Rights, in government, a summary 
of the fundamental rights and privileges 
claimed by the people. The principles of polit¬ 
ical liberty in Great Britain are defined in the 
Bill of Rights adopted by Parliament in 1689, 
after the Prince and Princess of Orange 
became king and queen, and it is one of the 
three great documents of that country. The 
first twelve amendments to the United States 
Constitution are referred to by the same name, 
since they set forth specifically certain inalien¬ 
able rights of the people. After the revolution 
in France, in 1789, a number of bills of rights 
were enacted by the conventions. 

Bill of Sale, a formal statement issued as 
evidence of the sale of personal property. Such 
an instrument is necessary when the property 
sold does not pass into the possession of the 
purchaser, but remains in the custody of the 
party who sold it. To make such a bill valid 
in some states or countries, against the claim 
of a third party, it is necessary to have it 
recorded in the public records of the town or 
county. A bill is frequently given to a creditor 
as security for borrowed money or as surety 
that an account will be paid. 

BILLIARDS (bil'yerdz), an indoor game 
played with ivory or paste balls on a rectangu¬ 
lar table. The balls are driven by a cue made 
of an ash rod or stick against each other or 
into pockets. The game is one of the most 
popular and extensively played of all indoor 
games. Rules and regulations guide the player 
in the manner of driving the balls and in the 
number of points to be made. Among the 
games played are the five-pin pool, fifteen-ball 
pool, Chicago pool, bottle pool, Parisian pool, 
and many others variously designated. The 
origin of the play dates far back in history. 
Contests for the world’s championship are 
frequent. 

The table used in playing billiards is covered 
with cloth, has raised, cushioned edges, and 
its dimensions are about six by twelve feet. 
The cue is a straight, round staff of wood 
from four to eight feet in length, tapering 
from the butt to the tip, and tipped at the 
point with a thin leather, which is chalked to 
cause it to take hold of the smooth and pol¬ 
ished surface of the balls. The balls are 
usually of ivory, measure two and one-sixteenth 
inches in diameter, and are differently colored. 
A popular game is played with three balls, one 
red and two white, and one of the white balls 
has a spot to distinguish it from the others. 
At the beginning of the game the red ball is 
placed upon the top of the table, at a point 


BILLINGS 


294 


BIMETALLISM 


about twelve inches from the top cushion and in 
the center width of the table, and the other 
two balls are placed at different points at the 
opposite end of the table. The game is won 
or lost according to the ability of the players 
to strike their own ball against that of the 
adversary or the red ball so either may be 
driven into the pockets, or to strike both balls 
with that of the player. In America the game is 
played very generally with three balls on tables 
not provided with pockets, and the object of the 
player is to effect a cannon, that is to drive his 
own ball so it will strike the red ball and that 
of his adversary. 

BILLINGS (bil'lingz), a city in Montana, 
county seat of Yellowstone County, 240 miles 
southeast of Helena, on the Northern Pacific 
and the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy rail¬ 
roads. It is nicely situated on the Yellow¬ 
stone River, which furnishes an abundance of 
water for irrigation. The surrounding coun¬ 
try is well adapted to stock raising. As an 
inland market for wool it takes high rank, 
and much live stock is shipped to domestic and 
foreign points. Coal is mined in the vicinity, 
and marble and limestone quarries are worked 
profitably. A public library, a city hall, an 
opera house, a courthouse, and numerous 
schools and churches are among the public 
buildings. It has a growing trade in merchan¬ 
dise. Population, 1900, 3,221; in 1920, 15,100. 

BILLINGS, John Shaw, surgeon and 
librarian, born in Switzerland County, Ind., 
April 12, 1838. He was educated at Miami Uni¬ 
versity and at the Ohio Medical College, and 
after graduating at the latter, in 1860, he was 
appointed active assistant surgeon in the army. 
In 1863 he was with the army of the Potomac, 
serving at the time in the battles of Gettys¬ 
burg and Chancellorsville, and the following 
year was attached to the surgeon general’s 
office in Washington, where he was curator of 
the Army Medical Museum Library. Subse¬ 
quently he was professor of hygiene at the 
University of Pennsylvania, served as librarian 
of the New York public library, and took an 
active part as a member of several distin¬ 
guished foreign medical associations. Besides 
publishing many reports upon the mortality and 
vital statistics of the United States, be issued 
“Description of the Johns Hopkins Hospital,” 
“Principles of Ventilation and Heat,” “National 
Medical Dictionary,” “Social Statistics of 
Cities,” and “Index-Catalogue of the Surgeon 
General’s Office.” He died Mar. 11, 1913. 

BILLINGS, Josh. See Shaw, Henry 
Wheeler. 

BILLINGSGATE (bil'lmgz-gat), a wharf 
and fish market in London, England, located 
near the London bridge, on the Thames. This 
market was established in 1699, and has con¬ 
tinued to be free and open for the sale of all 
kinds of fish. The term billingsgate originated 


from this market, due to the coarse or abusive 
language heard there in former times. 

BILOXI (bi-loks'i), a city of Mississippi, 
in Harrison County, on the Gulf of Mexico, 
and on the Louisville and Nashville Railroad. 
It has a well improved harbor and is the seat 
of several schools and a convent. It carries a 
large trade in fruit, vegetables, oysters, and 
merchandise. The canning industry is a 
growing enterprise, and large quantities of 
canned goods, such as oysters, crabs, fruit, and 
vegetables, are exported. Shipyards and 
machine shops are growing enterprises. The 
first settlement in its vicinity was made across 
Biloxi Bay, on which the city is located, by a 
company of French under Iberville and his 
brother, Jean Bienville (q. v.), in 1699, and 
named from the Biloxi Indians. Its growth is 
due to its convenient location as a trade cen¬ 
ter, and as a popular winter resort. Popula¬ 
tion, 1900, 5,467; in 1920, 10,937. 

BIMETALLISM (bi-met'al-liz’m), the doc¬ 
trine that both gold and silver should be 
adopted at the same time, in the same country, 
as standard money, and bear to each other a 
fixed ratio established and recognized by the 
government. It is opposed to monometallism, 
which is the doctrine of a single monetary 
standard. The two doctrines have caused 
political dissension in all civilized countries. 
The contention reached the culminating point 
in the United States in 1896, although much 
discussion was given to this phase of the 
money question from the early organization of 
the government. Bimetallists contend that the 
coinage of gold and silver should be alike free 
and unlimited, that the coined metals should 
bear to each other a fixed value, which, when 
so fixed, will be maintained by reason of the 
law and commercial necessity; both metals 
should be equally standard money, full legal 
tender for all debts private and public, and 
should be the basis of the entire monetary sys¬ 
tem. The parity of both gold and silver has 
been disturbed by various causes, such as the 
adoption of the single gold standard in some 
countries, whereby the demand for gold was 
correspondingly increased; the discovery of 
large quantities of gold and silver, whereby 
the relative quantity of the world was varied; 
and the demonetization of silver in a number 
of countries, whereby the use of silver was 
materially limited. 

The proper ratio of the coinage is generally 
held to be about sixteen to one by the advo¬ 
cates of bimetallism, for the reason that the 
production of silver in the world has been in 
weight about sixteen times that of the pro¬ 
duction of gold. However, other ratios are 
advocated and have been maintained. The 
battle of the standards, as the conflict between 
the two doctrines is called, owes its origin 
largely to the discovery of vast gold fields in 
California in 1849 and in Australia in 1851. 


BINDING TWINE 


295 


BIOBIO 


The relative values of gold and silver from 
1600 b. c. to the beginning of the Christian era 
stood about as one to twelve to each other, 
never falling below one to nine and never ex¬ 
ceeding one'to fourteen. From the Christian 
era to 1640 a. d. the ratio of the market 
value of gold and silver stood from one 
to ten to one to fifteen, while from 1640 to 
1872 it stood uniformly from one to fourteen to 
one to sixteen. A legal ratio of one to fifteen 
and one-half was long maintained by a number 
of European governments. The greatest 
variations in ratio have occurred since 1872. 
The partial demonetization of silver in the 
United States in 1873 caused the ratio to be 
about one to twenty-three, and with the act of 
1878, which partly restored silver, the ratio 
stood at one to seventeen. Since that time, 
owing to legislation and the discovery of vast 
quantities of gold in South Africa and the 
northwestern part of North America, the 
value of silver has fallen until it has reached 
about one to forty. See Money. 

BINDING TWINE, an article of commerce 
which attained its greatest utility with the 
general use of the self-binding harvester. The 
best quality is made of Manila hemp produced 
in the East Indies, particularly that secured of 
the banana palm, which abounds in the Philip¬ 
pine Islands. Other hemp of use in its manu¬ 
facture grows in Yucatan and Southern Mex¬ 
ico. The sisal twine is secured from the Amer¬ 
ican aloes. The binding twine sold on the 
market is wound into balls of 650 feet each, so 
wrapped that they unwind from the inside. 

BINET (be'na), Alfred, psychologist, born 
in Nice, France, July 8, 1857. He studied in 
his native town and in Paris, took a course of 
study in law and medicine, and in 1880 began 
an extensive investigation of experimental and 
pathological psychology. His study and pub¬ 
lications relate to psychological subjects, of 
which he was an original investigator, and he 
was for a long time director of the laboratory 
of psychology at the Sorbonne in Paris. 
Besides contributing many articles to periodi¬ 
cals devoted to scientific research, he published 
and translated extensively, his works dealing 
exhaustively with psychological subjects. 

BINGEN (bmg'en), a city in the grand 
duchy of Hesse, Germany, on the Rhine, 20 
miles west of Mainz. It is surrounded 
by a fertile country which produces a supe¬ 
rior quality of grapes and cereals. The manu¬ 
factures include wine, leather, woolen goods, 
and clothing. It has a number of fine public 
buildings and a growing trade. The Mause- 
thurm Tower rises from the middle of the 
Rhine, a little below the city. It was erected 
about the 10th century by Willigis, Archbishop 
of Mainz. It is celebrated on account of the 
legend that Bishop Hatto was eaten by rats, 
which were attracted to the tower by large 
quantities of grain stored by him during a fam¬ 


ine. In legendry it is recited that the treas¬ 
ures of King Nibelung were sunk in the Rhine 
near Bingen, from which the name was given 
to the Nibelungenlied. The place is also 
famous for the popular school song, “Bingen 
on the Rhine.” Population, 1921, 10,260. 

BINGHAM (bmg'am), John Arende, jurist 
and legislator, born in Mercer, Pa., in 1815; 
died March 19, 1900. He studied at Franklin 
College, Ohio, and in 1854 was elected as a 
Republican to Congress, serving consecutively 
until 1863. In the latter year he was made 
judge-advocate in the army, had charge of the 
trial of Lincoln’s assassins, and served in Con¬ 
gress from 1865 until 1873. He was one of the 
attorneys in the impeachment proceedings 
against Andrew Johnson. In 1873 he was made 
United States minister to Japan and served 
continuously for twelve years. 

BINGHAMTON (bing'am-tun), county 
seat of Broome County, New York, on the 
north branch of the Susquehanna River. It is 
on the Delaware and Hudson, the Lackawanna, 
and other railroads, and occupies a fine site 
overlooking the Susquehanna and Chenango 
rivers, which unite in the city. Bennett Park 
and Ross Park are fine public grounds. It has 
a modern courthouse, post office, high schools, 
opera house, and city hall. It is the seat of the 
New York State Asylum for Inebriates, Bing¬ 
hamton Academy, Susquehanna Valley Home, 
and Saint Mary’s Home for Indigent Children. 
The manufactures include machinery, clothing, 
furniture, cigars, shoes, and farming imple¬ 
ments. The city has electric street railways, 
waterworks, gas and electric lighting, and fine 
public schools. It was founded in 1787 by 
William Bingham, incorporated in 1818, and 
made a city in 1867. Population, 1920, 66,800. 

BINNEY (hin'ni), Horace, jurist, born in 
Philadelphia, Pa., Jan. 4, 1780; died Aug. 12, 
1875. He graduated with honors at Harvard 
University, was admitted to the bar, and in 
1833 was elected to Congress, where he opposed 
Andrew Jackson in the affairs of the United 
States Bank. Subsequently he practiced law 
and became noted on account of his able argu¬ 
ment before the Supreme Court on a question 
relating to the legality of the bequests of 
Stephen Girard (q. v.). He published “Life 
and Character of Chief Justice Marshal” and 
“The Privilege of the Writ of Habeas Corpus 
Under the Constitution.” 

BINOMIAL (bi-no'mi-al), in algebra, an 
expression that consists of two terms, such as 
a-f-b or 7—3; a trinomial consists of three 
terms, as a-f-b-fx, or 5+3—2. An algebraic 
expression consisting of three or more terms 
is called a polynomial. Sir Isaac Newton was 
the first to employ the binomial theorem, 
using it to raise a binomial to any power or 
extracting any root of it by approximating 
series. The discovery is engraved on his tomb. 

BIOBIO (be-o-be'o), the largest river in 


BIOGRAPHY 


206 


BIOLOGY 


Chile, rises in the Andes, and after a course of 
200 miles discharges into the Pacific near the 
city of Concepcion. At its mouth it is about 
two miles wide. 

BIOGRAPHY (bi-og'ra-fy), the depart¬ 
ment of literature which treats of the lives of 
individuals. When written by the subject him¬ 
self, it is called autobiography. Biography dif¬ 
fers in its mode of treatment in that it assumes 
the form of descriptive criticism, or approaches 
the sphere of history or philosophy. Modern 
biography includes numerous criticisms and 
elucidations, and differs from the classic in 
that it is more acute, expansive, and lively. 
Modern biographies are very numerous, and 
many of them possess remarkable literary 
charms, partake of the eminent character of 
their subject, and throw a light of interest 
about men and the events of their times. 
Among the early biographies are Plutarch’s 
“Parallel Lives,” written in the 1st century 
after Christ; Nepos’ “Lives of Military Com¬ 
manders,” and Suetonius’ “Lives of the Twelve 
Caesars.” Biographical literature of modern 
times originated in the 17th century, since 
which time it has multiplied extensively and 
entered largely into the popular writings. In 
1671 the publication of biographical dictionaries 
was inaugurated by Moreri, who published 
“Dictionnaire Historique et Critique.” In the 
last century numerous publications of merit 
were completed and extensively circulated. 
Many of them contain encyclopaedic treatises 
and constitute practically universal biographies. 
Dr. Johnson thought every man best fitted to 
write his own life, and yet the best biography 
ever written is, perhaps, that of Dr. Johnson, 
as written by Boswell. 

BIOLOGY (bi-ol'o-jy), the science that 
embraces all phenomena of life. It includes 
the scientific inquiries into the first origin of 
life and its various changes from the earliest 
period until now. Some of the phenomena of 
life, including psychology, the study of the 
human soul, and sociology, the study pertain¬ 
ing to man in society, are often grouped apart, 
but these and all phenomena of life properly 
belong to biology. Biology was not recognized 
as an important science until the latter half of 
the 18th century, nor was it thought possible 
until comparatively recent times to deduce laws 
which would equally pertain to all forms and 
manifestations of vegetable life. By means of 
a general tendency to inductive reasoning and 
the work of some scholars, as Cuvier, Lamarck, 
Darwin, Kant, von Baer, and numerous others, 
it has become possible to define all life with 
one definition, and classify its laws uniformly, 
no matter in what shape or function we find it. 

All living matter has three distinctive prop¬ 
erties. The first of these is its chemical com¬ 
position, which invariably contains one or more 
forms of a complex compound of oxygen, 
hydrogen, nitrogen, and carbon, called the pro¬ 


tein and found only as a product of living 
bodies. The protein is united with a large pro¬ 
portion of water and forms a kind of fluid 
called protoplasm. The next distinctive prop¬ 
erty is the universal waste by being oxidized, 
and its conjoined restoration to a whole state 
by the infusion of new matter. Life is always 
attended by the decomposition of molecules of 
protoplasm. The waste products consist largely 
of carbonic acid, while the other elements of 
protein enter into the composition of proto¬ 
plasm. The new matter is supplied by some 
other living being, or contains elements of pro¬ 
toplasm which go to build up the living matter. 
The addition unites with the existing molecules 
of the living mass by interposition. While in 
the stage of infancy the reconstruction exceeds 
the waste, the two are balanced at a period of 
complete development, and later the waste 
exceeds the reconstruction. When reconstruc¬ 
tion exceeds the waste, the living mass grows, 
but when waste exceeds it, it begins to decline 
and death eventually results. The third dis¬ 
tinctive property is that all living matter tends 
to undergo recurring changes, or life proceeds 
from preexisting life; in animals the new life 
is born from eggs, while in plants, from seeds. 
Varied forms propagate themselves by off¬ 
shoots, which, like their predecessors, after a 
time cease to live and resolve into oxidated ele¬ 
ments. New forms in life invariably partake 
of the characteristics of the forms from which 
they originated, although by a process of prop¬ 
agation changes to a higher or lower state may 
be effected. 

All living matter depends upon a supply of 
heat and moisture, which dependence varies in 
kind with its organization and structure. Life 
forms cannot exist unless surrounded by a tem¬ 
perature suitable to their growth and develop¬ 
ment. Movement, nutritive growth, and repro¬ 
duction are possible only within certain limits 
of temperature, which, when excessively raised 
or lowered, cause death. The minimum limit of 
temperature that living matter can bear is 
greatly variable, depending upon the nature of 
the life. Pasteur found that the spores of 
fungi, when dry, could be exposed to a tem¬ 
perature of 250° Fahr., while when moistened 
they were killed at 112°. Bacteria lose life at 
14° above zero, while experiments with other 
forms of life show that the power to resist 
cold is very various. On the other hand, the 
maximum limit of heat at which living matter 
can exist is equally variable; some forms of 
marine life are able to withstand a tempera¬ 
ture of only 95°. The simpler forms of vege¬ 
table organisms lose life at a temperature of 
140°. However, there are thermal springs with 
a temperature of 168° to 208° in which living 
plants are found. Scientists ascribe their abil¬ 
ity to withstand this high temperature to habit, 
this having been formed by slow degrees 
through long periods of time. Life does not 



BIRCH 


297 


BIRDS 


always cease with destruction of form, but 
often becomes extinct only with coagulation of 
certain substances in the protoplasm. 

Numerous forms of life are invisible to the 
naked eye, in many of which the most powerful 
microscope does not reveal the vital parts. The 
living forms that are found to contain different 
parts, with distinct functions, when examined by 
the microscope, are said to be organized living 
bodies. However, life extends beyond organized 
forms. Besides, there are bodies of considerable 
size that manifest such a peculiar structure that 
it is difficult to determine whether they are 
plants or animals. The most important distinc¬ 
tion among animals is in the food partaken. 
Animals feed upon plants and other animals, and 
breathe in oxygen; while plants take in food 
from the earth and the air by means of their 
roots and leaves. The divisions of biology are 
morphology, distribution, physiology, and 
aetiology. The first relates to the anatomy and 
history, the second to geography and geology, 
the third to organic functions, and the last 
to the causes and origin of life. The study of 
plant life is called botany; of animal life, 
zoology. 

BIRCH (berch), a genus of trees found in 
the colder regions of America and Eurasia, in¬ 
cluding no less than 25 species. In the tem¬ 
perate climates they attain a height of seventy 
feet, while in cold climates, as in Greenland, 
they dwindle down to a mere bush, known as 
the dwarf birch. The wood is tough, firm, and 
light in color; the bark is smooth, shining, and 
whitish or a chalky white. It is one of the most 
useful of woods. The bark is used by sav¬ 
ages in building huts and canoes, and by civil¬ 
ized people for tanning and in the production of 
valuable oil. Birch wood enters into the manu¬ 
facture of furniture, wooden shoes, barrels, and 
water wheels, and is used for construction pur¬ 
poses. It is found farther north in North 
America than any other tree, and is the only 
tree in Greenland. For this reason it serves a 
valuable purpose as fuel in the cold regions 
inhabited by the Laplanders and Eskimos. The 
zvhite birch and the yellow birch are familiar 
trees in many parts of Canada and the United 
States 

BIRD OF PARADISE (par'a-dis), a bird 
of beautiful plumage allied to the crows, found 
chiefly in New Guinea and the adjacent islands. 
The family includes a number of species, some 
of which are remarkable for beauty in color and 
plumage. The king bird of paradise has a mag¬ 
nificent plume of feathers, which comes up 
from under the wings and branches over the 
back. It is the most beautiful bird of this 
family and is quite rare. Other species include 
the red bird of paradise, the golden bird of 
paradise, and the emerald bird of paradise. 
Most of these birds are small; the largest 
species attain a length of about two feet. The 
plume is found only in the male, whose feathers 


form an article of commerce. It is used for 
ornamentation and for trimming hats. The 
plumage is so rich and varied that in this 
respect these birds excel all others, even the 



KING BIRD OF PARADISE. 


humming birds. Knowledge of these birds 
dates from 1857, when A. R. Wallace discovered 
them while on a voyage to Australasia. 

BIRDS, the second class of the subkingdom 
of vertebrate animals, which stands between the 
mammals above and the reptiles below. They 
agree with the mammals in being warm-blooded 
and with the reptiles, amphibia, and fishes in 
being oviparous, that is, their young are born 
from eggs, while the mammals bring forth their 
young alive and suckle them for a time. They are 
bipeds and are feathered, and wings are used by 
all but a few species in flight. The blood cir¬ 
culates rapidly and is warmer than in other 
vertebrates, and consequently they are animals 
of great energy. They breathe not only through 
the lungs, but have air cells in various parts of 
the body, which aid in respiration. The feathers 
essentially resemble hair of other animals, and 
are found only in the bird class. The plumage 
on the lower parts of the body of most birds 
is formed by a thick coating of feathers em¬ 
bedded in the skin, called down. The shape, 
the light feather coating, the powerful wings, 
the peculiar tail, the air cells, and the strong 
muscles are important factors in fitting them for 
flight. Their feathers are renewed periodically; 























BIRDS 


298 


BIRDS’ NESTS 


the plumage of winter in many species differs 
from that of the summer time. The young 
change their plumage many times before they 
attain their full-grown shape. 

The lightness of birds enables them to fly, 
swim, and move rapidly on land. Their bones 
are thin and contain numerous air cells, while 
air is also found in the feathers and and in 
various parts of the body. The swift-flying 
birds have more air cells than those of 
slower flight, while birds that do not fly pos¬ 
sess very few, as the ostrich, which has cells 
only in the thigh bones. In breathing, the air 
passes from the lungs into the cells at will; 
some birds have the capacity to fill even the 
quills of large feathers. All this and the long 
feathers of the tail and wings aid in carry¬ 
ing the birds through the air. Birds of colder 
regions are covered with much warmer coat¬ 
ing than those of hot climates; this is nec¬ 
essary owing to a need of greater ability to 
withstand the cold. 

The food of birds differs widely. Some live 
on a mixture of plant and animal food, while 
others live entirely on insects and some en¬ 
tirely on flesh. The food is swallowed in large 
particles, or whole, and passes through the 
gullet into the first stomach, or crop, in which 
it is softened by soaking. It then passes by 
another part of the gullet into the gizzard, a 
strong and muscular cavity, in which it is 
mixed with gastric juices. The grain-eating 
birds have a large crop into which the seeds 
swallowed by them pass, where they are moist¬ 
ened by a liquid secretion. The strength of the 
gizzard depends upon the kind of birds; those 
that eat flesh have a weaker gizzard than those 
that eat plants and seeds. It is to be noted 
that the gizzard has a grinding motion and 
crushes the food, and to facilitate this action 
many birds swallow small stones. The in¬ 
testines are smaller and simpler than those in 
mammals, but in the main all the organs, like 
the kidneys, gall bladder, and other vital 
organs, are common to them. 

Birds possess all the senses, more or less 
fully developed. The senses of touch and taste 
are quite dull in all the birds, while the senses 
of sight and hearing are highly developed. 
Birds of prey possess a strong sense of smell. 
Many birds have no song, but all are known to 
be able to make a noise or cry. Only the male 
birds possess the power of song, but females 
have ability to call other birds. When domes¬ 
ticated, the song is beautified and enlarged, but 
birds of the finest plumage are not the best 
singers; their richness in dress is compensated 
for by the song in the plainer birds, a truly 
admirable compensation. Many birds migrate 
in the spring to the colder regions and return 
in autumn, but there are also summer birds 
of passage. 

In nest building there is a wide range of 


difference. Some lay their eggs on the warm 
sand of the seashore or on desert oases, while 
others build nests in trees and bushes, or bur¬ 
row in the banks of rivers or oceans. The eggs 
are hatched by incubation; that is, by sitting 
on them and keeping them warm until young 
birds are produced, but there are some birds 
that lay their eggs to be hatched by the warmth 
of the sun or the heat generated by decaying 
vegetation. The mother bird guards the nest 
at short range, while the males are seen at 
some distance watching the enemy. Many kinds 
of young birds are able to leave the nests and 
gather food for themselves shortly after hatch¬ 
ing, but the young of some species are fed for 
days and even weeks. 

For the purpose of study there are various 
divisions of birds, but the following seven are 
those commonly given: 

1. Ravcners (raptores) are birds of prey. 
They have strong, curved beaks with sharp 
edges. Their feet possess claws with sharp 
hooks, useful in catching and destroying other 
animals, and their wings are well developed for 
flight. This class includes such birds as owls, 
vultures, hawks, and eagles. 

2. Climbers (scansores) are birds that climb, 
such as the woodpeckers, toucans, parrots, and 
cuckoos. Their power of flight is not well 
developed, but they possess feet and toes well 
adapted for climbing and moving about on 
the limbs of trees. 

3. Perchers (insessores) are the birds that 
perch habitually among trees. This class of 
birds includes all the birds of song and most 
birds that live in trees. It constitutes the most 
numerous order. 

4. Runners (cursores) include the emu, os¬ 
trich, and cassowary. Their wings are rudi¬ 
mentary and useless for flight, while their legs 
are powerful. They are otherwise distinguished 
by their breastbone being without a keel and 
their hind toes wanting. 

5. Scratchers (rasores) embrace the domes¬ 
tic pigeons, fowls, and pheasants. The bill is 
short and thick, the legs are strong and large, 
and the feet are suitable for scratching. 

6. Waders (grallatorcs) include the snipes, 
herons, sandpipers, cranes, and many others. 
Their legs are long and destitute of feathers 
above the heel, and their toes are usually half 
webbed. The bill is long and slender, adapted 
for fishing under water. 

7. Swimmers (natatores) are web-footed 
birds, as gulls, geese, swans, and ducks. The 
feet are webbed; that is, the toes are connected 
by membrane and formed for swimming. Most 
species have flattened bills, and are expert 
divers. 

BIRDS’ NESTS, the habitations of birds, 
in which they lay their eggs and hatch their 
young. In the construction of nests birds 
differ largely, from the rude and simple to 




(Opp. 298) 


FAMILIAR BIRDS. 


Kingbird. Baltimore Oriole. 

Cardinal Bird, or Cardinal Grosbeak. Red Breasted Grosbeak, or Hawkfinch. 

Canary. Goldfinch. 




























































































. 




















































BIRDS OF PASSAGE 


299 


BIRMINGHAM 


the wonderful and skillful. Two classes of 
birds are usually recognized by writers, includ¬ 
ing those that build their nests in trees and 
structures above the ground and those that 
build in cliffs or on the ground. Nearly all 
birds that swim and dive, and those that live 
along the shore, build their nests on the ground. 
Some birds lay their eggs on rocky cliffs or 
in the sand on the shore of the sea or inland 
lakes. The nighthawks and whip-poor-wills lay 
their eggs on dry leaves or on the roofs 
of houses. Many water birds build nests by 
means of sticks and leaves entwined among 
the reeds of swamps. This class usually 
feather their nests with the down taken from 
beneath the breast. 

Writers have divided birds into different 
classes, using the kind of nests they build as 
a basis for classification. Such birds as the 
canary are called felt-makers, because they 
weave their material much like the fibers of 
felt are arranged. Some of the birds in India 
are classified as tailors, because they sew leaves 
together and build their nests in a pouch-like 
formation, hanging downward. Many species 
of birds, including the mocking bird, red-winged 
blackbird, and many others, are classified as 
basket-makers, because they construct basket¬ 
shaped nests that resemble the seed-vessels of 
plants in which they build, to deceive those 
who chance to visit the locality in search of 
eggs. Platform builders are such as the pigeon 
and eagle, which arrange platforms on the 
branches of trees to utilize them for the nests 
and for perching. Mining birds dig holes in 
the ground, or use the holes made by other 
animals for the purpose of making nests. A 
small owl of the western plains is a good 
example of this class. It lives with prairie 
dogs and hatches its young in their holes, and 
is closely associated with snakes. Mason birds 
build nests in cliffs and under the eaves of 
houses, constructing them of mud in the shape of 
a flask. Carpenter birds, such as woodpeckers, 
chop holes into the trunk or limbs of trees and 
build their nests in airy tunnels. Ground-build¬ 
ers make their nests in small holes in the 
ground, usually under a tuft of grass or near 
a large stone. The subject of birds’ nests is 
an interesting study. However, it is remarka¬ 
ble that birds of all classes, no matter where 
found, construct the same kind of nests, and 
that there is no change or improvement in the 
construction. Cuvier asserted that birds known 
to the Egyptians and Babylonians built identi¬ 
cally the same kind of nests as those that live 
at the present time. Many birds can be induced 
to nest in small houses constructed for them 
and placed in a convenient locality of the barn 
or house yard. 

BIRDS OF PASSAGE, the birds that 
migrate from warmer to colder climates, and 
from colder to warmer climates; these include 


two classes, known as winter birds of passage 
and summer birds of passage. Winter birds 
of passage migrate in the spring toward the 
polar regions to breed, and return toward the 
warmer zones in autumn, while the summer 
birds of passage pass toward the colder regions 
in the fall and return toward the warmer in 
the spring. These classes vary according to 
the different latitudes. The wild duck and the 
goose are familiar winter birds of passage, 
while the robin is a good example of the other 
class in some countries. Among the birds that 
do not migrate may be mentioned the quail, 
grouse, and snowbird. 

BIRKENHEAD (berk'en-hed), a seaport 
of England, on the estuary of the - Mersey, 
opposite Liverpool. It has a large steamship 
and railway commerce and an immense job¬ 
bing trade. Engineering and shipbuilding are 
its principal industries. It has communication 
with Liverpool by a ferry owned by the munic¬ 
ipality, and a railway tunnel under the Mersey 
30 feet below the bed of the river. The tun¬ 
nel is 36 feet wide and 22 feet high, and was 
constructed at a cost of $6,250,000. The city has 
fine public baths and a public library, and is 
the seat of Saint Aidan’s College. Among the 
chief buildings are the city hall, the market 
hall, and many villas and churches. The city 
dates from the 12th century, but its impor¬ 
tance as a trade center began with the latter 
part of the last century. Population, 1907, 
118,553; in 1921, 130,832. ' 

BIRMINGHAM (ber'-ming-am), county 
seat of Jefferson County, Alabama, 95 miles 
northwest of Montgomery, on the Southern, 
the Central of Georgia, the Louisville and 
Nashville, and other railroads. It is located in 
a beautiful valley about 600 feet above the level 
of the sea. The city is surrounded by the 
richest iron and coal region of the State, con¬ 
tains blast furnaces and rolling mills, and has 
extensive interests in manufacturing. Steel 
products are made in large quantities from ore 
found in the vicinity. Among the general 
manufactures are cotton-seed oil, car wheels, 
engines, and boilers, cotton goods, earthenware, 
and machinery. It has many large buildings, 
such as the county courthouse, the Union 
Depot, -the Jefferson Theater, and Saint Vin¬ 
cent Hospital. Lakeview and Capital parks are 
fine public grounds. The streets are paved 
with stone and asphalt. Other public improve¬ 
ments include electric street railways, sewer¬ 
age, a public library, and city waterworks. 
Howard College, a Baptist institution, is five 
miles northeast of the city. Birmingham is 
one of the most prosperous cities in the South. 
In 1880 it had a population of 3,886; in 1890, 
26,241; and in 1900, 38,415; in 1920, 178,270. 

BIRMINGHAM, an important manufactur¬ 
ing city of England, in Warwick County, 112 
miles northwest of London. It is celebrated 


BIRNAM 


300 


BISMARCK ARCHIPELAGO 


for its immense production of metal ware. Over 
10,000 workmen are engaged in the maufacture 
of brass products, while large numbers engage 
in manufacturing firearms, steam engines, sew¬ 
ing machines, railroad cars, gas fittings, swords, 
articles of papier-mache, and other products. 
It has connection by many lines of steam and 
electric railways. The Central Railway Sta¬ 
tion covers about thirteen acres of ground. 
Among the chief buildings are the post office, 
the city hall, the Anglican Church of Saint 
Martin, and the Baptist Wyclif Chapel. It is 
the seat of Mason and Queen’s colleges and 
other educational institutions. Among the 
memorials are beautiful statues of Sir Robert 
Peel and Nelson. The city contains seven dis¬ 
tricts, from each of which a representative is 
sent to Parliament. Population, 1921, 825,960. 

BIRNAM (ber'nam), a hill of Scotland, in 
Perthshire, twelve miles northwest of Perth. 
From its summit, 1,580 feet above the sea, a 
fine view of the Tay River and valley is 
afforded. Formerly it was covered by a royal 
forest made famous by Shakespeare in “Mac¬ 
beth.” 

BIRNEY (ber'm), James Gillespie, a public 
man, born at Danville, Ky., Feb. 4, 1792; died 
Nov. 24, 1857. He advocated the abolition of 
slavery. His journalistic career was disturbed 
by violence from many who differed from him 
on the slavery question, but he persevered and 
was soon made secretary of the American 
Antislavery Society. In 1840 and 1844 he was 
the candidate for President of the Liberty party. 

BISBEE, a city of Arizona, in Cochise 
County, 10 miles from the Mexican border, on 
the El Paso and Southwestern Railroad. It is 
surrounded by a rich copper producing country. 
The features include the high school, city hall, 
public library, Y. M. C. A. building, brick pav¬ 
ing, and sanitary sewerage. The monthly pay 
roll of the copper camps is about $500,000. 
Population, 1920, 9,205. 

BISCAY (bis'ka), a large bay on the west¬ 
ern coast of Europe, forming the principal 
eastern boundary of France and the northern 
boundary of Spain. Its French coast is low, 
but the Spanish coast rises in rocky cliffs. 
Navigation is dangerous, owing to storms and 
breakers. The tide sweeps to a height of forty 
feet. The water from the Garonne and Loire 
flows into it. On its shores are numerous sea¬ 
ports, including Nantes, Brest, Bordeaux, and 
Gijon. 

BISCAY, or Vizcaya, a province of Spain, 
in the northern part, one of the so-called 
Basque provinces. It has an area of 836 square 
miles. The surface is mountainous. Bilboa 
is the capital and largest city. Other cities 
include Orozco and Bermeo. Population, 
311,361. See Basques. 

BISCUIT (bis'kit), a kind of bread formed 
into small cakes, either fermented or un¬ 
fermented, and made chiefly of wheat and 


rye flour. Many kinds of biscuits are made in 
large bakeries for the trade and sold on the 
market, both in bulk and in small packages 
designed for household use. The work of 
kneading, cutting, and stamping is done almost 
exclusively by machinery, and an oven serves 
to turn out about two thousand pounds of 
biscuit in a day of nine hours. Biscuits are 
-baked so they become hard and dry, hence 
may be kept without spoiling for a long time. 
Sea biscuits are made of flour, water, and salt 
and keep easily for two years. The biscuits 
of the market are made chiefly of flour, but¬ 
ter, eggs, soda, and salt, the proportions of 
the ingredients used depending upon the kind 
and quality desired, and in making sweet bis¬ 
cuits sugar and flavoring are used. To make 
soft biscuits larger proportions of sugar and 
butter are required. Meat biscuits are made 
of wheat flour and the soluble parts of meat. 
In Scotland some varieties are called bakes, 
while crackers is the name usually applied in 
America. 

BISHOP (bish'up), a title applied to the 
highest order of the clergymen in the Christian 
church. In the Roman Catholic, Protestant 
Episcopal, and Greek Catholic churches bishops 
claim apostolic succession. In the Methodist 
Episcopal and other churches less formal dig¬ 
nity is maintained and no claim is made to 
apostolic succession. In Great Britain the 
bishops of the Church of England are called 
lord bishops. Two of the archbishops and a 
number of the bishops of Wales and England 
have seats in the House of Lords. The gen¬ 
eral duties of bishops vary greatly in different 
denominations, but usually include the power 
to appoint clergymen to churches, the dignity 
to preside at conventions of the clergy, and 
oversight over the churches and the clergy 
within the diocese. 

BISMARCK (biz'mark), capital of North 
Dakota, county seat of Burleigh County, on 
the Missouri River. It occupies an elevated site 
on the Minneapolis, Saint Paul and Sault Sainte 
Marie and the Northern Pacific railroads. The 
chief buildings include the high school, the 
county courthouse, the State capitol, the State 
penitentiary, the State library, and the Saint 
Paul Seminary. It has electric lights, water¬ 
works, and fine schools and churches. It is 
surrounded by a fertile region and is a market 
for large quantities of wheat, oats, potatoes, 
and merchandise. The industries include flour¬ 
ing mills, machine shops, and grain elevators. 
It was settled in 1873 and became the capital 
of the State in 1889. Population, 1920, 6,951. 

BISMARCK ARCHIPELAGO (bis- 
mark), a group of islands in the Pacific Ocean, 
about 56 miles east of New Guinea. The prin¬ 
cipal islands were formerly known as New 
Britain, New Ireland, and Duke of York, but 
when the archipelago became territory of Ger¬ 
many, in 1884, the names were changed 


BISMARCK-SCHONHAUSEN 


301 


BISMUTH 


respectively to Neu Pommern, Neu Mecklen¬ 
burg, and Neu Lauenburg. The possession 
contains a large number of islands, but those 
named are the principal land masses of the 
group, and the total area is about 18,500 square 
miles. Copper and trepang are exported, and 
the trade in fruit and 'merchandise is impor¬ 
tant. Matupi is the principal commercial town. 
The possession has a population of 212,000. 

BISMARCK - SCHONHAUSEN (bis'- 
mark-shen-how'zen), Karl Otto Eduard Leo¬ 
pold, Prince von, greatest European statesman 

of the 19th cen- 
tury, born at 
Schonhause n, 
in Bra n denburg, 
Germany, April 1, 
1815; died July 30, 
1898. He was a 
descendant of an¬ 
cestors whose line¬ 
age is traced back 
to the middle of 
the 16th century. 
His education was 
received at Got¬ 
tingen, Berlin, and 
Greif s w a 1 d. He 
first became known in 1847 as a member of the 
Prussian Parliament, where he took an active 
part as an ultraroyalist. He was appointed 
Prussian member of the German Diet at Frank¬ 
fort in 1851, from which his diplomatic career 
dates. His zeal for the enlargement of Prus¬ 
sian power led to a rupture with Austria at 
the time that country became involved in a 
war with Italy and France. In 1859 he became 
minister to Saint Petersburg, when he strength¬ 
ened the relations between Russia and Prussia, 
and in 1862 was transferred to Paris. While 
at Paris he made an official visit to London, 
where he met the leading English statesmen of 
his time. From Paris he was recalled to take 
charge of the portfolio of minister for foreign 
affairs, and the presidency of the cabinet. The 
lower house refused to pass Bismarck’s bill for 
the reorganization of the army, which caused 
him to dissolve it at once, and he governed 
without a budget during four succeeding ses¬ 
sions. Public excitement was at the greatest 
height of intensity when the Schleswig-Holstein 
question diverted the strain, and he succeeded 
in adding the province to Prussia. Soon after 
new complications caused the Seven Weeks’ 
War with Austria, which ended with Prussian 
triumph at the Battle of Koniggratz in 1866, 
and was followed by the reorganization of Ger¬ 
many, under the guiding spirit of Bismarck and 
the leadership of Prussia. When Prince Leo¬ 
pold of ITohenzollern was proposed for the 
throne of Spain, the unfriendly feeling between 
Germany and France was intensified and 
brought on the War of 1870-71. After the 
splendid victories of the German armies, Bis¬ 


marck dictated the terms of peace in the Treaty 
of Frankfort, May 10, 1871, by whose provi¬ 
sions Germany recovered Alsace-Lorraine and 
received a cash indemnity of $1,000,000,000 in 
gold. 

In 1871, immediately after the establishment 
of the new German Empire, he was created 
prince and chancellor. Plis policy having been 
vindicated, he directed his attention to the 
enlargement of the army and navy, codification 
of the laws, reformation of coinage, civil re¬ 
form, the introduction of a protective tariff, and 
the state control of railroads. In 1884 he 
began to advocate the colonizing powers of 
Germany, which led to a temporary conflict 
with England, and this, together with other 
acts, tended to isolate France. He resigned the 
offices of prime minister and chancellor in 1890, 
owing to a divergence between him and Em¬ 
peror William II., but he continued to influence 
the German policy and the affairs of Europe. 
He was presiding officer at the Berlin Congress 
in 1878, of the Berlin Conference in 1880, and 
of the Congo Conference in 1884. The occa¬ 
sion of his departure from Berlin caused a 
great popular demonstration, which gave evi¬ 
dence of his intense popularity among the peo¬ 
ple. On March 26, 1895, he was visited by Em¬ 
peror William II. at his own home in Fried- 
richsruhe on the occasion of his eightieth 
birthday. Owing to his wisdom in building a 
great empire from a number of scattered states, 
and exercising a lasting influence on the poli¬ 
tics of Europe, he was called Iron Chancellor. 
The advancing ages of history will increase his 
fame. He was truly a man of power and a 
statesman of ability, and rendered practical 
service to his country and to civilization in its 

hrnarip^t cpiiqp 

BISMARCK-SCHONHAUSEN, Wilhelm 
Albrecht Otto, born in Frankfort-on-the-Main, 
Germany, Aug. 1, 1852; died May 30, 1901. 
After receiving instruction under private tutors 
and institutions of secondary education, he took 
an extensive course at the University of Bonn. 
In the War of 1870-71 with France he was an 
officer of ordnance. Subsequent to the war he 
entered the civil service, and in 1879 became 
secretary to the governor of Alsace-Lorraine. 
His efficient service caused him to be promoted 
successively, and in 1889 he was made president 
of the province of Hanover and governor of 
East Prussia, which positions he held until his 
death. 

BISMUTH (blzTnuth), a brittle metal of a 
reddish-white color and crytalline texture. It 
is somewhat harder than lead and can be 
reduced easily to powder when cold by means 
of a hammer. In a native state it frequently 
consists of crystallized rhombs, but also exists 
with other metals, especially gold, sulphur, 
arsenic, and oxygen. It is useful in making 
printers’ type, ink, and medicines, and in assay¬ 
ing gold and silver by cupellation. A compound 



PRINCE VON BISMARCK. 




BISON 


302 


BITTERN 


of three parts of tin, five of lead, and eight of 
bismuth is known as fusible metal. The med¬ 
ical properties of bismuth are tonical and anti- 
spasmodic. 

BISON (bi'son), the name of a kind of wild 
cattle found in Europe and North America, 
and sometimes incorrectly called buffalo. The 
European bison, or aurochs, is now nearly 
extinct, being confined to parks and in a wild 
state to the forests of the Caucasus, and the 
total number now living is thought not to 
exceed 800. The American bison existed in 
large numbers in almost the whole of North 
America, but was most numerous in the Missis¬ 
sippi valley and the great plains of Central 
Canada. Herds of tens of thousands roamed 
across the plains, usually traveling in solid col¬ 
umns, traces of their tracks still remaining in 
the sod on the western prairies. They grazed 
upon the plains and traveled to watering places 
and alkaline licks, which is evidenced by the old 
trails which stretch for miles over hills and 
through valleys. They were one of the main 
sources of food supply for the Indians, and 
served a valuable purpose when the transconti¬ 
nental railroads were in process of construction, 
since they were a prolific source of wholesome 
food for the workmen. The animal attains a 
height of about six feet, has short horns, a large 
hump back of the head formed of muscles, and 
shaggy hair of a duskv-brown color. It lives 
on grass, the bark of trees, and brushwood. 
Full development is reached at six years, and 
it attains to an age of thirty-five years. Only 
a few hundred still remain in the wild state, 
and these are protected by the government in 
parks of the Rocky Mountains. A small rem¬ 
nant of the so-called wood buffalo has survived 
in the forests of Great Slave Lake. However, a 
number of buffalo ranches for the purpose of 
rearing them have been established in various 
sections. The skins of these animals are very 
valuable, while the hump is prized for its rich 



and delicate flesh. The small herd in Yellow¬ 
stone- Park is slowly increasing. Buffaloes, 
when tamed, are peaceful and docile, but 
their number and strength made them a ter¬ 
ror to all other animals in the early history of 
America. 


BISSAGOS (bis-sa'goz), or Bijuga Islands, 

a group of small islands near the west coast 
of Africa, opposite the mouth of the Rio 
Grande. They are of volcanic origin and inhab¬ 
ited by Negroes. Orange and Bulama are the 
chief islands, and Bulama, situated on the lat¬ 
ter, is the leading town. Maize and fruit are 
cultivated, and goats and cattle are reared. 
These islands were discovered by the Portu¬ 
guese, who made a settlement on Bissao, one 
of the group. They are governed as a depend¬ 
ency of Portuguese Guinea. Population, 3,750. 

BISSELL (bis'sel), Wilson Shannon, 
statesman, born in Rome, N. Y., Dec. 31, 1847; 
died in 1903. He graduated at Yale in 1869 
and took up the study of law in Buffalo, where 
he practiced with Grover Cleveland. He was 
attorney in many cases involving railroad liti¬ 
gation, and was an official in a line of the 
Lehigh Valley system. In 1893 he became 
Postmaster General of the Cabinet of Presi¬ 
dent Cleveland, resigned in 1895 to resume the 
practice of law, and in 1902 was made chan¬ 
cellor of the University of Buffalo. 

BITHYNIA (bi-thin'i-a), an ancient country 
of Asia Minor, separated from Europe by the 
Sea of Marmora and the Strait of Constanti¬ 
nople, then known respectively as the Propontis 
and Thracian Bosporus. It extended east to 
Paphlagonia, and contained the cities of Prusa 
Heraclea, Chalcedon, Nicomedia, and Nicaea. 
The Persians annexed it in 543 b. c., but it 
became an independent kingdom in 278 b. c. 
under Nicomedes I. Prusias II. was King of 
Bithynia at the time of the Punic Wars, when 
Hannibal sought refuge at his court. The 
Romans made it a province in 74 b. c ., and it 
was governed under Pliny the Younger. In 
1298 it was conquered by the Turks, and the 
seat of the Turkish government w r as at Prusa 
for many years. 

BITTERN (bit'tern), th* name of several 
wading birds of the heron family, common to 
America, Africa, and Eurasia. They attain a 
length of 30 
inches, and 
the wings, 
when extend¬ 
ed, measure 
about 45 
inches. Their 
color is yel¬ 
lowish-brown 
with bars and 
spots of 
black. They 
frequent low, 
marshy dis- 
♦ t ric t s , re¬ 
main ing at . _ 

r e s t during bittern. 

the day and 

coming out at twilight to seek insects, reptiles, 
fish, and small quadrupeds for food. They 










BITTERNUT 


303 


BLACK 


are remarkable for their ability to stand on 
one leg, or hold their head in the same posi¬ 
tion for several hours. The male produces a 
curious bellowing cry, which booms like a 
drum and may be heard fully a mile. 
BITTERNUT. See Hickory. 
BITTERROOT (bit'ter-robt), an American 
plant found extensively in the Rocky Moun¬ 
tains, both in Canada and the United States. 
It has an edible root, sometimes called tobacco 
root, and in cooking gives off an odor much 
like that of tobacco. The root is long and 
fleshy and from it grow a fleshy stalk and 
numerous leaves. The flower is solitary, beau¬ 
tifully colored, and remains open only dur¬ 
ing sunshine. The Bitterroot Mountains and 
the Bitterroot River were named from this 
plant, and the flower was adopted by Montana 
as the State flower. 

BITTERWOOD, the name of several trees 
and shrubs native to Brazil and the West 
Indies, so named from the bitterness of their 
wood. The fruit is aromatic and the wood 
is used in making furniture, being valuable 
because insects do not attack it. The name is 
applied to a tree native to Jamaica, nearly 
allied to the quassia, the wood of which is 
used in medicine. See Quassia. 

BITUMEN (bi-tu'men), a mineral pitch of 
vegetable origin remarkable for its odor and 
inflammability. It is secured both in a fluid 
and solid state, and consists of about eighty- 
five parts carbon and fifteen parts hydrogen. 
The term is sometimes extended to include 
the hydrocarbons, as petroleum, naphtha, 
asphalt, and mineral tars. It is found more 
or less commonly in many parts of the earth, 
but the largest deposits of what may be classed 
as mineral pitch are in the vicinity of the 
Dead Sea. It is useful for building purposes 
to make floors, roofs, and arches water-tight, 
and in the construction of walks and pave¬ 
ments. The brick used in the walls of ancient 
Babylon were cemented with bitumen to in¬ 
crease their durability and solidity. See 
Asphalt. 

BITUMINOUS COAL (bi-tu'mi-nus). See 

Coal. 

BITUMINOUS SHALE (shal), a kind of 
clay found in the coal measures, so named 
from the carbon and volatile matter mixed 
with the clay. Large beds are quite com¬ 
mon, and in some places the bituminous shales 
are used as fuel. 

BIVALVES (bi'valvz), the general name of 
mollusks having their shells in opposite por¬ 
tions, which open by elastic hinges and are 
closed by muscles. Among the bivalves are 
the cockle, clam, mussel, and oyster. With 
few exceptions, they are marine animals, while 
a number of univalves, single-shelled mollusks, 
are common to the land. The fossil remains 
of bivalves indicate the depth and extent of 
the ocean in early geological ages, and give 


evidence of their existence in the former part 
of the age of invertebrates, the Silurian age. 

BIZET (be-za'), Alexandre Cesar Leopold, 

composer, born in Paris, France, Oct. 25, 1838; 
died June 3, 1875. He entered the Conserv¬ 
atoire at Paris when nine years of age, and 
afterward studied under Zimmermann and Ben- 
oist. Subsequently he studied in Italy, where 
he composed the opera “Don Procopio.” His 
compositions belong to the romantic school, 
and his opera entitled “Carmen” is his best 
known production. “Vasco da Gama” and “La 
Jolie Fille de Perth” are popular operas. 

BJORNSON (byern'sun), Bjdrnstjerne, 
poet, novelist, and dramatist, born in TCvikne 
Norway, Dec. 8, 1832; died April 25, 1910. He 
studied at Christiania 
and later at Copenhagen. 

His first publication was 
“Synnove Solbakken,” 
which appeared in 1857 
and attracted much at¬ 
tention. He became man¬ 
ager of the Bergen The¬ 
ater, for which place he 
was selected by the pro¬ 
prietor, Ole Bull, and in 

1858 published “Arne” 
and “Halte-Hulda.” In 

1859 he became editor 
of the Aftenbladet in 
Christiania, and the next 
year went to Rome to pursue literary work, 
for which purpose the Parliament voted him 
a pension. Subsequently he took part in poli¬ 
tics, visited the United States to study the 
republican institutions, and lectured to his 
Scandinavian countrymen in many American 
cities. He lived for many years in Rome and 
Tyrol, but spent his summers on his farm in 
Norway. Many of his writings have been 
translated into German and other languages. 
The most noteworthy of his recently pub¬ 
lished works include “A Cantata of Peace,” 
“Paa Guds Veje,” and a number of produc¬ 
tions treating of political and social reform. 

BLACK (blak), Jeremiah Sullivan, states¬ 
man, born in Glades, Pa., 

Jan. 10, 1810; died Aug. 

19, 1883. He attended 
the public schools and 
took up the study of law 
and built up a successful 
practice in Somerset 
County. In 1842 he was 
elected district judge, 
and from 1851 until 1857 
he was a justice of the 
Supreme Court in Penn¬ 
sylvania. President Buch¬ 
anan made him Attor¬ 
ney General, in which 
capacity he protected the government from un¬ 
just claimants of land grants in California, and 


% 



BJORN STJ ERNE 
BJORNSON. 



J. S. BLACK. 


BLACK 


304 


BLACKBURN 


held the opinion that the Constitution gives the 
government the right to prevent insurrections 
and the secession of a State. In 1860 he suc¬ 
ceeded General Cass as Secretary of State, and 
the following year retired from public office to 
practice law at York, Pa. He was one of the 
attorneys for President Johnson in the impeach¬ 
ment trial, an advocate of Tilden’s claims 
before the electoral commission of 1876, and 
prominent in the lawsuits growing out of the 
Vanderbilt will contest. 

BLACK, William, novelist, born in Glasgow, 
Scotland, in 1841; died Dec. i(), 1898. He 
was educated in his native city, became a news¬ 
paper reporter, and went to London, where he 
followed magazine writing. In the war of 
1866 between Prussia and Austria he served 
as war correspondent to the Chronicle, and 
afterwards served on the editorial staff of the 
Daily News and London Review. In 1876 he 
traveled and began his career as novelist. The 
scenes of most of his writings are laid in the 
Scotch Highlands. Llis principal productions 
include “Love or Marriage,” “A Daughter of 
Heth,” “Princess of Thule,” “Green Pasture 
and Piccadilly,” “Judith Shakespeare,” “Hand¬ 
some Humes,” and “Adventures of a House 
Boat.” 

BLACKADER, Alexander Dougall, physi¬ 
cian and educator, prominent as a factor in 
the educational work of Canada. He studied 
at McGill University, Montreal, and later in 
London and Vienna, and in 1871 completed a 
course in medicine by graduation. He was 
surgeon on board of royal steamers to South 
American and Chinese ports, and began the 
practice of medicine at Montreal in 1877. Many 
Canadian and American medical and scientific 
associations honored him with the election to 
official positions and as members of important 
committees, including the Montreal Medico- 
Chirurgical Society and the American Asso¬ 
ciation of Physicians. In 1883 he was made 
lecturer on diseases of children in McGill Uni¬ 
versity and in 1891 became professor of phar¬ 
macology and therapeutics at the same insti¬ 
tution, where he rendered valuable and efficient 
services. He published “Reference Handbook 
of the Medical Sciences” and contributed to 
numerous periodicals and works of reference. 

BLACKBERRY (blak'ber-ry), the name of 
a large bushy plant resembling the dewberry 
and raspberry, also called brambleberry. The 
bushes are armed with prickles, and the fruit 
is sweet and luscious. It is valuable for mak¬ 
ing jam, jelly, and preserves, and is eaten as 
a dessert. Blackberry wine is manufactured 
extensively, while astringent tonics derived 
from the berries are used largely in medicine. 
The fruit grows in the wild state, but it is 
greatly improved by cultivation. These plants 
are widely distributed in both hemispheres and 
thrive as far north as Central Canada. They 
are propagated from suckers and root cut¬ 


tings. New varieties are secured by planting 
the seed. 

BLACKBIRD, the name applied to a large 
family of birds of America and Europe, gen¬ 
erally called merle in Western Europe. The 
crow blackbird and the rustycrow blackbird are 
of the starling family and nest largely in trees. 
Red-zvinged blackbirds constitute a widely dis- 



CROW BLACKBIRD. 

tributed species, ranging throughout Southern 
Canada and in the United States from Maine 
to the Pacific. They live in meadows, marshes, 
and swamps, where they nest and rear their 
young. In autumn they gather in flocks and 
delight to frequent meadows and stubble fields 
in large swarms. The food of blackbirds com¬ 
prises worms, berries, and insects. Blackbirds 
are a protection to orchards in that they devour 
insects, but they also consume several kinds 
of fruit, such as cherries and grapes. A num¬ 
ber of species are eaten by the Indians. 

BLACKBURN (blak'burn), a manufacturing 
city of Lancaster County, England, about 
twenty-one miles northwest from Manchester. 
It is on the Leeds and Liverpool Canal and 
has extensive railway facilities. The chief 
buildings include the town hall, the Saint 
Mary’s Church, the Draper’s Hall, the county 
courthouse, and the municipal offices. Corpora¬ 
tion Park and Queen’s Park are fine public 
grounds. The importance of Blackburn as a 
commercial city dates back to the 17th cen¬ 
tury, when it began to manufacture large quanti¬ 
ties of cotton goods. It is the seat of many 
cotton mills, and has large facilities for manu¬ 
facturing steam engines, hardware, clothing, 
and cotton machinery. The cotton factories 
employ about 15,000 men and 20,000 women, 
and the annual output of the cotton industry 
is valued at $30,000,000. Blackburn maintains 
public baths, a public library, an art gallery, 
and many fine schools, including one founded 
by Queen Elizabeth. It has gas and electric 
lighting, street railways, pavements, water¬ 
works, and two hospitals. Population, 1907. 
131,890; in 1921, 133,064. 

BLACKBURN, Joseph Clay Styles, states- 




BLACKFEET 


305 


BLACK HILLS 


man, born in Woodford County, Kentucky, Oct. 
1, 1838. He studied at Danville Center Col¬ 
lege and in Chicago, and was admitted to the 
bar in 1859. After practicing a short time in 
Chicago, he entered the Confederate army, and 
served until the close of the Civil War. In 
1871 he was elected a member of the State 
Legislature in Kentucky and served as Con¬ 
gressman in 1875-85, and in the latter year be¬ 
came a member of the United States Senate. 
He was reelected in 1891 and 1901, and was 
prominent on a number of important commit¬ 
tees. He died Sept. 12, 1918. 

BLACKFEET, a tribe of Indians distributed 
more or less through the Rocky Mountains of 
Montana, Wyoming, and British America, and 
classed with the Algonquins. In early history 
they constituted a powerful tribe, but were 
quite peaceful. In 1865 they became involved 
in trouble with western miners, and for five 
years a number of skirmishes took place in 
which considerable life was lost. At present 
they number about 5,000, of which about one- 
half are in the United States. 

BLACKFISH or Tautog, the name of a 
large fish common along the Atlantic coast, 
much valued as a food product. It is allied to 
the dolphin and somewhat resembles the perch. 
The skin can be slipped off like that of an eel. 
It is one of the leading food fishes of the 
Eastern market, being pleasant and nutritious 
for table use. 

BLACK FOREST, or Schwarzwald, a 

chain of mountains in Europe, located in 
Baden and Wiirttemberg, where it stretches 
almost parallel with the Rhine for ninety 
miles. It is the source of the Kingiz, Nec- 
kar, and Danube rivers. The highest sum¬ 
mit is Feldberg, which attains a height of 
4,900 feet. The mineral products include iron, 
lead, cobalt, copper, and silver. Numerous 
mineral springs abound. There is a fine growth 
of timber, consisting mostly of pines on the 
foothills. In the valleys farming is exten¬ 
sively carried on, while in the towns manu¬ 
facturing abounds. The manufactured articles 
consist of furniture, toys, wooden articles, and 
clocks. About 50,000 persons are engaged in 
the manufactories in the regions, and there is 
a considerable trade in merchandise and cereals. 
Railroads have been constructed along the moun¬ 
tain sides and through the valleys, and large 
centers of industry are building up rapidly. 

BLACK FRIDAY, a term used to designate 
any Friday on which some great calamity 
occurred. In England it refers to Dec. 6, 1745, 
when Charles Edward, the pretender, reached 
Derby, and to May 11, 1866, when a general 
commercial panic reached its most oppressive 
phase. In the United States the name ap¬ 
plies generally to Sept. 24, 1869, when a 

financial panic was caused by speculation in 
gold in the city of New York, and to Sept. 
18, 1873, when a similar panic commenced. 


BLACK GUM, or Sour Gum, a species of 
forest trees of North America, known in some 
localities as tupclo and pcpperidge. The 
branches are crooked and bear tufts of leaves at 
the ends, and the wood is tough but not du¬ 
rable. Hubs of wheels are made of the tim¬ 
ber. The tree has been introduced in Europe 
for ornamentation. 

BLACK HAWK, a celebrated chief of the 
Sac and Fox Indians, born in Kaskaskia, Ill., 
in 1767; died in camp on the Des Moines River, 
in Iowa, Oct. 3, 1838. At an early age he 
became a successful chief against the Chero¬ 
kee and Osage tribes, and was promoted to 
grand chieftain of the Sacs in 1788. In 1804 
the Sacs and Foxes agreed to cede to the 
United States lands extending along the Mis¬ 
sissippi River for an annuity of $2,000, the 
treaty being signed while he was absent, and 
he accordingly repudiated it. In the War of 
1812 he joined the British army with 500 war¬ 
riors, but soon retired from the British service 
and was induced to sign the treaty previ¬ 
ously repudiated. When the Sacs and Foxes, 
under Chief Keokuk, removed beyond the Mis¬ 
sissippi in 1823, Blackhawk, with a part of the 
tribe, refused to emigrate. Accordingly, he 
attacked the white settlers and was defeated 
by General Gaines at the head of a force of 
militia in 1831, and the next year was taken 
prisoner and confined in Fortress Monroe. 
Keokuk was elected by the Sacs and Foxes 
as grand chief to succeed Blackhawk, who 
was deposed after being taken to prison, from 
which he was released in 1833. Blackhawk was 
one of the most famous Indian chiefs of 
America. His history was published in 1834 
by J. B. Patterson. 

BLACKHEATH (blak'heth), a village and 
commons of seventy acres in Kent County, 
England, about seven miles from London. It 
is a favorite resort for pleasure parties, and is 
famous in history on account of insurrection¬ 
ary gatherings. Among these are the gather¬ 
ings of Wat Tyler, Jack Cade, and the Cor- 
nishmen. In 1011 it served as the camping 
ground of the Danes. Henry V. was welcomed 
on the Blackheath by the people of London, 
and the army of the Restoration was met in 
the vicinity by Charles II. while on his way 
from Dover. It is also famous as the scene 
of exploits of various highwaymen. 

BLACK HILLS, a mountain group in the 
southwestern part of South Dakota and the 
northeastern part of Wyoming, which is 
crossed by the boundary line between these two 
states. It is about 100 miles long and 60 mile? 
wide. Harney Peak, in South Dakota, rises 
7,216 feet above the sea level and is the high¬ 
est elevation. The region of the Black Hills 
was one of the best hunting grounds for the 
Indians, and was purchased of them in 1876. 
Agriculture is carried on in some districts 
under a system of irrigation, but in others the 


20 


BLACK HOLE 


306 


BLACK SEA 


rainfall is sufficient to mature crops without 
artificial watering. Large portions of the Black 
Hills are covered with an abundance of tim¬ 
ber, consisting largely of pine forests. The dis¬ 
trict is exceeding rich in thermal and mineral 
springs, which have been improved and now 
form favorite pleasure and health resorts. Min¬ 
ing is the chief industry and is carried on very 
extensively, producing lead, tin, gold, silver, 
copper, iron, limestone, and other minerals. 
The annual production aggregates many mil¬ 
lions of dollars. Gold is the most important 
product, aggregating about $3,800,000 annually. 
The district contains a number of growing 
cities, among them Deadwood, Hot Springs, 
Lead City, and Rapid City. 

BLACK HOLE, or Black Hole of Cal¬ 
cutta, a prison dungeon in the old fort of 
Calcutta, India, about twenty feet square, in 
which 146 men were confined by Surajah Dow- 
lah on June 20, 1756, of whom all but 23 suffo¬ 
cated. A monument fifty feet high has been 
erected to commemorate their memory. 

BLACKIE (blak'i), John Stuart, educator 
and author, born in Glasgow, Scotland, in 1809; 
died March 2, 1885. He studied at the univer¬ 
sities of Aberdeen and Edinburgh, and subse¬ 
quently at Berlin and Rome. In 1834 he was 
admitted to the bar, but soon gave up the prac¬ 
tice of that profession for a literary career. 
He translated Goethe’s “Faust” and contrib¬ 
uted to numerous periodicals, and in 1852 be¬ 
came professor of Greek in the University of 
Edinburgh. During his work at this institution 
he effected many reforms and was instrumental 
in securing an endowment for a department of 
Celtic instruction. His chief works include 
“The Iliad of Homer,” “Life of Burns,” "Self- 
Culture,” “Four Phases of Morals,” “Songs of 
the Highlands and Islands,” and a translation 
of “War Songs of the Germans.” 

BLACKING, a preparation used to blacken 
leather. Numerous recipes for making black¬ 
ing are in use, most of which are made of 
bone black with a small quantity of sugar, oil, 
and sulphuric acid. In some recipes the bone 
black has been displaced by lamp black or ivory 
black. Blacking intended for boots and shoes 
is usually put up in boxes as a paste, in which 
form it is applied with a brush, but some kinds 
are in the liquid form. 

BLACKLIST, a list kept by business men on 
which the names of defaulters and delinquents 
are recorded, and by industrial societies to des¬ 
ignate persons as untrustworthy. Such lists 
are prepared to warn others. Blacklisting has 
been included among the statutory crimes in 
some countries. 

BLACKMAIL, a certain tribute levied, in 
early history, in the north of England and 
Scotland by robbers in consideration of which 
they promised protection from their attacks. 
The term is now used to designate the efforts 
made to secure hush money, or extort a valua¬ 


ble consideration by threats of public accusa¬ 
tion, censure, or exposure. 

BLACKMORE (blak'mor), Richard Dod¬ 
dridge, novelist, born at Longworth, England, in 
1825; died Jan. 20, 1900. His education was 
obtained at Tiverton and in Exeter College, 
Oxford. He was admitted to the bar in 1852 
and began the practice of law as conveyancer, 
but devoted much research to literature. His 
“Lorna Doone” is one of the most popular 
English romances and has gone through many 
editions. Among his other noteworthy works 
are the translation of Virgil’s “Georgies,” and 
the novels “Maid of Sker,” “Tommy Upmore,” 
“Alice Lorraine,” “Mary Anerley,” and “Tale of 
the South Downs.” 

BLACK MOUNTAINS, a group of moun¬ 
tains in North Carolina, belonging to the Ap¬ 
palachian system. Mitchell’s Peak, its highest 
summit, is the loftiest mountain east of the 
Mississippi River; height, 6,710 feet. It was 
named in honor of Dr. E. Mitchell, of the 
University of North Carolina, who died here 
while making an exploring tour. Other high 
peaks include Clingman’s Peak, 6,700 feet, and 
Guyot’s Peak, 6,660 feet. 

BLACK PRINCE. See Edward III. 

BLACK SEA, a large inland sea located 
south and west of Russia, north of Asia Minor, 
and east of the Balkan states. It has a super¬ 
ficial area of 173,000 square miles; its greatest 
depth is 6,420 feet, and its mean depth about 
2,472 feet. The surface, including the Sea of 
Azof, is about 175,000 square miles, or more 
than five times larger than Lake Superior. It 
receives the water of the Dnieper, Dniester, 
and Danube from Europe, and of the Sakaria 
and Kizil Irmak from Asia, while the outflow 
of the Don reaches it through the Sea of Azof. 
Its waters are less salty than those of the Med¬ 
iterranean and not so clear, owing to the large 
inflow from these rivers. It is the site of an 
important commerce, largely because of its 
connection with the Mediterranean by the Sea 
of Marmora and the Bosphorus, and many nav¬ 
igable rivers and canals that are tributary to it. 
In the summer season the surface is at rest 
and secure for steamboat and ship navigation, 
but in winter fierce and dangerous storms sweep 
over it. However, this disadvantage is com¬ 
pensated for in part by its shores and interior 
being free from rocks and shallows. Oceanic 
currents are wanting, but the inflowing rivers 
cause a very similar effect upon its waters. The 
most important ports include Samsun, Batum, 
Trebizond, Sinope, Kherson, Odessa, Sebasto¬ 
pol, and Varna. It yields fish in large quanti¬ 
ties. Subsequent to the Turkish conquest of 
Constantinople it remained under the exclusive 
control of the Turks until 1774, when joint 
control was ceded to Russia, and later the 
same, rights were granted to Austria, Great 
Britain, and France. At present the waters are 
open to the commerce of all nations. In ancient 


BLACK SNAKE 


307 


BLADDERWORT 


times the Black Sea was known as Pontus Euxi- 
nus. On its eastern shore was Colchis, the 
goal of the Argonautic expedition. 

BLACK SNAKE, or Blue Racer, a large 
snake widely distributed over North America, 
but most abundant east of the Mississippi 
River. The eyes are large, the head is oval 
and long, the nostrils lateral, and the body 
is slender. It attains a length of nine feet, is 
not poisonous, and lives on birds and small 
quadrupeds. It is especially fond of rats. The 
Australian black snake is closely allied to the 
cobra and is very poisonous. 

BLACKSTONE (blak'ston), a town of 
Massachusetts, in Worcester County, on the 
Blackstone River, and on the New York, New 
Haven and Hartford Railroad. It is about 
two miles northwest of Woonsocket, R. I., and 
has electric railway conveniences. The manu¬ 
factures embrace cotton and woolen goods, 
rubber shoes, and machinery. A public library 
and several schools and churches are among 
the chief buildings. It has a brisk trade in 
merchandise and fruit. The first settlement 
was made on its site about 1700 and it was so 
named from William Blackstone, who was the 
first settler at Boston. Population, 1920, 4,299. 

BLACKSTONE, Sir William, distinguished 
jurist, born in London, England, July 10, 1723; 
died Feb. 14, 1780. He was the son of a silk 
merchant and was sent by his uncle to Oxford, 
where he received a liberal education. He 
became a successful lawyer, and in 1753 deliv¬ 
ered a course of lectures on English law at 
Oxford. In 1758 he was appointed a pro¬ 
fessor of law at that university, subsequently 
held the office of counsel to George III., and 
later was solicitor general to the queen. He 
published four volumes of his law lectures de¬ 
livered at Oxford that constitute his celebrated 
“Commentaries on the Law of England.” This 
work has gone through many editions and trans¬ 
lations, and acquired a high reputation as a text 
among students of law. 

BLACKWELL (blak'wel), Antoinette 
Louisa Brown, advocate of woman’s suffrage, 
born at Henrietta, N. Y., May 20, 1825. Her 
education was received at Oberlin, but she was 
refused a license to preach. In 1853 she began 
to preach by invitation, and later was ordained 
as a pastor of the Congregational Church at 
South Butler. Subsequently she became a 
Unitarian and gained eminence as an advocate 
of woman’s suffrage. Among her numerous 
works are “The Shadows of Our Social Sys¬ 
tem,” “The Sexes Throughout Nature,” “The 
Market Woman,” and “The Physical Basis of 
Immortality.” She died Nov. 5, 1921. 

BLACKWELL, Elizabeth, doctor of medi¬ 
cine, born in Bristol, England, Feb. 3, 1821. 
She came to the United States when young, 
graduated from the college at Geneva, N. Y., 
in 1849, and was the first woman admitted to 
the practice of medicine in the United States. 


She founded the New York Infirmary for 
Women and Children, in 1853, and the Women’s 
Medical College of the New York Infirmary, in 
1868. She attained much success in the prac¬ 
tice of medicine. In 1859 she made an extended 
visit to Europe, and while there delivered a 
series of lectures in the Woman’s Medical 
School, London, which were highly compli¬ 
mented. She wrote several works of impor¬ 
tance on medicine and social questions. Her 
“Law of Life” is well known. She died Tune 1,1910. 

BLACKWELL’S ISLAND, a narrow and 
rocky island of New York, so named from its 
former owner, located in the East River, and 
now a part of New York City. It has an area 
of 120 acres. On it are situated a number of 
public institutions of different kinds, including 
a penitentiary, a charity and fever hospital, and 
several work and alms houses. A lighthouse 
about sixty feet above the sea is located at its 
northern end. 

BLACKWOOD (blak'wood), William, 
publisher, born in Edinburgh, Scotland, Nov. 
20, 1776; died Sept. 16, 1834. He became a 
bookseller at Glasgow in 1804, and subsequently 
founded bookstores in London and Edinburgh. 
In 1817 he began publishing Blackwood’s Mag¬ 
azine and by hard work made it a success. 
Among the contributors to this publication 
were J. G. Lockhart, Scott, and De Quincy. 
Politically, the publication supported the poli¬ 
cies of the Tories. The business management 
of the publishing house passed to his sons after 
his death. This establishment has been greatly 
enlarged. 

BLADDER. See Kidneys. 

BLADDER NUT (blad'der nut), the name 
of several plants native to North America and 
Eurasia. They are so called from the fruit, 
which is an inflated bladder, and within are a 
number of hard seeds. In some localities the 
bladder nut is planted as an ornamental tree, 
and the seeds are used in medicine as a mild 
aperient. 

BLADDERWORT, a genus of aquatic 
plants found in the marshes and lakes of most 
countries. In the tropics they grow luxuriantly, 
and their flowers, like those of water lilies, 
adorn the surface of ponds and other shallow 
bodies of water. Australia is exceptionally 
rich in plants of this kind and they grow 
abundantly in Great Britain and the United 
States. Most of the Canadian varieties have 
yellow flowers, and those of the United States 
have blossoms of violet, yellow, or purple. 
Little bladders or vesicles on the leaves and 
stems become filled with air about flowering 
time, causing those parts to be held above the 
surface, where the flowers expand, and after¬ 
ward the air escapes and the plant sinks to the 
bottom, where the seeds ripen. In some species 
the bladders hold moisture after the air es¬ 
capes, and the plant is kept fresh and alive even 
if the water in the pool or marsh sinks away. 


BLADENSBURG 


308 


BLAIR 


BLADENSBURG, a village of Maryland, 
in Prince George County, six miles northeast 
of Washington, D. C. It is on a branch of the 
Potomac River, and is noted for a battle 
fought here Aug. 24, 1814, between the British 
under General Ross and a force of American 
militia under General Winder, in which the 
British were successfid and shortly after cap¬ 
tured Washington. Population 1920, 460. 

BLAINE (blan), James Gillespie, states¬ 
man, born at West Brownsville, Penn., Jan. 
31, 1830; died in Washington, D. C., Jan. 27, 





1893. He was of 
Scotch-Irish par¬ 
entage, showed 
mental skill in his 
studies at an early 
age, and graduated 
from Washington 
College when only 
seventeen years 
old. He became a 
teacher at the mil¬ 
itary institution at 
Blue Lick Springs, 
Ky., studied law, 

and later was a 
JAMES GILLESPIE BLAINE. teacher the j n _ 

stitution for the Blind at Philadelphia. In 
1854 he removed to Augusta, Me., and pub¬ 
lished the Kennebec Journal and later the 
Portland Advertiser. In 1858 he was elected 
to the State Legislature and four years later 
to the national House of Representatives, in 
which he served consecutively until 1876, when 
he became a member of the United States Sen¬ 
ate. His efficient and prominent career in 
Congress brought him forward as a Republi¬ 
can candidate for President in 1876, when he 
lacked only 28 votes of securing the nomina¬ 
tion. His name was presented to the conven¬ 
tion in a masterly address by Robert G. Inger- 
soll, who termed him The Plumed Knight, by 
which name he was commonly known. 

Blaine was a candidate for President a sec¬ 
ond time in the Republican convention of 1880, 
when he received 284 votes, but the nomination 
was given to James A. Garfield. Pie became 
Secretary of State under President Garfield 
and remained in the Cabinet until the death 
of the latter, when he retired from active serv¬ 
ice to write the first volume of his famous his¬ 
torical work, “Twenty Years of Congress.” In 
1884 he was nominated as the Republican can¬ 
didate for President, but was defeated by 
Grover Cleveland. He failed of election largely 
on account of support in the State of New 
York, which he lost by 1,047 votes, out of a 
total of 1,200,000. Subsequently he spent four 
years in foreign travel and in writing the sec¬ 
ond volume of his book. In 1888 he declined 
to be a candidate for President, and after the 
election of President Harrison was chosen Sec¬ 
retary of State, which position he filled with 


eminent ability. In 1892 he again became a 
candidate for President, but was defeated for 
the nomination in the convention held at Min¬ 
neapolis. 

The life of Blaine stands before the Ameri¬ 
can people as one of the most eminent in states¬ 
manship and devotion to public duty. He was 
a warm friend of education, father of the 
Fourteenth amendment to the Constitution, and 
an opponent to the doctrine of perpetual alli¬ 
ance with Great Britain. He advocated and 
afterward presided over the Pan-American Con¬ 
gress, and was the most eminent advocate of 
the doctrine of reciprocity in trade with for¬ 
eign nations, especially as it affected Germany, 
Spain, and the republics of South America. 

BLAIR (blar), Francis Preston, statesman 
and soldier, born at Lexington, Ky., Feb. 19, 
1821; died July 8, 1875. He was a son of 
Francis Preston Blair (1791-1876), graduated 
at Princeton, and began the practice of law 
in Saint Louis in 1843. He served as a private 
in the Mexican War, and subsequently edited 
the Missouri Democrat. In 1852-56 he was a 
member of the Legislature in Missouri, and in 
the latter year supported the Republican party 
and was elected to Congress. He was reelected 
in 1860 and 1862, but joined the Federal army 
and did much to keep Kentucky and Missouri 
in possession of the Federals. In 1862 he was 
raised to the rank of major general. At Look¬ 
out Mountain and Missionary Ridge he ren¬ 
dered valuable service, and subsequently ac¬ 
companied Sherman on his march to the sea. 
Being dissatisfied with the policy of reconstruc¬ 
tion, he joined the Democrat party and was 
nominated for Vice President in 1868 on the 
ticket with Horatio Seymour. In 1871 he was 
elected as a Democrat to the United States 
Senate to fill a vacancy, and retired from pub¬ 
lic service in 1873. 

BLAIR, Francis Preston, statesman, born 
in Abingdon, Va., April 12, 1791; died Oct. 18, 
1876. He became interested in politics at an 
early age and supported Henry Clay as a Whig 
candidate for president. In 1829 he founded 
The Globe, a newspaper important as a Demo- „ 
cratic organ, of which he remained publisher 
until 1845. In 1856 he promoted the organiza¬ 
tion of the Republican party, presided over the 
convention which nominated Fremont, and ad¬ 
vocated the election of Lincoln. He was influ¬ 
ential in promoting the peace conference at 
Hampton Roads in 1865, and subsequently op¬ 
posed the reconstruction measures of the Re¬ 
publican party. 

BLAIR, Henry William, lawyer and states¬ 
man, born in Campton, N. H., Dec. 6, 1834. He 
was admitted to the bar in 1859, entered the 
Federal army, and served during the Civil War 
and was twice wounded. In 1866-68 he was a 
member of the Legislature, served in Congress 
in 1875-79 and in 1893-95, and was a member of 
the United States Senate in 1879-91. He was 


BLAIR 


309 


BLANC 


prominent in committee work and delivered 
noted speeches upon finance, tariff, and edu¬ 
cational questions, and advocated woman suf¬ 
frage and prohibition. After retiring from 
public service, he took up the practice of law. 
He published “The Temperance Movement.” 

BLAIR, James, educator, born in Scotland 
in 1656; died in Williamsburg, Va., Aug. 1, 
1743. He graduated at the University of Edin¬ 
burgh in 1673, became a clergyman of the 
Episcopal church, and in 1685 removed to Vir¬ 
ginia and engaged in missionary work. In 
1690 he took up the project of founding a col¬ 
lege, and, after having gathered funds, secured 
a charter to establish the William and Mary 
College, of which he was the first president. 
For some time he was a member of the coun¬ 
cil of Virginia. He published a commentary 
entitled “Sermon on the Mount.” 

BLAIR, John Insley, capitalist, born in 
Warren County, N. J., Aug. 22, 1802; died 
Dec. 2, 1899. He worked in a small store as 
a clerk while a boy and later removed to 
Blairstown and became interested in an iron 
foundry. It was due to his effort to use anthra¬ 
cite coal in manufacturing iron that the coal 
fields of Pennsylvania became generally known, 
and he constructed a railroad to transport the 
product from the mines to his works. This 
line was afterward organized as the Delaware, 
Lackawanna and Western. Subsequently he 
built many lines of railroads in Iowa and Ne¬ 
braska, and for some time was a director of 
the Union Pacific. He made generous gifts 
to Princeton College, to Grinnell College, Iowa, 
and to the Presbyterian Academy at Blairs¬ 
town, N. J. 

BLAIR, Montgomery, lawyer and states¬ 
man, born in Franklin County, Ky., May 10, 
1813; died at Silver Springs, Md., July 26, 
1883. He was the son of Francis Preston Blair 
(1791-1876), an American statesman of Vir¬ 
ginia. He received a military education at 
West Point, served in the Seminole War, and 
became Postmaster General under Lincoln. In 
the famous Dred Scott case of 1857, he was 
counsel for the slave, and is noted for his 
ability as a constitutional lawyer. After 1867 
he acted with the Democrat party, and ten years 
later wrote several articles in which he at¬ 
tacked the title of President Hayes to the Pres¬ 
idency. 

BLAKE (blak), Edward, statesman, born in 
Adelaide, Ont., Oct. 13, 1833; died Mar. 1, 1912. 
He attended University College, where he grad¬ 
uated in 1857, and was admitted to the bar. In 
1867 he was elected to the Canadian Parlia¬ 
ment as a Liberal and was Prime Minister in 
1871-72. He was Attorney General of Canada 
in 1875-77 and president of the council in 
1877-87, and in 1880 succeeded Mr. Mackenzie 
as leader of the Liberals. Being in sympathy 
with the move for home rule in Ireland, he 
was elected to the British Parliament in 1892 


from South Longford, Ireland, and in 1896 
Lecame a member of the privy council. 

BLAKE, Robert, celebrated admiral, born 
at Bridgewater, England, in 1599; died Aug. 
17, 1657. He enlisted in the cause of Cromwell, 
in which he distinguished himself by defend¬ 
ing Taunton against the royalists, and in 1649 
built up a fleet with which he destroyed the 
squadron commanded by Prince Rupert. In 
1652 he began a combat against the Dutch 
under Admiral Van Tromp, and by numerous 
successes established English naval supremacy. 
In 1654 he commanded successfully on the 
Mediterranean, where he gained victories over 
the fleets of Algeria and Tripoli, and in 1657 
defeated the Spanish off the Island of Teneriffe. 
To the achievements of Blake were due En¬ 
glish efficiency as a naval power, which began 
to take effect in the latter part of the 17th 
century. His defeat of the Spanish was the 
last of his successes, as he died before return¬ 
ing to Plymouth. 

BLAKE, William, engraver and poet, born 
in London, England, Nov. 28, 1757; died Aug. 
27,-1827. At an early age he showed much in¬ 
terest in drawing and verse-making, and in 
1789 published his greatest work, “Songs of 
Innocence.” This was followed in 1794 by 
“Songs of Experience,” which he illustrated 
with about sixty remarkable, original etchings. 
Later he published others, among them “Illus¬ 
trations of the Book of Job.” He died in utter 
poverty and obscurity, thinking himself a mar¬ 
tyr to the poetic art. He is now regarded one 
of the most extraordinary men of his time. 

BLANC (blan), Jean Joseph Louis, histo¬ 
rian and socialist, born at Madrid, Spain, Oct. 
29, 1811; died at Cannes, France, Dec. 6, 1882. 
After completing a common school education, 
he studied in Paris, became private tutor at 
Arras, and in 1834 returned to Paris, where he 
began writing contributions for periodicals 
devoted to socialism. In 1839 he founded the 
Reviezv of Progress, in which he published 
“Organization of Labor,” and afterward issued 
it in separate form. His work, “History of 
Ten Years,” contains, many passages that are 
unfavorable to the political prospects of the 
Orleans dynasty, and on account of this he 
was compelled to seek safety by escaping to 
London. While in exile he completed his 
famous “History of the French Revolution,” 
and made other contributions to political and his¬ 
torical literature. On the fall of the empire he 
returned to France, where he was chosen a 
member of the national assembly in 1871. Five 
years later he was elected member of the cham¬ 
ber of deputies. His influence in socialism 
stands preeminent as a powerful factor in 
French history. 

BLANC, Marie Therese, gentlewoman of 
letters, born at Seine-Port, France, Sept. 21, 
1840. She rose to eminence in French litera¬ 
ture by publishing romances and works devoted 


BLANC 


310 


BLAST FURNACE 


to reforms. In 1893 she visited the Columbian 
Exposition at Chicago. She is the author of a 
large number of novels and works on social 
reforms. Her best known writings include 
“Romance of a Mute,” “Tony,” “A Remorse,” 
and “The Literature and Customs of Foreign- 
ers. , 

BLANC, Mont. See Mont Blanc. 

BLAND (bland), Richard Parks, statesman, 
born in Ohio County, Kentucky, Aug. 19, 1835; 
died at Lebanon, Mo., June 15, 1899. After se¬ 
curing a common school education, he attended 
Hartford Academy, and engaged in school teach¬ 
ing in Kentucky, Missouri, and Colorado. He 
was admitted to the bar in 1860 and practiced 
law at Rolla, but in 1866 moved to Lebanon on 
a farm of 400 acres. In 1872 he was elected to 
Congress as a Democrat and served continu¬ 
ously up to the time of his death, except for the 
two years beginning in 1894, making his service 
in Congress about 25 years. He was an advo¬ 
cate of the use of both gold and silver as stan¬ 
dard money and an opponent of national banks 
from an early period in his congressional ca¬ 
reer. In 1872 he advocated an increase of the 
greenback circulation and supported the silver 
act of 1877, which required the coinage of not 
less than two million and not more than four 
million dollars of silver bullion each month into 
the standard silver dollar. This was vetoed 
by Hayes, but passed over the President’s veto. 
He was a persistent opponent of the rechar¬ 
tering of national banks, and an active advocate 
of the Mills’ Tariff Bill. At the national Dem¬ 
ocratic convention of 1896 he was placed in 
nomination for the Presidency and received 
291 votes. He was largely instrumental in 
formulating the policy of the Democratic party 
in favor of bimetallism and in opposition to 
trusts and the Philippine policy of the Repub¬ 
licans. Owing to his devotion to these prin¬ 
ciples he was .commonly called Silver Bland 
and Cedar of Lebanon. 

BLANK VERSE, a term generally applied 
to poetry without rhyme, and first adopted in 
English literature from the Italian by the Earl 
of Surrey. The classical productions of the 
Greek and Roman poets are composed in blank 
verse. It has never been popular in Spanish 
and French, but in English and German it has 
been largely followed. Bryant’s “Thanatop- 
sis” and Longfellow’s “Hiawatha” are good 
examples of productions written in blank verse. 

BLARNEY (blar'ni), a stone built in the 
wall of an old castle in the village of Blarney, 
Ireland, four miles northwest of. Cork. There 
is a tradition that the kissing of this stone will 
confer the ability to use the peculiar flattering, 
persuasive speech known as blarneying. In 
Oliver Goldsmith’s “The Vicar of Wakefield,” 
the Lady of Blarney is represented as a bad 
character. 

BLAST FURNACE (blast fur'nas), a fur¬ 
nace designed for smelting iron ore and ex¬ 


tracting from it the iron by means of a power¬ 
ful blast of air. The Egyptians are represented 
i n their early 
sculpture with a 
blowpipe to in¬ 
crease the cur¬ 
rent of burning 
fuel in furnaces, 
while the Indians 
and Oriental 
classes still use 
bellows for that 
purpose. Both 
the Germans and 
Gauls employed 
the hot blast in 
manuf acturing 
lances and spears, 
while the Ro- 
mans, during 
their invasion of 
the British Isles, 
employed iron, 
secured by smelt¬ 
ing in blast fur¬ 
naces, which is 
evidenced by cin¬ 
ders still remain¬ 
ing as a result of 
their work. How¬ 
ever, their proc¬ 
ess was so crude 
that iron was illy 
extracted from 
the ore. Large 
heaps of the ref¬ 
use matter found 
in the Forest of 
Dean furnished a 
good supply of 
ore for nearly 
300 years, which clearly demonstrates that their 
process was inefficient. The furnaces used by 
the Romans were built largely on the top of 
hills, for the purpose of obtaining the best 
possible currents of air for heating the ore 
and extracting the iron. 

Blast furnaces are used at present principally 
for smelting iron ores. They are constructed 
of solid masonry, sometimes to a height of 
over 100 feet. This construction enables util¬ 
izing an upper current of air by assisting nat¬ 
ural draft with artificial appliances, thus largely 
increasing the amount of oxygen necessary to 
a mineral under treatment. As seen in the 
illustration, the air-blast, which is propelled by 
a blowing engine, is injected into the furnace 
through the hearth by means of pipes called 
tuyeres. Immediately above the hearth are the 
boshes, forming a conical wall, the upper part 
of which forms the stack. The charges are fed 
into the furnace from above so as to keep the 
receptacle completely filled as the layers within 
melt and are removed. 



a, hearth : b b, tuyeres: c, boshes; 
stack; e, hopper for charging the 
furnace. 











































BLASTING 


311 


BLEACHING 


The process of smelting consists of pouring 
into the top, or at the mouth, of a heated fur¬ 
nace a proportional quantity of fuel, limestone, 
and ore. When the hot air is blown through a 
blast pipe it strikes the charges deposited in 
the furnace. As a result of the intense heat 
coming in contact with the charge gas is 
formed, which escapes upward, through the 
mouth, and the metallic iron, thus set free, 
drops into a lower and hotter part of the fur¬ 
nace, where it melts. On the application of 
heat the lime and earthy matter of the ore be¬ 
come united, thus forming cinder or fluid slag 
that floats on the top of the melted iron. When 
a sufficient quantity of molten matter has accu¬ 
mulated, the slag is thrown away and the iron 
cast into molds. Iron thus cast is called pig 
iron. The furnace is modified according to the 
amount of heat required for the purpose of 
melting the kind of metal smelted from ore, 
and the heat generated is governed accordingly. 
In the blast furnaces of newer construction 
the gas formed is conducted by pipes to be 
utilized in making steam or as fuel in heating 
the blast. 

In recent years material improvements have 
been made in smelting. By means of these the 
daily output of blast furnaces has been vastly 
increased and the cost of iron and steel has 
been correspondingly lightened. These improve¬ 
ments, besides increasing the output, have made 
it possible to apply a greater intensity of heat, 
thus extracting a larger per cent, of valuable 
metals from the ores and bringing the products 
to a higher degree of utility. In the production 
of Bessemer pig, by the common furnaces, it 
has become possible to produce 540 tons in a 
day. The furnaces, as well as bosh walls, have 
been made more durable by the use of carbon 
to protect the parts coming in contact with the 
intense heat required in blasting, and also by 
the use of water cooling. Improvements in 
methods of constructing lining for blast fur¬ 
naces have enabled manufacturers to produce 
400,000 tons of pig by a single lining. Besides, 
with the use of natural gas and electrical appli¬ 
ances, material saving has resulted, although 
coke, anthracite, and charcoal furnaces are still 
generally used. Owing to recent and numerous 
improvements in machinery, it is likely that 
these materials will always continue to serve 
for smelting purposes to the best advantage, 
with possible exceptions in districts favorably 
located to natural gas and petroleum deposits. 

BLASTING the process of disintegrating 
portions of rock, or other solid substances, by 
means of an air explosive agent, such as powder 
or dynamite. It is resorted to in mining, tun¬ 
neling, and quarrying. The usual plan is to bore 
holes in the rock to be blasted, placing into them 
the explosive and tamping the hole with clay, 
sand, or broken stone, and then firing the charge 
by a time fuse or an electric spark. The dis¬ 
covery of new explosives and the invention of 


machinery useful in boring and firing have ena¬ 
bled rapid advancement in the art. Dynamite 
and gun cotton are used where rapid destruc¬ 
tion is desired, but where a moderate cleaving 
or splitting effect is needed, as in blasting for 
building purposes, powder is superior. Rock¬ 
boring machines have been largely substituted 
for hand labor. By means of these compressed 
air is utilized to bore holes, in which the blasts 
are fired. The greatest enterprise in blasting 
ever undertaken was the removal of the Flood 
Rock at Hell Gate, New York City. This ledge 
of rock covered nearly nine acres. To effect 
the blasting about 240,000 pounds of powder, 
dynamite, and other explosives were used. The 
rocks broken up weighed millions of tons. 

BLAUVELT (blu'velt), Lillian Evans, 
singer and actress, born in Brooklyn, N. Y., in 
1873. She played successfully as a violinist 
when eight years old, and subsequently studied 
voice culture in Paris for three years. In 1888 
she made her debut in Brussels, taking the im¬ 
portant roles in “Faust” and “Romeo and 
Juliet.” She was compelled to leave the stage 
as the result of hard study and exertion, but 
soon came back and took up concert and ora¬ 
torio. In 1898 she toured the leading cities 
of Great Britain, and for several seasons sung 
successfully in Canada and the United States. 
She toured Germany, Switzerland, France, and 
other countries of Europe and was everywhere 
greeted with warm applause. 

BLAVATSKY (bla-vats'ke), Helena Petro- 
vina, theosophist, born in Ekaterinoslav, Russia, 
in 1831; died May 8, 1891. She traveled exten¬ 
sively in Europe and Asia, and devoted much 
time to a study of Buddhism and spiritualism. 
In 1870 she visited Egypt and subsequently 
traveled in England and America. She founded 
the Theosophical Society in New York City, 
and later published with Annie Besant a maga¬ 
zine called Lucifer, which appeared regularly 
in London until her death. For some time she 
was in wide repute as a worker in occult science 
and spiritism, but she lost prestige when it 
was shown that some of her pretentions were 
impostures. She wrote “The Voice of Silence,” 
“Isis Unveiled,” and “The Secret Doctrine.” 

BLEACHING (blech'ing), the art of render¬ 
ing materials perfectly white or nearly so. The 
ancient methods of bleaching consisted of ex¬ 
posing the fabrics to the action of the sun. 
The fabrics were laid out and frequently wet¬ 
ted, and, after remaining exposed to the actinic 
rays of the sun, they became greatly whitened. 
A class of fine fabrics are known as lawns 
from the methods of bleaching them by spread¬ 
ing the goods on plots of grass. Likewise, the 
best grade of linens are known as Hollands, 
since the Dutch excelled in bleaching that class 
of fabrics. The present process consists of 
employing bleaching agents, as diluted sulphu¬ 
ric acid or chloride of lime. Some fabrics are 
bleached by alternately dipping them into a 


BLENDE 


312 


BLIND 


bleaching powder made of chloride of lime and 
sulphuric acid. The process is modified in ac¬ 
cordance with the material bleached; calico, 
silk, wool, linen, and various other fabrics re¬ 
quire a greater or less dilution of the chemicals 
and a varied number of dippings. Bleaching is 
practiced to a considerable extent in treating 
paper, ivory, oils, and wax, which are greatly 
enhanced in value by whitening. 

BLENDE (blend), or Sphalerite, the native 
sulphide of zinc, from which zinc is obtained. 
It occurs both massive and chrystallized, either 
in primary or secondary rocks, and is yellow 
or brownish in color. Deposits occur in many 
parts of the United States and Canada. It is 
especially abundant in Missouri, Illinois, and 
Wisconsin. At Cornwall, England, it is found 
with lead ores and is worked for the zinc and 
sulphur, the latter being used in making sul¬ 
phuric acid. The best grade contains about 
thirty per cent, of sulphur and sixty-five of zinc. 

BLENHEIM (blen'im), a village in Bava¬ 
ria, Germany, about 23 miles northwest of 
Augsburg, on the Danube River. It is noted for 
the great battle fought here on Aug. 13, 1704, 
in which the allied forces of England and Ger¬ 
many gained a complete victory over the Ba¬ 
varians and French. Each of the contending 
armies consisted of about 53,000 soldiers. The 
former were commanded by Prince Eugene 
and the Duke of Marlborough and the latter 
by Prince Rupert and Marshal Tallard. The 
defeated army lost 12,000 in killed and 14,000 
prisoners, while the remainder retreated in dis¬ 
order. The present Duke of Marlborough, 
Count of Blenheim, married the daughter of 
W. K. Vanderbilt, of New York City. In 1800 
the French defeated the Austrians near Blen¬ 
heim. The village has a population of 825. 

BLENNERHASSETT (blen-ner-has'set), 
Harman, an accomplice of Aaron Burr, born in 
Hampshire, England, Oct. 8, 1764. He was 
educated at Westminster School, London, and 
Trinity College, Dublin, and in 1790 received 
the degrees of B. A. and LL. B. Becoming 
dissatisfied with his Irish estates, he sold them 
and came to America with about $100,000. In 
1798 he bought Backus Island, an island in the 
Ohio River near Parkersburg, W. Va., contain¬ 
ing about 170 acres. On this he built a beauti¬ 
ful mansion and adorned it with works of art, 
a library, and scientific appliances. His home 
was enjoyed by many visitors, among them 
Aaron Burr, who was bitter on account of 
political disappointments. He became interested 
in Burr’s scheme to form an empire in the 
southwestern part of North America and con¬ 
tributed considerable money for arms, boats, 
and equipments with which to begin the enter¬ 
prise. About this time President Jefferson 
issued a proclamation against the scheme, and. 
fearing arrest, Blennerhassett left the island 
and joined Burr at the mouth of the Cumber¬ 
land River. Subsequently he was arrested, but 


was acquitted by the government. His fine 
mansion was used as a storehouse and after¬ 
ward destroyed by fire. Later he bought 1,000 
acres of cotton land in Mississippi and became 
a planter, but it proved an unsuccessful invest¬ 
ment. In 1819 he removed to Montreal where 
he endeavored to acquire a legal practice, but 
failed. He sailed to Ireland in 1822, where he 
failed in earning a livelihood, and died Feb. 1, 
1831, in complete obscurity on the island of 
Guernsey. 

BLESSINGTON (bles'ing-tun), Margue¬ 
rite, Countess of, author and society leader, 
born near Clonmel, Ireland, Sept. 1, 1789; died 
June 4, 1849. She was a daughter of Edmund 
Power and when 15 years of age married Cap¬ 
tain Farmer, and shortly after his death became 
the wife of the Earl of Blessington. In 1818 she 
made an extended tour of Europe and subse¬ 
quently lived in Gore House, London, where 
she gathered about her a number of prominent 
men and women. When Louis Napoleon be¬ 
came King of France, she removed to Paris 
and engaged in literary work. Her chief writ¬ 
ings are “The Idler in France” and “Conver¬ 
sations with Lord Byron.” 

BLIND, the state of being deprived of the 
sense of sight. Blindness is most prevalent in 
the tropical regions, and least common in the 
temperate. It is more general in the Eastern 
Continent than in the Western. A very small 
number of children are born blind, although 
there are hereditary tendencies more or less 
prevalent. By far the greater number of cases 
result from accident, smallpox, or diseases of 
the eye, such as inflammation, cataract, or 
defect of the optic nerve. Old age is frequently 
accompanied by blindness, owing to a drying of 
the lachrymal canal and humor of the eye, or 
to an impairment of the crystalline lens or 
other vital organs. Frequently some slight de¬ 
formity of the parts of the eye or its sur¬ 
rounding lead to a loss of sight. Blindness is 
generally attended by an increased vitality of 
the other senses, thus in part compensating for 
the loss of the visual faculty. 

Asylums for the blind were established in 
Germany and France as early as 1260, the 
prime object being to relieve the Crusaders 
who had lost their sight in the East. Sub¬ 
sequently asylums of this character were estab¬ 
lished and are at present supported in all civil¬ 
ized countries. In the United States a large 
number of institutions are maintained, both 
for adult and minor blind, by the several states 
under a system of general taxation. Among 
a number of such schools in Canada may be 
mentioned the Ontario Institution for the Blind 
at Brantford. In these institutions the indus¬ 
trial arts are taught successfully, usually with 
a view to aid in making the students self-sup¬ 
porting. The courses of study generally include 
all the common and high school branches and 
industrial arts, such as knitting, sewing, weav- 


BLIND 


313 


BLOCKADE 


ing, rope making, broom making, and divers 
household duties. 

Many systems of alphabets for the blind 
have been invented and are now in successful 
use. The print consists of characters raised 
above the surface of the paper and is read by 
means of passing the fingers over the characters, 
thus determining their signification by means of 
the sense of touch. The text-books used are 
made on this plan both for teaching and for 
general reading. Another method of teaching 
is by what is known as the point system. It 
consists of a number of dots instead of the 
letters of the alphabet, and has largely super¬ 
seded all other systems for teaching both read¬ 
ing and writing. In writing the blind use a 
dotted or grooved appliance over which they lay 
paper and with a style dot on the surface. 
Raised characters then appear on the under¬ 
side, the meaning of which can be determined 
by passing the fingers over the lines. 

Books for the blind have been published on 
a very large scale, including works on the 
sciences, novels, romances, poetry, large por¬ 
tions of the Scriptures, and many other valuable 
literary productions. The system of writing 
used by the blind has been so perfected that by 
means of texts, and skill in determining the 
different characters, it is possible for those 
who have lost their sight to become quite as 
well trained as the more fortunate who have 
full use of the eye. Among the publications 
for the blind recently produced in large num¬ 
bers are ‘‘Practical System of Tangible Music 
Notation” and “International Sunday School 
Lessons for the Blind.” The Congressional 
Library at Washington, D. C., contains about 
100,000 books and has a special reading room 
for the blind. 

BLIND (blint), Karl, agitator and writer, 
born in Mannheim, Germany, Sept. 4, 1826; 
died May 21, 1907. He studied at the univer¬ 
sities of Heidelberg and Bonn, and in 1848 
participated in a revolutionary movement in 
Baden. The following year he took part in 
an insurrection in southern Germany and was 
sentenced to imprisonment for eight years. He 
was made envoy to Paris shortly after his 
release, which was brought about by the people 
of Carlsruhe, but was expelled from France 
and finally settled in London. He is the author 
of many works relating to government and 
revolutionary movements. He supported the 
Polish rising in 1853 against Russia, the Amer¬ 
ican Union cause against the Confederacy, the 
German cause in the French War of 1870-71, 
the Italian cause against the Papacy, and the 
Russian movement for freedom. 

BLIND FISH, a class of fish common to the 
waters of eaves. These fish have rudimentary 
eyes covered with skin, but are totally destitute 
of sight, and the body is covered with small 
sensitive projections, or papillae, which serve 
as organs of touch and partly compensate for 


the absence of vision. Like all other cave 
animals, they are colorless or pale. The body 
ranges in length from three to five inches and 
has fully developed fins, enabling the fish to 
move about with facility. They feed upon 
small insects and crustaceans common to caves. 
Many species are found in the Mammoth Cave 
of Kentucky (q. v.), in the cave of Cacahua- 
milpa, Mexico, and the caves of New Zealand. 

BLISS, Cornelius Newton, merchant and 
statesman, born at Fall River, Mass., Jan. 26, 
1833. He acquired a business education in a 
commercial house in Boston. In 1897 he entered 
McKinley’s Cabinet as Secretary of the Interior, 
which position he resigned the following year. 
He died Oct. 9, 1911. 

BLISS, Philip Paul, evangelist, born in 
Clearfield, Pa., July 9, 1838 ; died Dec. 29, 1876. 
In company with D. L. Moody he visited many 
sections of the United States and Canada and 
exerted a wide influence in religious gatherings. 
His songs include “Pull for the Shore,” “Hold 
the Fort,” “Hallelujah! ’Tis Done,” and “Down 
Life’s Dark Vale We Wander.” 

BLISS, Tasker Howard, army officer, born 
at Lewisburg, Pa., Dec. 31, 1853. He studied at 
Lewisburg and West Point; served in the army 
from 1875 until 1892, and in 1897 became an 
attache of the United States legation to Spain. 
At the beginning of the Spanish-American War, 
in 1898, he was recalled and served as chief of 
staff to General Wilson in Porto Rico. In 1917- 
1918 he served on the inter-allied war council in 
France, with the rank of general, and subse¬ 
quently was one of the five American peace 
comissioners. 

BLISTER (blis'ter), a vesicle of the skin, 
either the result of an injury or of certain med¬ 
ical applications, and filled with a collection of 
serus fluid. The term is applied to various 
compounds and applications employed in medi¬ 
cine, such as the Spanish fly blister. They are 
used in the treatment of ulcers and tumors, and 
for the relief of muscular pain. Among the 
common blisters, besides Spanish fly, croton oil, 
mustard, ammonia, and others are used. 

BLIZZARD (bliz'zerd), a fierce storm at¬ 
tended with falling or driven snow and a low 
temperature. Blizzards are common in the 
north central part of North America, especially 
in the great central plain of Canada and the 
northern portion of the Mississippi valley, where 
the thermometer frequently falls as low as 
from 10° to 50° below zero in the colder part 
of winter. The movement of the wind is 
usually from the northwest and storms fre¬ 
quently extend as far south as the Ohio River. 

BLOCK. See Pulley. 

BLOCKADE (blok-ad'), the act of closing 
all trade with certain seaports or the coasts of 
an enemy. It was the ancient practice of bel¬ 
ligerents at the beginning of hostilities to for¬ 
bid by proclamation all trade of neutral nations 
with the enemy, and to treat as enemies those 


BLOCKHOUSE 


314 


BLOOD 


who did not act in compliance with the procla¬ 
mation. Since the 17th century it is required 
by the law of nations, to announce a blockade 
so neutrals may have notice of it, and any 
attempt on the part of a neutral merchant to 
ship supplies to the infested ports is regarded 
a direct interference with the operations of the 
war, and his vessels and cargoes are liable to 
confiscation if captured. It is now the general 
practice to refer the questions involved in the 
violation of blockades to prize courts for ad¬ 
judication, and where the cargo does not 
belong to the owner of the ship it is released, 
provided the owners of the cargo had no 
knowledge of the blockade at the time the 
shipment was started, but the ship is subject 
to confiscation by the captors. The term block¬ 
ade is sometimes used to describe the condition 
of a city surrounded by the enemy and with 
which all outside communication has been cut 
off, but siege is the more common word em¬ 
ployed to describe this condition. 

BLOCKHOUSE, a kind of fort used in 
early times as a means of protection against 
an enemy. It was constructed of timber, usually 
of heavy logs or blocks, and had openings for 
musketry on all sides to enable firing upon 
those making an attack. Originally it was built 
of one story, but later an upper story was 
constructed to overhang the lower and in the 
overhanging floors were holes to permit firing 
upon an enemy who might attempt to gain 
entrance or set the structure on fire. Block¬ 
houses were used extensively in the early set¬ 
tlement of America, when timber was plentiful 
and attacks by artillery were not to be feared. 

BLOCK SYSTEM, a system used in traffic 
on railroads by which signals are given so two 
trains on a single track may be kept a certain 
distance apart. The system owes its origin to 
Sir Charles Gregory of England, in 1841. It 
is now used by ninety-eight per cent of the 
double-track lines of England and most coun¬ 
tries of Europe. In recent years all the great 
trunk lines of America adopted the block signal¬ 
ing system. It is in general use, not only on 
double-track railways, but by * the principal 
single-track lines. By means of it the loss of 
property and human life is largely overcome. 

BLOEMFONTEIN (bloom'fon-tin), a city 
in South Africa, capital of Orange River 
Colony, 95 miles east of Kimberley. It is located 
on a plateau about 4,500 feet above the sea, on 
the Modder River, and is surrounded by a 
fertile region. Among the chief buildings are 
several schools, the Dutch Reformed church, 
the Anglican cathedral, the public library, and 
the government building. It is the seat of a 
hospital, an asylum for the insane, and a num¬ 
ber of educational institutions. The trade is 
chiefly in wool, cereals, and merchandise, and 
the manufactures consist of utensils, machinery, 
and clothing. It has modern facilities, such as 
gas and electric lights, and is on the main line 


of the Cape-to-Cairo Railroad. At the time 
of the war between Great Britain and the 
Boer republics it was a center of hostilities, 
but in 1900 surrendered to Lord Roberts. 
Population, 1921, 26,929. 

BLONDIN (blon-dan'), Charles Emile 
Gravelet, gymnast, born at Saint Omer, France, 
Feb. 28, 1824; died Feb. 22, 1897. He came to 
America in 1852 and toured the country as an 
acrobat, and while visiting Niagara Falls con¬ 
ceived the idea of crossing the cataract on a 
rope stretched over the stream near the loca¬ 
tion of the present cantilever bridge. The 
rope was about 1,200 feet long and 160 feet 
above the water, and on Aug. 17, 1859, he per¬ 
formed the feat in the presence of 50,000 people. 
He repeated the performance in 1860 in the 
presence of the Prince of Wales. While pass¬ 
ing over the cataract, he gave various acrobatic 
performances, such as pushing a wheelbarrow 
and carrying a man on his back. Subsequently 
he returned to Europe and devoted most of 
his time to giving exhibitions at the Crystal 
Palace in London. 

BLOOD, the fluid that circulates through the 
arteries and veins of animals and is essential 
to the growth of the tissues and to the preser- 



CORPUSCLES (HIGHLY MAGNIFIED). 


A, Human Blood. B, Non-Mammal Blood. 


vation of life. In the human body it varies 
from a brownish-red to a bright red color. It 
constitutes by weight one-thirteenth of the 
body; thus, a man weighing 169 pounds has 
about thirteen pounds of blood. Under the micro¬ 
scope it appears as a pale yellowish fluid, called 
plasma, in which float a large number of discs, 
called corpuscles, some white and others red, of 
which the red are more numerous. The red 
discs are circular, with rounded edges, and 
concave on the upper and lower surfaces. These 
discs are so small that if 3,500 were placed 
side by side they would measure a linear inch, 
and about 15,000 placed one upon another 
would make a column about one inch high. It 
is estimated that about eighty-three million are 
contained in one cubic inch of blood. The size 
of the discs in human blood differs somewhat 
from that found in other animals, but it is 
uncertain whether miscroscopists can deter¬ 
mine the difference with accuracy. They have 


BLOOD 


315 


BLOOMER 


a well known tendency to collect in piles like 
rolls of coins. With every breath about twenty 
million new discs are formed in the blood and 
the old as constantly die. 

The plasma contains fibrin, a form of albu¬ 
men which resembles the white of an egg, and 
various mineral substances, including potash, 
lime, phosphorus, magnesia, and iron. In the 
blood are all the materials required for the 
growth and maintenance of ever}'- organ. It is 
rich in albumen for the muscles and mineral 
matter for the bones. The red discs are the 
air cells. They carry the essential oxygen 
necessary to every operation of life, and it is 
carried to all parts where repairs are made and 
growth takes place. It stimulates action and 
tears down worn-out parts. In serving its pur¬ 
pose the muscles and tissues are burned much 
like fuel in a stove. Made impure by this 
action, the blood is caught up by the circulation 
and carried back to the lungs, where it is puri¬ 
fied and again thrown back into the system. 
The vessels carrying the blood from the heart 
are called arteries, those carrying the blood back 
to the heart are called veins, and the two are 
connected by minute tubes about to g-oVff 

of an inch in diameter, called capillaries. 

When blood is exposed to the air, it forms 
clots; the process is called coagulation. This 
serves a useful purpose in many ways. It 
checks bleeding in ordinary cases by the fibrin 
forming a temporary plug, which is later 
absorbed when the healing process is finished. 
Transfusion is the process of restoring vigor 
in feeble persons by infusing healthy blood into 
their veins. In the 17th century it was thought 
to be the means of prolonging indefinitely 
human life. The blood of dogs and calves was 
experimented with by infusing certain quanti¬ 
ties into the circulation of human bodies. 
It was found possible to restore breathing in 
animals and in one case a maniac was restored 
to reason. The practice proved objectionable 
in many respects, was forbidden by law, and 
later fell into disuse. 

The blood of animals is an important com¬ 
modity of commerce. It is used as an article 
of food, and for making blood sausage and 
blood cake. To prepare it a pan is placed at 
the mortal wound of the animal slaughtered, 
in which it is caught and whipped rapidly, to 
gather the fibrin. The remaining parts, consist¬ 
ing of albumen and serum are the portions used 
as food. In large packing houses blood is one 
of the most important products of commerce. 
It is caught in large pans and carried to drying 
vats, where the albumen is coagulated into a 
thick mass. This mass is compressed by means 
of great hydraulic presses and sold for fertiliz¬ 
ing. It is valued at $30 to $40 per ton. Blood 
is also valuable in the manufacture of buttons 
and Japanese lacquer work. Many of the richly 
colored buttons sold in the market are made 
of blood, which has been compressed by means 


of hydraulic machines, and afterward cut in 
shape by edged instruments. 

BLOOD CIRCULATION, the movement of 
the blood in living bodies, consisting of the 
systematic and pulmonic. The blood is pro¬ 
pelled from the left ventricle, thence passes 
through the aorta and its arterial branches, and 
reaches the capillaries in all parts of the body; 
it then passes into the small veins and from 
them into the larger ones, and is carried to the 
right auricle; this is the systematic circulation. 
The pulmonic circulation consists of its passage 
from the right ventricle into the pulmonary 
artery and its branches in the lungs, thence 
flowing through the capillaries, it collects in the 
pulmonary veins, and passes from them through 
the left auricle into the left ventricle from 
which it again enters the systematic circulation. 
The heart is the cause of circulation. It is 
aided by the chest movement in breathing, the 
elastic and muscular walls of the arteries, and 
the intermittent muscular pressure on the veins. 
Harvey (q. v.), an English physician, dis¬ 
covered the circulation of the blood in 1628, 
but how the blood passes from the arteries 
to the veins was not known to him. The capil¬ 
laries and their functions were not discovered 
until three years after his death. 

BLOODHOUND, a kind of dog distin¬ 
guished for its keen scent and the persistency 
with which it follows the track of game. The 
ears are long and smooth, and both the ears 
and lips are pendulous. It is a trustworthy 
animal in the chase, and is employed to track 
escaped prisoners and suspects of recently com¬ 
mitted crimes, though its value for the latter 
purpose is not generally conceded. The Cuban, 
English, and Russian bloodhounds are among 
the best known species. 

BLOODROOT, a plant of the poppy order, 
native to many parts of North America. It 
takes its name from the sap of the root, which 
is a deep orange color, and contains the alkaloid 
sanguinaria, used in medicine as a stimulant 
and expectorant. The plant grows wild in 
many parts of Canada and the United States, 
has heart-shaped and deeply lobed leaves, and 
flowers early in the spring. 

BLOOMER (bloom'er), Amelia, dress re¬ 
former, born in Homer, N. Y., May 27, 1818; 
died Dec. 29, 1894. Her maiden name was 
Amelia Jenks and she married Dexter C. 
Bloomer in 1840. For some time she lived at 
Seneca Falls, N. Y., where she published The 
Lily, a periodical devoted to various social re¬ 
forms. She advocated woman suffrage, tem¬ 
perance, and the so-called bloomer costume. In 
1855 she removed to Council Bluffs, Iowa, 
where she resided until her death. She is not 
the originator of the costume named from her, 
but received the idea from Elizabeth Smith 
Miller and joined Lucy Stone and Elizabeth 
Cady Stanton in adopting it. This costume 
consists of a jacket with coat sleeves, a skirt 


BLOOMFIELD 


316 


BLOWING MACHINE 


, s 


extending a little below the knees, and loose 
trousers gathered in bands a little above the 
ankle. It is worn by woman gymnasts, golf 
players, bicylists, and horseback riders. 

BLOOMFIELD, (bloom'feld), a manufac¬ 
turing city of New Jersey, in Essex County, 
five miles northwest of Newark, on the Erie 
and the Lackawanna railroads. It is situated 
on the Morris Canal and has a large trade in 
merchandise and produce. The chief buildings 
include the Jarvie Library, the Westminster 
and First Presbyterian churches, and the Ger¬ 
man Theological Seminary of Newark. The 
manufactures are paper, ironware, machinery, 
textiles, cigars, and musical instruments. Many 
New York business men reside here. It was 
settled in 1675 and was incorporated in 1812. 
Population, 1905, 11,668; in 1920, 22,011. 

BLOOMFIELD-ZEISLER, Fanny, pian¬ 
ist, born in Bielitz„ Austria, July 16, 1866. In 
1868 she came to Chicago, Ill., with her parents, 
who provided for her musical instruction in 
America and at Vienna. While in Europe she 
studied under Leschetizky. She appeared in 
public as early as 1877, and in 1885 played in 
the most prominent musical centers of Europe. 
She toured England and Germany in 1898, 
France in 1902, and the leading cities of America 
in 1903 and 1905. Her eminent success easily 
won for her the distinction of being the lead¬ 
ing pianist in her time. 

BLOOMINGTON, county seat of McLean 
County, Illinois, 125 miles southwest of Chi¬ 
cago, on the Illinois Central, the Chicago and 
Alton, and other railroads. It is located on the 
highest land in the State and almost in the 
geographical center. It is surrounded by a rich 
agricultural country. The county courthouse, 
the public library, the city hall, and the central 
high school are among the chief buildings. It 
is the seat of the Major Female College, a 
Roman Catholic academy, and the Illinois 
Wesleyan University, and at Normal, two miles 
north, are the State Normal University and 
the State Soldiers’ Home. The city has 
large railroad shops, flouring mills, a meat 
packing establishment, brickyards, foundries, 
and fruit canning interests. Waterworks, elec¬ 
tric street railways, and gas and electric light¬ 
ing are among the improvements. It was set¬ 
tled in 1831 and was incorporated in 1850. 
Population, 1900, 23,286; in 1920, 28,725. 

BLOOMINGTON, county seat of Monroe 
County, Indiana, 50 miles southwest of Indian¬ 
apolis, on the Chicago, Indianapolis and Louis¬ 
ville Railroad. The chief buildings include the 
county courthouse, the central high school, and 
the Indiana State University. Among the man¬ 
ufactures are leather goods, machinery, and 
clothing. In its vicinity are productive lime¬ 
stone quarries. The municipal improvements 
include waterworks, sewerage, and electric 
lighting It was settled in 1818. Population, 
1900, 6,460; in 1920, 11,595. 


BLOOMSBURG (bloomz'berg), a town of 
Pennsylvania, county seat of Columbia County, 
40 miles southwest of Wilkesbarre, on the 
Philadelphia and Reading, the Lackawanna, and 
other railroads. It is nicely situated on the 
Susquehanna River and the Pennsylvania Canal. 
The surrounding country has extensive iron 
mines. Among the industries are flouring mills, 
carriage works, foundries, and textile works. 
It has a State normal school, several fine 
churches, and substantial county and public 
school buildings. Population, 1920, 7,819. 

BLOWFLY (blS'fli), or Flesh Fly, a class 
of large flies, usually green or dark blue, which 
lay their eggs upon meat or dead animals. The 
eggs hatch in from 20 to 24 hours, and the young 
larva buries itself in the flesh for two weeks, 
when it transforms into the pupa stage, and de¬ 
velops into the matured blowfly about two weeks 
later. The eggs are called fly blows and are inva¬ 
riably laid on the lean meat. While in the larva 
stage the insects are known as maggots, and 
play an important part in the removal of the 
decaying carrion. However, the blowfly is some¬ 
what dangerous to living animals in that it 
lays its eggs in fresh wounds, in which ca c e 
the maggots may cause harmful effects. 

BLOWING MACHINE, a mechanical con¬ 
trivance for producing blasts of air. The ear¬ 
liest form was a bag made of skin or leather, 
from which the bellows used by blacksmiths 
was developed. Now blowing machines are 
very important in manufacturing and for vari¬ 
ous purposes, and they range from the simple 
fan blowers used in ventilation to the compli¬ 
cated piston blowing machines employed in 
driving rock drills and other machiner3 r . The 
piston blower, or Chinese bellows, has been dis¬ 
placed largely by more powerful machinery. It 
has a square chamber of wood, fitted with a 
piston, which, when drawn back, admits air 
through a valve at the end, and the air is com¬ 
pressed and forced out through a nozzle when 
the piston is moved forward. 

A modern blowing machine in which steam 
is used as a propelling force has two cylinders, 
one for steam and the other for air, usually 
set side by side, and has reached a high degree 
of perfection both in power and the efficiency 
with which it is used in different classes of 
machinery, especially in blast furnaces. An¬ 
other class is known as disk blowers, which 
consist of several blades, usually six, fastened 
to an axle much like the blades of a screw pro¬ 
peller, and a swift current of air is secured 
when the axle turns rapidly inside of a 
cylindrical casing. The propelling force is either 
steam or electricity. It is used extensively in 
securing continuous currents of air in ventilat¬ 
ing buildings, while the fan blower, which re¬ 
sembles it, is employed more generally in sup¬ 
plying air for mines. Jet blowers, in which 
steam creates a current of air in the direction 
of the escaping jet, are used to produce a draft 


* 


BLOWPIPE 


317 


BLUEBEARD 


in the smokestacks of fire engines and loco¬ 
motives. 

The trompe is a water jet blower, in which 
a current of air is created by streams or jets 
of water falling through a vertical pipe, the 
air being admitted at the top and forced by 
the falling water into an air-tight reservoir, 
from which it is piped for use, while the water 
gathers in a reservoir below and is drawn off 
through suitable openings.. It has been super¬ 
seded in most countries by newer machines. 
Recently a rcftary blower has come into exten¬ 
sive use and with it greater pressure can be 
secured than is possible with either the disk 
or fan blowers. It has two devices known as 
revolvers set on horizontal shafts, which are 
moved by gear wheels outside of the casing, 
and when set in motion the air is drawn from 
below the casing in which they revolve and 
is forced out through an opening at the top. 

BLOWPIPE, an instrument for blowing, 
used to direct the flame of a lamp, candle, or 
jet of gas against a spot on which is placed 
a body designed by the operator to be sub¬ 
jected to more than ordinary heat. While there 
are various kinds of blowpipes, the ordinary 
form consists of a conical tube of metal, open 
at the narrow end, which forms the mouthpiece, 
and closed at the lower part. From the side 
of the lower end projects a small brass tube, 
about an inch long, which serves for the pass¬ 
age of a fine current of air. When the opera¬ 
tor blows into the open end, a current of air 
passes out through the air passage and causes 
the flame to be blown into a long point, much 
hotter than the common flame, owing to a 
greater supply of oxygen. Blowpipes are of 
great antiquity; a man using one is shown in an 
ancient Egyptian painting found at Thebes. 
They are used by chemists, jewelers, and gold 
and silver smiths. 

BLUBBER (blub'ber), the fat which lies 
just beneath the skin of the whale and other 
large sea animals. In some whales it is from 
eight to ten inches thick, and under the lip 
it is sometimes three feet in thickness. A sin¬ 
gle whale often furnishes thirty tons of blub¬ 
ber, from which about twenty tons of oil are 
extracted. Blubber is eaten by the Eskimos 
and many inhabitants of the Japenese Islands. 
It is highly esteemed as a food by the natives 
because it contains elements that protect against 
severe cold. 

BLUCHER (bloo'ker) Gebhard Leberecht 
von, distinguished general, born at Rostock, 
Germany, Dec. 16, 1742; died Sept. 12, 1819. 
At the early age of fourteen he secretly entered 
the Swedish service to serve against Frederick 
II. of Prussia, but in 1760 was taken prisoner, 
and after a year’s imprisonment entered the 
German military service. He commanded the 
forces against the French in the battles on the 
Rhine in 1793-94. In 1806 he fought with great 
vigor against the French at Auerstadt and 


gained minor victories, but was later taken 
prisoner. Soon after he was exchanged for 
the French general Victor and returned to the 
Prussian ranks. After the Peace of Tilsit had 
been concluded, he reorganized the department 
of war in Berlin and Konigsberg. Subsequently 
he became commander in chief of the Russian 
and Prussian corps. In the battles of Lutzen 
and Bautzen he fought with bravery and was 
awarded the order of Saint George by Emperor 
Alexander I. of Russia. His success in the 
Battle of Katzbach, in 1813, when he defeated 
Marshal McDonald, caused Frederick William 
III. to create him Prince of Wahlstadt and to 
give him an estate in Silesia. In 1814 his army 
invaded France, and, though defeated in several 
engagements, he entered Paris in triumph. His 
service in the great campaigns of 1815 was 
especially valuable to the allied forces. On 
June 15 and 16 he was met by Napoleon at 
Ligny and defeated, but on the 18th his skillful 
attack directed against Napoleon on the rear 
and flank decided the great Battle of Waterloo, 
and caused the final defeat of Napoleon. 
Owing to his energy, indefatigable exertion, 
and rapidity of movements he was called Mar¬ 
shal Vorivarts (Forward ). He was the recipi¬ 
ent of many distinguished honors, and history 
fittingly designates him a model soldier and 
a skillful general. After the transportation of 
Napoleon to the island of Saint Helena, he 
retired to his estates of Krieblowitz, in Silesia, 
where he died. 

BLUE (blu), one of the seven colors into 
which the rays of light are divided by refrac¬ 
tion through a glass prism. The various shades 
of blue are seen in their highest perfection in 
the sea and sky, and are most brilliantly dis¬ 
played in the sapphire and the turquoise. It 
is derived for dyes, in the arts, from various 
products of the vegetable and mineral king¬ 
doms. Indigo, derived from the indigo plant, 
is the most common vegetable dye. Logwood 
blue is an extract of logwood. The minerals 
that yield blue coloring matter are very numer¬ 
ous. They include those known as aniline blue, 
cobalt blue, Prussian blue, and ultramarine. 
Cobalt blue, Berlin, and Bremen are the prin¬ 
cipal blues used in painting. 

BLUEBEARD (blu'berd), so named from 
the color of his beard, the hero of a well- 
known nursery tale. He is usually represented 
of great wealth and as the husband of a neigh¬ 
bor’s daughter, whom he left a month after 
the wedding for a long journey, leaving the 
keys of the castle with his wife, but forbid¬ 
ding her to enter one of the rooms. Her 
natural curiosity caused her to open the door, 
and to her astonishment she found the bodies 
of all of Bluebeard’s former wives. When 
Bluebeard returned, he found, by a spot of 
blood upon the key, that his wife had entered 
the forbidden room, and informed her that she 
must die. On begging for time to pray she 


BLUEBIRD 


318 


BLUEPRINT 


was granted a short respite, which she turned 
to good advantage by sending her sister Anne 
to the top of the tower and thereby secured 
the assistance of two brothers, who dispatched 
Bluebeard. The story is variously told and 
largely circulated. 

BLUEBIRD, or Blue Warbler, a well- 
known and favorite American bird, which ap¬ 
pears in the northern part of the United States 
and Southern Canada in early spring, especially 
in populated regions. It is a common bird in 
the Bermudas, West Indies, Mexico, and North¬ 
ern South America, and in some sections is 
known as a summer bird of passage. The 
plumage is sky-blue above and yellowish-brown 
below, and in size the bird resembles the robin. 
Bluebirds are fond of little boxes in which to 
nest, and frequently build close to houses and 
barns. The eggs number five or six, and sev¬ 
eral broods are reared each season. Both the 
male and female show much courage in pro¬ 
tecting the nest. 

BLUE BOOKS, the official papers and 
reports published by order of the British Par¬ 
liament, so called because they are usually 
stitched up in blue covers. The practice of 
making published reports began in 1681, when 
the succession of the Duke of York to the 
throne of England was agitated At present the 
blue books contain information relating to state 
matters, statistics of trade, and reports of com¬ 
mittees. In Germany the corresponding official 
books are called white; in France, yellow; in 
Italy, green; and in Spain, red. In the United 
States the name blue book is applied to a report 
of the names and salaries of persons in the 
government employ. 

BLUEFIELD, county seat of Mercer 
County, West Virginia, near the border of Vir¬ 
ginia, on the Norfolk and Western Railroad. 
The streets are well improved by grading, 
drainage, and paving. It has many large build¬ 
ings, including the high school, court house, and 
federal building. The chief industries are ma¬ 
chine shops and trade in coal and merchandise. 
It was settled and incorporated in 1889. Popu¬ 
lation, 1920, 15,191. 

BLUEFISH, a fish common off the north¬ 
eastern coast of North America, closely allied 
to the mackerel. The upper parts are of a 



BLUEFISH. 


bluish color and the lower parts are white. 

BLUE GRASS, a permanent grass found in 
America and Eurasia. It is valuable for pas¬ 
ture on account of its growth both early and 
late in the season and its remarkable ability to 


bear pasturage. The Mississippi valley is espe¬ 
cially celebrated for its prolific growth, where 
it has taken the place of native grasses in many 
pastures and meadows. It was first grown ex¬ 
tensively in Kentucky, which is known as the 
Blue Grass State. This grass, though cut for 
hay in some places, is of greatest value for the 
lawn and pasture. 

BLUE ISLAND, a city of Illinois, in Cook 
County, two miles south of the city limits of 
Chicago. It is located on the Calumet River 
and on the Grand Trunk, the Illinois Central, 
the Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific, and other 
railroads. It is the residence of many Chicago 
business men, having rapid transit facilities by 
electric lines and steam railway trains. Smelting 
works, bricky rds, breweries, and machine shops 
are among the principal industries. It is impor¬ 
tant as a commercial and railroad center and has 
a brisk trade in merchandise and manufactures. 
It has many fine churches, schools, and busi¬ 
ness buildings. The first settlement was made 
on its site in 1833 and its incorporation dates 
from 1872. Population, 1920, 10,528. 

BLUE LAWS, the name often applied to 
laws adopted in the middle of the 17th century 
for the early colonies of New England. Being 
stringent in their regulations of social life, much 
opposition to them was aroused among the 
more liberal colonists. The name is now ap¬ 
plied to any legislation whose aim is to inter¬ 
fere with the personal and domestic liberties 
of an individual. Among the blue laws of New 
England were included the prohibition of a 
mother kissing her child on the Sabbath or 
on a fasting day, They provided a penalty 
for shaving on the Sabbath, an imprisonment 
of married persons not living together, a pen¬ 
alty for furnishing food or lodging to a 
Quaker, an imprisonment for debt, and a long 
list of other similar prohibitive measures. 

BLUE MOUNTAINS, a range of moun¬ 
tains in New South Wales, Australia, which 
lie eighty miles inland and trend parallel to the 
coast. The highest point, Mount Beemarang, 
is 4,100 feet above the sea level. The same 
name is applied to a range of mountains in the 
eastern part of the island of Jamaica, which 
includes peaks 8,000 feet high. Another range 
of the same name are the Blue Mountains in 
Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and New York, 
which lie east of the Blue Ridge, but they are 
more properly called the Kittatinny Mountains. 
A range in Oregon and Washington known as 
the Blue Mountains separates the Great Basin 
from the basin of the Columbia River. 

BLUEPRINT, in photography, a picture 
obtained by the use of a cyanide. To make a 
blueprint, the sensitive paper is prepared by 
brushing it with a solution of iron and oxalic 
acid, and afterward treating it with a solution 
of potassium ferricyanide. The drawing is 
made on a very translucent paper, such as vel¬ 
lum, under which the sensitive paper is exposed 


BLUE RIDGE 


319 


BOADICEA 


to light and receives a photographic imprint. 
It is then washed in pure water and the blue 
print is developed, after which it is dried. The 
cyanide is protected from the action of the 
sun by the lines of the drawing, and is dis¬ 
solved and removed by washing, hence the 
•black lines in the drawing appear as white lines 
in the picture. Blueprints may be developed 
either in sunlight or electric light. They are 
used extensively by architects and engineers for 
copying plans since any number of duplicates 
can be made with little expense. 

BLUE RIDGE, the most easterly range of 
the Appalachian Mountains, bordered on the 
east by the Piedmont Plain. The range is 
known as Blue Ridge from the extreme 
northeast until it crosses the James River, 
thence to North Carolina as the Allegheny 
Mountains, and in North Carolina again as 
the Blue Ridge. This mountain range trends 
through Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, 
North Carolina, and Georgia, and was the seat 
of the most important battles of the Civil 
War. 

BLUFFTON, county seat of Wells County, 
Indiana, 25 miles south of Ft. Wayne, and on 
the Wabash River and on the Toledo and 
Western and other railroads. The features in¬ 
clude machine shops, piano factory, clay works, 
sanitary sewers, and asphalt paving. It has a 
fine court house, city hall, high school, and pub¬ 
lic library. The place was settled in 1837 and 
incorporated in 1849. Population, 1920, 5,391. 

BLUMENTHAL (bloo'men-thal), Leon¬ 
hard, field marshal, born at Schweldt-on-the- 
Oder, Germany, July 30, 1810; died Dec. 21, 
1900. He attended the military academies of 
Culm and Berlin and was made an officer in 
the reserve guards in 1827. In order to secure 
a general military training, he served in all 
branches of the army. He was chief of staff in 
the campaign of 1866 against Austria. In the 
War of 1870-71 against France he was chief of 
staff to the Crown Prince of Prussia, in which 
capacity he participated in a series of engage¬ 
ments from Sedan until the capitulation of 
Paris, and subsequently became commander of 
the fourth army corps with headquarters at 
Madgeburg. He was raised to the rank of field 
marshal in 1888. The Emperor decorated him 
with marks of honor for services in a number 
of engagements. 

BLUSHING, a sudden reddening of the 
face, due to a rush of blood into the capillary 
vessels of the skin. The cause is chiefly men¬ 
tal confusion, which results from surprise or 
apprehension, especially when accompanied with 
a feeling of modesty or shame. The passions 
and emotions influence the nervous system so 
they do not act regularly on the muscular coat 
of the capillaries, hence they enlarge and per¬ 
mit the entrance or passage of more blood than 
ordinarily, giving the cheeks a flushed or red¬ 
dish appearance. On the other hand, fear and 


terror cause the face and lips to become pale 
by exciting the nerves to the extent that they 
cause the capillaries to contract, hence the flow 
of blood is diminished. 

BOA (bo'a), a genus of large serpents found 
in America, including the chevalier boa, the 
emperor boa of Mexico, and the boa con - 



BOA CONSTRICTOR. 


stridor. The last mentioned is so named be¬ 
cause it entwines its prey and swallows it 
whole. Indeed, many of the species are 
equipped with jaws so constructed that the 
mouth may be dilated sufficiently to enable 
them to swallow bodies much thicker than 
themselves. These snakes are devoid of poison¬ 
ous fangs. Their length is usually from 
twelve to twenty feet, but specimens fully sixty 
feet long have been captured. They have a red¬ 
dish-gray color with broad stripes on the head 
and the body is covered with small scales. Their 
food consists chiefly of small quadrupeds, which 
they capture by leaping from trees or while 
hanging suspended from the branches. The true 
boas are distributed throughout tropical Amer¬ 
ica, but are found most abundantly in Brazil and 
Guiana. Some species inhabit dry localities, 
others dense forests, while others frequent 
banks of lakes and streams, often living partly 
in the water. The water boa is known as the 
anaconda and attains a length of fully forty 
feet. It feeds on fishes and animals that come to 
the banks of the streams to drink, often lying in 
wait for them hidden away under water. It 
attains a great strength and is able to carry off 
poultry, swine, and young cattle. The python 
is found in Africa and Eurasia and is allied 
to the anaconda. 

BOADICEA (bo-a-di-se'a), “the British 
Warrior Queen,” a Queen of Britain in the 
time of the Roman Emperor Nero, wife of 




































BOAR 


320 


BOATBILL 


Prasutagus, King of Iceni, who governed the 
portions of England now occupied by the coun¬ 
ties of Suffolk and Norwalk. At the death of 
her husband she came into possession of his 
accumulated treasure of goods and money. 
This was seized by the Romans, which caused 
a protracted war. The Britons were com¬ 
manded by the queen, who destroyed about 
70,000 Romans, but met defeat in the year 
62 a. d. Rather than be taken captive, she 
dispatched herself by poison. 

BOAR (bor), the name applied to either sex 
of the wild swine found in Africa, Asia, and 
Europe. These animals attain about the same 



WILD BOAR. 


size as the domestic hog, which is thought to 
have descended from the wild boar. They 
have coarser bristles and larger tusks than 
the domestic stock, and are vicious when 
attacked. In the swamps of Turkestan they 
abound in large numbers and in size exceed 
those of Africa. In Europe they are found 
chiefly in the forests under government pro¬ 
tection. The flesh of the wild boar is valuable 
for food. Some regard it even superior to 
that of the domestic swine, as the animal feeds 
mostly on fruits and roots and is cleaner in its 
habits. The wild boar of India is a favorite 
animal of the chase and is pursued by mounted 
men, who look upon pig-sticking as a favorite 
sport. 

BOARDMAN (bdrd'man), George Dana, 
Baptist minister, born in Burmah, Aug. 18, 
1828; died April 28, 1903. He graduated at 
Newton Theological Institute, Massachusetts, 
and became minister at Rochester, N. Y. Later 
he was chosen to a like position in Philadelphia. 
His prominence is due greatly to many able 
essays and addresses made by him against slav¬ 
ery. He published “The Kingdom,” “The 
Epiphanies of the Risen Lord/’ “The Golden 
Rule,” and “The Disarmament of Nations/' 
His father, George Dana Boardman (1801- 
1831), was a prominent American missionary 
to Burmah, India. 

BOARD OF TRADE, or Chamber of 
Commerce, an association of traders, mer¬ 
chants, or persons engaged in commercial pur¬ 
suits to promote trade by a union of action, 
or attain advantages in trade by combinations 
which are beyond the reach of individuals act¬ 
ing separately. The first board of trade was 


established at Marseilles, France, and it w r as 
promoted partly for political advantages as 
well as to stimulate trade. The Chamber of 
Commerce organized in Paris in 1700 cor¬ 
responded to similar institutions in other cities 
of France. In London, the Chamber of Com¬ 
merce is the center of a general trade, while, 
similar organizations at Liverpool, Hull, Leeds, 
and Manchester exercise a marked influence on 
the commerce of Great Britain. Associations 
to promote trade are maintained in Berlin, 
Hamburg, Copenhagen, Stockholm, and other 
European cities. Among the larger boards of 
trade in the United States are those of New 
York, Chicago, Boston, Baltimore, Philadelphia, 
Saint Louis, and San Francisco. The leading 
exchanges of Canada are at Montreal, Toronto, 
Quebec, Winnipeg, and Vancouver. 

A custom long established and extensively 
practiced on boards of trade is to deal in 
margins by putting up with brokers an amount 
sufficient to cover the ordinary fluctuations of 
the market, while the other capital necessary 
is furnished by the brokers. Transactions on 
the board of trade are often intensely exciting, 
since large quantities of produce are frequently 
involved and even a very small rise or fall in 
the market price is an important factor. 
Many men follow trading and exchange as 
an occupation, while others engage in it as 
a speculation or side line to other business. 
Fortunes are sometimes made or lost in a day, 
especially when men of much experience and 
capital succeed in securing an artificial scarcity 
in a commodity of trade and sell when prices 
are abnormally high. Such a scarcity is said 
to be a corner on the market. The commodi¬ 
ties handled on the board of trade include many 
lines, but cereals, live stock, lumber, and food¬ 
stuffs are the most common. 

BOAT, the name of a small open vessel, 

usually propelled by oars or paddles. Boats 

are variously made for pleasure riding and for 
draught service, usually without sails, but some 
have one or more sails. A large class 

of boats of newer construction are pro¬ 

pelled by electric motors and steam and gaso¬ 
line engines. These boats have a capacity to 
move at the rate ot ten to forty miles per 
hour. All steamships and passenger vessels 
carry boats to provide some degree of safety 
in case of accidents or shipwreck. They are 
variously named, as, for instance, launch, long, 
barge, pinnace, yawl, galley, skiff, gig, cutter, 
jolly, and dingy. Ships of war carry, among 
others, the first four named. 

BOATBILL (boffbil), a bird of the heron 
family, native to South America. It was so 
named from the large bill, which is broad and 
shaped somewhat similar to a boat, the keel 
being uppermost. The lower mandible has a 
pouch to retain food. This bird frequents 
marshy places and the banks of rivers. It 
frequently perches on trees overhanging water. 


BOBBIN 


321 


BODE 


whence it darts to catch fish and crustacean 
animals for food. 

BOBBIN (bob'bin), a small spool or roller 
used in spinning. At each end is a flange or 
border, and through it is an opening to receive 
a pivot. The bobbin used in weaving has a 
flange on one end only, but the small metallic 
bobbin which holds the thread in the shuttle 
of a sewing machine has a flange on both ends. 
The common spool on which thread is wrapped 
is an example of a wooden bobbin. 

BOBOLINK (bob'6-lmk), a migratory bird 
of America. It is seen most frequently in 
the southern part of the United States, whence 
it passes northward in summer and to the West 



BOBOLINK. 


Indies and south in the winter. It is known 
in various sections as ricebird, reedbird, and 
ricebunting. The bobolink feeds on rice and 
other cereals, and is extensively used for food. 
In the Carolinas and other states of the South 
it is dreaded on account of its ravages in the 
fields of rice. When passing north from the 
rice fields of the South to the section farther 
north and to Canada, it is rich with fat and 
almost incapable of enduring long flights. The 
male is mostly black, sprinkled with white and 
yellow, and the female is largely marked with 
shades of brown. The song of the male is 
merry, quick, and musical. 

BOCCACCIO (bok-kacho), Giovanni, 
famous Italian novelist and poet, born in Paris, 
France, in 1313; died at Certaldo, Italy, Dec. 
21, 1375. He was the son of a Florentine mer¬ 
chant and a French woman, studied canon law, 
and devoted himself to literature. He fell in 
love with Maria, daughter of King Robert of 
Anjou, in 1331, whom he made famous in 
poetry and stories under the name of Fiani- 
metta. Among his best known writings are 
“II Filocopo” and “Tesside”; the latter was 
the first heroic epic in the Italian language. 
However, his fame rests on the work “Decam¬ 
eron,” which consists of a hundred tales pur¬ 
porting to have been related in equal propor¬ 
tions in ten days by a party of ladies and 
gentlemen near Florence, while the plague was 
raging in that city. Many writers have drawn 


plots for romances and novels from this cele¬ 
brated work of Boccaccio. In 1373 he was 
chosen to the professorship established at Flor¬ 
ence in memory of Dante for the exposition 
of the “Divina Comedia,” which position he 
held until his death. He was a close friend 
of Petrarch, with whom he was associated 
many years. 

BOCKH (bek), Augustus, classical antiqua¬ 
rian, born in Carlsruhe, Germany, Nov. 24, 
1785; died in Berlin, Aug. 3, 1867. His brother, 
Frederick von Bockh (1777-1855), was prime 
minister of Baden. He studied in the Univer¬ 
sity of Halle and became professor at the Uni¬ 
versity of Heidelberg in 1807, where he taught 
successfully for two years. In 1809 he was 
elected to the chair of rhetoric and ancient liter¬ 
ature at Berlin, a position he filled with much 
success for forty years, training many who 
became profound scholars, and extending his 
reputation throughout the learned circles of 
Europe. He lectured on the history of ancient 
religion, politics, literature, philosophy, and 
social life. His unexcelled writings opened 
new paths in the study of antiquity and still 
remain unsurpassed for clear exposition, subtle 
research, and surprising results. Among his 
best known works are “Political Economy of 
Athens,” “Weights, Coins, and Measures of 
Antiquity,” “Silver Mines in Laurion, Attica,” 
“Lunar Cycles of the Greeks,” and “Cosmical 
System of Plato.” 

BOCHUM (bck'dom), a city of Germany, in 
the province of Westphalia, 30 miles north¬ 
east of Ditsseldorf. It is surrounded by a coal- 
producing country and is the seat of exten¬ 
sive iron and steel works. The general manu¬ 
factures include woolens, hardware, machinery, 
cigars, and paper hangings. It owns and oper¬ 
ates the municipal slaughterhouse, waterworks, 
and sewage system. Bochum is a modern 
city and its recent growth is due to the rapid 
development of its manufacturing enterprises. 
It has a public theater, a gymnasium, electric 
street railways, and stone and asphalt pave¬ 
ments. Population, 1920, 136,916. 

BODE (bd'de), Johann Elert, astronomer, 
born in Hamburg, Germany, Jan. 19, 1747; 
died at Berlin, Nov. 13, 1826. He became 
devoted to the study of mathematical sciences 
and astronomy at an early age. He made a 
telescope for himself in the garret of his 
father’s house, which he used as an observatory 
to study the heavens. At the age of eighteen 
he successfully calculated an eclipse of the sun, 
and in 1766 published his first treatise on the 
solar eclipse. In 1772 Frederick II. called him 
to Berlin and appointed him professor of astron¬ 
omy in the Academy of Sciences. His long 
and faithful work in that institution was the 
means of adding much of value to the fund 
of astronomical knowledge. His works include 
“Astronomical Almanac” and “Celestial Atlas.” 
The latter contains a catalogue of 17,240 stars, 


21 




BODLEIAN 


322 


BOER 


A mathematical formula known as Bode’s Law, 
by which the distance of planets from the sun 
may be approximately expressed, owes its dis¬ 
covery to him. However, some ascribe the dis¬ 
covery of this law to Titus of Wittenberg. 

BODLEIAN (bod'le-an) LIBRARY, the 
library of Oxford University, England, organ¬ 
ized by Sir Thomas Bodley in 1598 and opened 
in 1602. For rare collections it is excelled 
only by a few of the great libraries, although 
it is surpassed greatly in that respect by the 
Vatican in Rome. In it are copies of all the 
works published in Great Britain, and in addi¬ 
tion to the English publications it contains 
numerous works issued in other countries. At 
present there are about 1,500,000 volumes in 
the library. 

BOEHMERIA (be-me'ri-a), a genus of 
plants native to China and the East Indies, 
important for the tough fiber used in making 



/ 

BOEHMERIA. 

twine and rope. The plants belonging to this 
genus are related to the nettle, but do not 
possess the stinging properties. They yield the 
valuable rhea fiber, or psrass-cloth fiber, known 
in commerce as ramie. The species from which 
this product is obtained principally is the 
Chinese grass. This plant is perennial, grows 
best in shade and moisture, and yields three 
crops in a season, new shoots coming up after 
each harvesting. It is cultivated in the south¬ 
ern part of the United States and the warmer 
parts of Europe. Species known as false-net- 
ties are annual plants and grow in waste places 
in Canada and the United States. 

BOEHM VON BAWERK (bem von ba'- 
verk), Eugen, political economist, born in 
Brunn, Moravia, Feb. 12, 1851. After attend¬ 
ing the schools of his native town, he took a 


course at the University of Vienna, and later 
studied political economy in Heidelberg, Leipsig, 
and Jena. In 1880 he was lecturer at the Uni¬ 
versity of Vienna and subsequently was pro¬ 
fessor in the University at Innsbruck. In 1895 
he was minister of finance of Austria, served as 
professor in the University of Vienna the fol¬ 
lowing year, and in 1897 he was again minister 
of finance, subsequent to which he was a mem¬ 
ber of the House of Peers. He is noted as lead¬ 
ing economist on account of his writings and 
discussions relating to financial and economical 
topics, but his chief achievement is the develop¬ 
ment of a theory of value, which is based largely 
upon psychological principles. Besides, he pro¬ 
mulgated the so-called Positive Theory of Cap¬ 
ital and considered land and labor as the 
only real sources of production, to which he 
added capital as a primary productive influence. 
He published “Capital and Interest” and “Im¬ 
portant Questions Regarding the Theory of 
Capital.” 

BOEOTIA (be-6'shi-a), one of the ancient 
divisions of Greece, situated south of Phocis 
and west of the Euboean Sea, and now united 
as a province with Attica. The two as now 
organized contain an area of 2,475 square miles. 
Boeotia has an area of 1,635 square miles. 
It was one of the most progressive and cele¬ 
brated divisions of ancient Greece, and is noted 
as the birthplace of the historian Plutarch, the 
general Epaminondas, -and the poets Hesiod 
and Pindar. It was the seat of fourteen cities 
that formed the Boeotian League. The sur¬ 
face is quite level, but near its boundaries are 
chains of mountains. In the time of Alexander 
the Great a vast tunnel was constructed through 
the mountains to drain the district of the inte¬ 
rior that was subject to overflow by the waters 
of the Cephissus, which discharges into Lake 
Copias, but later it became damaged and failed 
to discharge the water, thus rendering the dis¬ 
trict marshy and unhealthful. Extensive canals 
and tunnels were made in 1886, and now the 
district is rendered productive, though the 
atmosphere still remains heavy. 

BOER (boor), meaning farmer, the name 
applied to the descendants of the Dutch, Ger¬ 
man, and French who settled in South Africa 
in the 16th century and since. Their first set¬ 
tlements were made in the vicinity of the Cape 
of Good Hope, from which they spread over 
the territory now known as Cape Colony. 
Owing to English encroachments and annexa¬ 
tion in 1795, many of them removed farther 
north to Natal, later to the Orange Free State, 
and still later across the Vaal River, where 
they organized the Transvaal Republic. They 
constructed railroads, built cities, developed 
agriculture and mining, and gave to South 
Africa a civilization and commerce never before 
known in that portion of the earth. Their gov¬ 
ernments of Cape Colony, Natal, Orange, and 
Transvaal were at all times constitutional 




BOERHAAVE 


323 


BOHEMIA 


republics. The Boers rank as a people of indus¬ 
try, splendid marksmanship, sober habits, and 
Christian devotion. See Cape Colony. 

BOERHAAVE (bor'hav), Hermann, cele¬ 
brated physician of the 18th century, born 
near Leyden, Holland, Dec. 31, 1668; died Sept. 
23, 1738. He studied Greek, Latin, Chaldee, 
and Hebrew at Leyden with the view of becom¬ 
ing a clergyman, but began the study of medi¬ 
cine in 1690. In 1693 he was granted the doc¬ 
tor’s degree and entered upon a successful 
practice of medicine. Later he was chosen a 
lecturer at Leyden. His fame as a professional 
practitioner spread throughout Europe, and he 
was visited by patients in vast numbers, among 
them Peter the Great. Among his numerous 
important works are treatises devoted to botany 
and medicine. They include the celebrated 
work on chemistry known as Boerhaave’s “Ele¬ 
ments of Chemistry.” Under his instruction 
the University of Leyden became known as 
the first school of medicine in Europe, and 
was attended by scholars from all parts of that 
grand division and from Asia. A fine monu¬ 
ment was erected to his memory at Leyden in 
1738. 

BOG (bog), a morass or quagmire in which 
the soil is composed largely of decayed and 
decaying vegetable matter. Some bog districts 
yield large quantities of peat for fuel, while 
others are reclaimed by drainage and converted 
into the most productive soil. Large basins 
and lake beds have been redeemed in this man¬ 
ner. The soil, often from twelve to fifty feet 
deep, is enriched for production by decayed 
vegetable matter that has gathered for ages. 
In the Chatmos bogs of England and the Allen 
bogs of Ireland the deposits vary from ten to 
forty feet, and yield large quantities of peat 
and fuel materials. The largest lowland bog in 
the United States is known as the Great Dismal 
Swamp, in Virginia and North Carolina, which 
has an area of about 950 square miles and is 
25 feet deep. 

BOGARDUS (bo-gar'dus), James, inventor, 
born in Catskill, N. Y., March 14, 1800; died 
in New York City, April 13, 1874. He de¬ 
veloped inventive skill at an early age. His 
first invention led to the construction of the 
eight-day clocks and an improvement in engrav¬ 
ing machinery. He invented the dry gas meter, 
a deep-sea sounding machine, and a dynamom¬ 
eter. In 1847 he erected a factory in New 
York for casting irons to construct buildings, 
and was the first to use iron framework in 
architecture. He also invented dyes for print¬ 
ing postage stamps and appliances for manu¬ 
facturing India-rubber goods. 

BOGOTA (bo-go-ta'), the capital of the 
United States of Colombia, South America, 
and the largest city in that country. It is 
located on a table-land 8,695 feet above the 
Andes, near Mount Guadalupe. The surround¬ 
ing table-land district is fertile and produces 


large quantities of cereals and fruit. The 
climate is healthful, partaking of the na¬ 
ture of perpetual spring. Vast quanti¬ 
ties of salt, coal, iron, gold, silver, and 
other minerals are mined in the mountains 
tributary to the city. The national capitol is a 
fine edifice, and, besides it, there are other pub¬ 
lic buildings, including national and provincial 
structures. A free library, an astronomical 
observatory, several theaters, a university, and 
a museum are among the public institutions. 
While the city does not have the thrift of 
North American cities, it is supplied with 
many modern conveniences, among them tele¬ 
phones, gas and electric lights, street railways, 
waterworks, and railroad facilities. However, 
the pack mule and other evidences of southern 
life are still largely manifest. The manu¬ 
factures include soap, leather, clothing, cordage, 
porcelain, and machinery. Near the city is the 
cataract of Tequendama, in the Funeha River, 
where the water falls over a precipice 650 feet 
high, which furnishes an abundance of power. 
Bogota is popularly called the “Athens of South 
America.” Population, 1921, 142,580. 

BOGUE (bog), David, clergyman, born in 
Hallydown, Scotland, Feb. 18, 1750; died Oct. 
25, 1825. He was educated at the Univeristy of 
Edinburgh and became a pastor in the Church 
of Scotland. After teaching for some time, 
he became pastor of an independent church at 
Gosport and the founder of an institution for 
the education of ministers. In 1795 he joined 
others in organizing the London Missionary 
Society and other institutions to promote reli¬ 
gious work. He published “An Essay on the 
Divine Authority of the New Testament.” 

BOHEMIA (bo-he'mi-a), a region of Czecho- 
Slovokia, bounded on the northwest by Saxony, 
on the northeast by Prussian Silesia, on the 
southeast by Moravia and Lower Austria, on 
the south by Upper Austria, and on the south¬ 
west by Bavaria. It extends from latitude 
48° 34' to 51° 3' north latitude and from 
12° 7' to 16° 50' east longitude. The area is 
20,060 square miles. 

Description. The surface consists mostly of 
a high table-land surrounded by mountains. In 
the southwestern part is the Bohemian Forest, 
in the northwest are the Erzgebirge, and in 
the northeast the Riesen-Gebirge. The princi¬ 
pal drainage is toward the north. Among the 
chief rivers are the Elbe, the Moldau, the Eger, 
and the Luschnitz. It has a continental climate, 
mild in the valleys and cold in the highlands, 
but it is healthful throughout the year. At 
Prague the temperature varies from 16° to 
76°, and the average is about 49°. Snow 
covers the higher peaks most of the year. The 
rainfall is sufficient and abundant for agri¬ 
culture. 

The mines yield copper, iron, coal, alum, 
arsenic, sulphur, and antimony, though mining 
has not been developed to the extent of its pos- 


BOHEMIA 


324 


BOHOL 


sibilities. Coal is mined most extensively and 
supplies fuel for manufacturing enterprises. A 
fine grade of sand abounds, useful in the manu¬ 
facture of glass, and granite, marble, and sand¬ 
stone quarries are worked. Famous mineral 
springs abound at Carlsbad, Teplitz, and 
Marienbad. The forests are extensive and 
furnish valuable timber for export. 

Industries. Agriculture is the chief occupa¬ 
tion and about ninety-eight per cent, of the sur¬ 
face is fertile. Most of the land is divided into 
small holdings and farming is conducted on a 
careful and economic basis. Fully sixty-four 
per cent, of the arable land is cultivated in ce¬ 
reals, such as wheat, rye, and maize, and pota¬ 
toes, sugar beets, hops, fruit, and vegetables are 
grown profitably. All the domestic animals 
common to Europe thrive well, but special 
attention is given to cattle raising for flesh and 
dairy products. Sheep, goats, and horses take 
rank with swine in the value of the products, 
and large investments in poultry are maintained. 
Silk culture and bee-keeping receive careful 
attention in the districts adapted to these enter¬ 
prises. 

Bohemia has made rapid strides of advance¬ 
ment in manufacturing the past two decades. 
Glass is an important product and large quanti¬ 
ties of glassware are manufactured for export. 
The textile industries and the manufacture of 
beet sugar have developed materially, and large 
steel and iron works are operated. Carlsbad 
china and Pilsen beer are made in large quanti¬ 
ties for export. Clothing, cigars, paper, and 
machinery are other manufactures that take 
high rank. The knitting industry and the 
manufacture of toys and musical instruments 
receive considerable attention. Transportation 
is facilitated by navigation on the Elbe and 
Moldau and a network of canals, and a con¬ 
siderable mileage of steam railway and electric 
lines is operated. 

Government. Bohemia is classed as a crown 
land of Austria, hence is an intregal part of 
the Austro-Hungarian monarchy, which has its 
executive head in the emperor. Legislative 
power is vested in the Diet, consisting of an 
upper and lower chamber. Representation in 
the upper chamber is vested in the Archbishop 
of Prague and representatives from the univer¬ 
sities, the sees of the church, the large land- 
owners, the towns, the chambers of commerce, 
and the rural communities, and in the lower 
chamber by members elected by direct vote of 
the people, who are restricted by a small prop¬ 
erty qualification. In the lower house of the 
monarchy Bohemia is represented by 130 mem¬ 
bers. At Prague are two noted universities, 
a German and a Czech. The system of schools 
include those classed as elementary, prepara¬ 
tory, commercial, and real gymnasia. 

Inhabitants. The inhabitants number 315 
to the square mile. About two-fifths are Ger¬ 
mans and the balance are largely Czechs, includ¬ 


ing a small per cent, of Jews. Roman Catholic 
is the religion of most of the inhabitants, but 
some Protestant and Jewish churches are main 
tained. Prague, the capital, on the Moldau 
is the most important city. Pilsen, Reichen- 
berg, Eger, Budweis, Teplitz, and Aussig are 
commercial centers. Population, 1921, 6,774,309. 

History. Bohemia was occupied at the be¬ 
ginning of the Christian era by a Celtic people 
called Boii, and in the 1st century they were 
made tributary to the Germans. In the 6th 
century the region came into the hands of a 
Slavic race, who became known as the Czechs, 
They were warlike and held sway for several 
centuries against the attacks of the Goths and 
other people of Central Europe. Christianity 
was introduced about the year 900 by the Ger¬ 
mans, while the Moravians, who resided in 
adjoining territory, were converted to the Greek 
Church. Powerful invasions were made by the 
Alemanni and other Germanic tribes, and 
Bohemia became a part of the Moravian king¬ 
dom of Svatopluk, who was vanquished by 
the Alagvars in the early part of the 10th 
century. It remained a powerful kingdom from 
1278 until 1305, extending from the Elbe to 
the Adriatic, and in the latter year became 
subject to the house of Luxemburg and later 
to the emperors of Germany. It was the seat 
of religious wars in the time of and subse¬ 
quent to the Hussite movement, in 1400, and 
for many years remained Protestant. In 1526 
it was merged with Austria and since has been 
governed by the house of Hapsburg. In 1848 
a well organized effort was made to secure inde¬ 
pendence and reestablish its former position 
among the nations, but the bombardment of 
Prague and several decisive battles ended the 
insurrection. The feeling of antagonism be¬ 
tween the two chief elements, the Germans 
and the Czechs, has been sharply drawn at dif 
ferent times, each seeking preponderance. The 
Paris Peace Congress, in 1919, as a result of 
the great European War, separated Bohemia 
from Austria-Hungary and made it a part of 
the independent country of Czecho-Slavokia, of 
which it is an important state. 

BOHEMIAN FOREST, a chain of moun¬ 
tains in Central Europe, between Bavaria and 
Bohemia, and extending from the Danube to 
the Fichtelgebirge. It separates the basins of 
the Elbe and the Danube and culminates in 
Mount Arber, which is 4,650 feet above the sea. 
Granite, iron ore, and gneiss deposits occur. 

BOHOL (bo-hob), an island of the Philip¬ 
pines, located north of Mindanao and south¬ 
west of Leyte. It has an area of 1,440 square 
miles. The distance across it from east to west 
is about forty miles, and, from north to south, 
thirty miles. Groups of mountains and forests 
make up the principal part of the surface, but 
the soil is fertile and produces rice and many 
kinds of fruit. Gold and silver are mined. 
Population, 1920, 243,148. 


BOIES 


325 


BOILING 


BOIES (boiz), Horace, public man, born at 
Aurora, N. Y., Dec. 7, 1827. He was admitted 
to the bar of New York in 1849, and was 
elected to the State Legislature in 1858 as a 
Whig, but soon joined the Republican party. 
In 18G7 he removed to Iowa, where he settled 
at Waterloo, investing largely in landed prop¬ 
erty. Becoming dissatisfied with the Republi¬ 
can tariff doctrine, he supported Cleveland in 
1884. In 1889 he was elected Governor of 
Iowa by the Democratic party and reelected in 
1891 . He was a prominent candidate for Presi¬ 
dent in the two national conventions at Chicago 
in 1892 and in 1896. In 1902 he was an unsuc¬ 
cessful candidate for Congress. 

BOIL, a swelling of the epidermal tissues, 
due usually to a change of diet and the habits 
of living. It starts in a small pimple, caused by 
poisonous bacteria under the skin, and becomes 
hard at the base and quite soft at the apex as it 
develops. For several days it is quite painful 
and highly inflamed, and when it opens a pus is 
discharged. The maturity of a boil may be 
hastened by the use of a poultice or the appli¬ 
cation of sulphide of calcium, and in some cases 
it is advisable to open it by lancing. 

B O I L E A U - DESPREAUZ (bwa-lo'da- 
pra-o), Nicholas, poet and critic, born near 
Paris, France, Nov. 1, 1637; died March 13, 
1711. He studied in Paris with the view of be¬ 
coming a priest and later took up the study of 
law, but decided to give his attention to litera¬ 
ture. In 1660 he composed a satire based on 
the vices of Paris and recited it to a number of 
his friends, who included Racine and La Fom 
taine. This was followed by a few translations 
from the classics and several effusions on music 
and poetry. Louis XIV. employed him as his 
historian and allowed him a pension of 2,000 
francs. In 1684 he was admitted to the French 
Academy. He exercised a wide influence upon 
the literature of France and to some extent 
upon the writers of England, especially Pope 
and Dryden. His masterpiece, known as 
“Poetic Art,” contains rules and applies them 
to the epic, the dramatic, and the lyric poetry. 

BOILER (boil'er), a vessel for boiling liq¬ 
uids, usually constructed of iron or steel, and 
named from its particular use. In the list are 
included household boilers, used in the arts of 
cookery and for laundry purposes. The larger 
boilers employed in the industries are variously 
constructed. Those used for stationary steam 
generators are usually enclosed in brickwork, in 
order to prevent a loss of heat by radiation. In 
all modern stationary and portable engines the 
water is subdivided by a number of tubes, thus 
allowing free contact of the heat with the boiler 
surface, by which it is more rapidly and effec¬ 
tually distributed to the water. In recent years 
tubular or water-tube boilers have grown in 
popularity for the reason that they allow more 
grate area as well as heating surface, and facili¬ 


tate a greater concentration of power within a 
small space. Boilers of this construction are 
used quite generally in steamboats and for 
warming buildings, as well as in factories and 
for portable purposes. 

The tubular boilers as now made are mostly 
cylindrical in form and in regard to position 
are either horizontal or vertical. In these 
boilers the water is in small tubes instead of a 
single large one, as in the flue boilers, which 
have one or more large flues passing through 
the center. This causes a rapid generation of 
steam, as the fire and burning gases come in 
contact with a large surface area. The vertical 
boiler shown in the illustration is constructed 
on this plan. At the bottom are the ash pit and 
the grate, above which is the furnace, in which 
the fire burns. The tubes contain the water, 
which is brought to the boiling point as the fire 
surrounds them, and the steam collects at the 
upper part in the steam dome. A steam gauge 
indicates the pressure of steam and a water 
gauge shows the height of the water, while the 
safety valve permits 
the steam to blow 
off when the maxi¬ 
mum pressure is 
reached. Wrought 
iron and steel are 
used in constructing 
the shell, the dif¬ 
ferent parts of 
which are carefully 
fitted and securely 
riveted together to 
insure safety 
against explosions. 

Other materials 
used are brass, 
bronze, copper, cast 
iron, and malleable 
iron. Most small 
boilers and those 
used in the marine 
service are vertical, 

/while the large boil- 
e r s on land are 
chiefly horizontal. 

In the last men¬ 
tioned the grate or 
furnace is located 
beneath the front 
end of the boiler or 
shell, hence the hot 
gases pass along the 
inner tubes to the 
rear end of the 
shell. 

BOILING, an important operation in the 
preparation of food. It has the effect of soften¬ 
ing nutritive articles, causing a solution of 
sugar and starch grains, and making them more 
easily digested. In boiling meats they should 



VERTICAL BOILER. 




































































































BOILING POINT 


326 


BOLINGBROKE 


be suddenly plunged into boiling water so as to 
cause a coating or protective layer of coagulated 
albumen to form on the surface. This serves 
to retain the more nutritious portions within. 
After a few minutes the temperature may be 
considerably lowered. For soups and broths 
the meats should be heated gradually 
so as to allow the more nutritious elements to 
escape from the meat into the soup. Boiled 
food is more digestible than when stewed, 
roasted, or fried. 

BOILING POINT, the degree or point at 
which any liquid boils. This depends upon the 
constituents of the liquid and the conditions of 
the atmospheric pressure. The boiling point is 
always the same, if the physical conditions are 
the same. It is highest at the level of the 
sea, and is lowered one degree Fahr. with 
every 597 feet of ascent; this is due to a 
decrease of atmospheric pressure as we ascend. 
After liquids begin to boil, their temperature is 
not raised. The following is the boiling point 
of the liquids named below; the degrees given 
are according to Fahrenheit’s thermometer: 

Mercury.662° Water .212° 

Sulphuric acid.610° Nitric acid.210° 

Olive oil.600° Alcohol...173° 

Phosphorus.554° Bromine .145° 

Iodine.347° Sulphuric ether.113° 

Naphtha.320° Muriatic ether. 52° 

Oil of turpentine.314° Ammonia. 28° 

BOISE (boi'za), the capital of Idaho, county 
seat of Ada County, on the Boise River and on 
the Union Pacific Railroad. It occupies a fine 
site at the head of the Snake River valley, 
about 3,000 feet above the sea, and has a 
delightful climate. The chief buildings include 
the State capitol, the high school, the Soldiers’ 
home, the United States assay office, and the 
penitentiary. It has manufactures of flour, 
lumber products, and machinery. Water power 
is secured from the river for irrigation and 
manufacturing purposes. The thermal springs 
furnish hot water for heating the buildings. 
Gold, silver, and other minerals are obtained 
in the vicinity. It was first settled in 1863, 
incorporated in 1865, and made the capital of 
the State in 1890. Population, 1920, 21,393. 

BOJADOR (boj-a-dor'), a cape on the west 
coast of Africa, in north latitude 26° 7'. It is 
southeast of the Canary Islands, a projecting 
point of the Sahara, and is dangerous for navi¬ 
gation. It was discovered by the Portuguese 
in 1433. 

BOKER (bo'ker), George Henry, poet and 
scholar, born in Philadelphia, Penn., Oct. 6, 
1823; died June 2, 1890. His education was 
secured at Princeton, after which he studied 
law and traveled in Europe. On his return he 
produced a number of poems and plays for the 
stage, among them “Anne Boleyn,” “Calaynos,” 
and “Francisca de Rimini.” President Grant 
appointed him minister to Turkey in 1871 and 
to Russia in 1875, serving eight years at the 
courts of these two powers. On his return he 


was elected president of the Union League, 
which position he held until his death. His 
best known production is “Poems of the War.” 

BOKHARA (bo-ka'ra), meaning “treasury 
of science,” a khanate of Central Asia, belong¬ 
ing to Russia. It is bounded on the north by 
Russian Turkestan, east by the Pamir region, 
south by Afghanistan, and west by the Trans- 
Caspian Territory. The area is 93,850 square 
miles. The Russian railroad from the Caspian 
Sea passes through the district from Charjui 
on the Oxus River to a point near Bokhara, 
and thence to Samarkand. Much of the sur¬ 
face is fertile, but arid, and large tracts of land 
are irrigated by water taken from the Zeraf- 
shan River. The mineral wealth embraces 
alum, sulphur, gold, and slate. The silk pro¬ 
duction aggregates over 1,000 tons annually, 
and the yield of cotton is about 30,000 tons. 
Other products include cereals, domestic ani¬ 
mals, minerals, and various Eastern manufac¬ 
tures. The important cities are Bokhara, Kar- 
shi, Hissar, and Charjui. The military forces 
consist of a standing army of 25,000 men. They 
are armed with Russian rifles and instructed 
in Russian military drill. The government of 
Bokhara is under an emir, who, in 1873, 
acknowledged Russian supremacy and granted 
concessions to the czar. In ancient times the 
district was called Sogdiana. It was conquered 
by the Arabs in the 8th century, and in 1220 
by Genghis Khan, in 1370 by Timur, and in 
1505 by the Usbeks. Bokhara is the capital, 
located near the Oxus River, southeast of the 
Aral Sea, and has a population of 92,350. It is 
surrounded by a mud wall, which was built 
anciently for the protection of the city against 
invaders. It contains 350 mosques and a num¬ 
ber of other interesting edifices. Population, 
1917, 2,563,500. 

BOLAN PASS (bo-lan'), a defile in the 
Plala Mountains of Baluchistan, on the high¬ 
way between the table-land of Afghanistan and 
the Lower Indus River. It consists of a suc¬ 
cession of ravines along the course of the 
Bolan River and is labout 60 miles long. This 
river rises in the mountains and flows through 
the ravines with a rapid descent, about 90 feet 
per mile, and the eminences on each side rise 
abruptly 500 feet above the stream. The Brit¬ 
ish constructed a military railroad through this 
pass to connect Sind with Kandahar. 

BOLEYN, Anne. See Anne Boleyn. 

BOLINGBROKE (bol'in-brook), Henry 
Saint John, Viscount, gifted Tory statesman, 
born at Battersea, England, Oct. 1, 1678; died 
Dec. 12, 1751. He was educated at Eton and 
Oxford, traveled abroad for two years, and 
soon after returning secured political prefer¬ 
ment under Queen Anne. In 1604 he entered 
the ministry as secretary of war, which posi¬ 
tion he held for four years. The two succeed¬ 
ing years were devoted to study in the country. 
He again entered the service as one of the sec- 
















BOLIVAR 


327 


BOLIVIA 


retaries of state in 1710. Two years later he 
became a member of the House of Lords, and in 
1013 aided in negotiating the Peace of Utrecht. 
When Queen Anne died, he favored the Stuarts, 
and was compelled to flee to France for safety. 
He was permitted to return to England in 1723, 
but failed to get back into politics, although 
he made a number of efforts. Subsequently he 
settled in Battersea, the place of his birth, and 
became interested in literature by association 
with Swift and Pope. Besides publishing a 
number of political writings, he aided Pope 
by giving suggestions relative to his “Essay 
on Man” and published “Letters on the Study 
of History.” 

BOLIVAR (bol'i-ver), Simon, called the 
“Washington of South America,” born at Cara¬ 
cas, Venezuela, July 24, 1783; died at San 

Pedro, Paraguay, Dec. 
17, 1830. After study¬ 
ing law at Madrid, he 
spent some time in ex¬ 
tensive travels through 
Europe. He witnessed 
the closing scenes of 
the French Revolution, 
traveled in the United 
States, and proceeded 
to Venezuela to free 
that country from 
Spanish dominion. On 
July 5, 1811, independ¬ 
ence from Spain was 
declared and war be¬ 
gan at once. After several unsuccessful bat¬ 
tles, he was compelled to flee for safety. In 
1812 he joined the patriots of New Granada 
in their struggle against the royalists, and was 
enabled to return to his own country and kin¬ 
dle 'anew the spirit of revolution. On Jan. 13, 
1813, he issued a proclamation of “war to the 
death,” and within a few months entered Cara¬ 
cas in triumph, where he proclaimed himself 
dictator. In 1814 the royalists again possessed 
Caracas, which required him to flee to Jamaica. 
He next gathered insurgents in Hayti and pro¬ 
ceeded to again open hostilities. On Aug. 7, 
1819, he gained decisive victories at Bojaca 
and Tunja, and proceeded to Santa Fe, where 
he was chosen president. He at once pro¬ 
ceeded to unite Venezuela and New Granada 
under the name of Colombia, with himself as 
president. Accordingly, he raised an army, 
crossed the Cordilleras, and forced the leading 
citizens at Caracas to swear allegiance to the 
republic. 

Bolivar proceeded south into Peru in 1823, 
where he was received with much enthusiasm. 
The southern part of that country was named 
Bolivia in his honor and made a separate state, 
of which he became president. Subsequently 
he returned to Caracas to suppress a rebellion 
and was reelected president. On May 25, 1826, 
he presented to congress a new constitution for 


the united states of Peru, Bolivia, and Colom¬ 
bia, but mistrust caused the Peruvians to organ¬ 
ize a separate government and Venezuela se¬ 
ceded from Colombia in 1829. The congress 
of Bogota voted him the thanks of the Colom¬ 
bian people and a pension of $3,000 with the 
condition that he would reside abroad, a request 
made in fear of his presence causing disturb¬ 
ances to those in power. He was buried at 
San Pedro, but his remains were removed to 
Caracas in 1842, where a splendid monument 
commemorates his patriotic interest in South 
American independence. Monuments have 
also been erected to his memory in Bogota, 
Lima, New York, and other cities, and, like 
those of many great men, his services were 
not rightly estimated until after his death. 

BOLIVIA (bo-liv'i-a), a republic of South 
America, in the western part of the continent. 
It is bounded on the north and east by Brazil, 
south by Paraguay and Argentina, and west 
by Chile and Peru. It extends from south 
latitude 8° to 22° 50', and from west longitude 
58° to 73° 20'. The area is 557,430 square 
miles, exclusive of some territory held by Chile 
since the War of 1879-80. 

Description. In the southwestern part are 
some of the most elevated summits of the 
Andes, including Mount Sorata and Mount 
Illimani, the altitude ranging from 15,000 to 
21,000 feet above the sea. The western part 
has two parallel ranges of the Andes, which 
traverse the country from southeast to north¬ 
west. The general surface slopes toward the 
east and north, forming a large part of the 
central plain of South America. On the west¬ 
ern boundary is the wonderful Lake Titicaca, 
with an area of about 3,250 square miles and a 
depth of 120 fathoms. In the north is Lake 
Rogagus, in the east is Lake Oberaba, and in 
the central west is Lake Poopo Choro. Most 
of the rivers rise in the western and central 
parts and belong to the Amazon and La Plata 
river systems. Among the chief rivers are 
the Pilcomayo, a tributary of the Parana, and 
the Mamore and Beni, which discharge through 
the Madeira into the Amazon. The Bermejo 
is an important river in the southern part of 
the country. 

Bolivia has three climatic regions, the east¬ 
ern llanos, the highland region, and the moun¬ 
tain region. In the eastern llanos the climate 
is humid and hot, in the highland region it is 
temperate, and in the mountain region it is 
cold. A favorable climate prevails in the region 
of the Medio Yunga, which embraces an ele¬ 
vated plateau. At La Paz, elevated 12,500 feet 
above the sea, the temperature averages about 
50°. 

Natural Resources. The forests are of 
incalculable value, cover a vast extent of the 
surface, and have many varieties of useful 
trees. Here thrive the mahogany, ebony, cork, 
cedar, rosewood, and many species of palm. A 






BOLIVIA 


328 


BOLIVIA 


treeless region occupies the Bolivian highlands, 
where large areas are covered with nutritious 
grasses. The mineral resources are especially 
noteworthy. In the extent of productive silver 
fields Bolivia takes high rank, and gold deposits 
are likewise extensive. Other minerals found 
in paying quantities are copper, lead, tin, zinc, 
borax, coal, and manganese. Many wild ani¬ 
mals infest the unpopulated regions, such as the 
puma,-jaguar, tapir, and armadillo, and the 
birds of song and plumage, including the tou¬ 
can, parrot, and pigeon, are very numerous. 

Industries. Mining continues to be the 
leading industry of Bolivia, but agriculture is 
gaining a larger foothold on account of the 
favorable conditions in the development of 
trade. It is known that gold was mined by 
the Incas long before the Spanish conquest, 
and interests in gold, silver, and tin mining 
have received special attention for a long 
period of years. In the output of silver Bo¬ 
livia takes from third to fourth rank. The 
government has granted liberal concessions to 
those who open and operate new mines, and 
has extended appropriations to promote the 
construction of railroads as a means of secur¬ 
ing transportation facilities to convey the ore 
to smelters and elsewhere. 

Much of the land fitted for agriculture is 
owned by large investors and by the Indians. 
Farming is primitive, especially in the matter 
of cultivating the soil. It yields little more 
than is needed to supply the local demand, 
although the country is susceptible of large 
production. Many varieties of fruit are culti¬ 
vated, especially the banana, pineapple, peach, 
lemon, fig, and the vine. All the cereals, such 
as wheat, corn, and barley, are grown, and 
considerable interest is taken in the cultivation 
of alfalfa, coffee, sugar cane, and vegetables. 
Stock raising is largely in the hands of Indians, 
who have herds of cattle in the grazing dis¬ 
tricts, and give some attention to the rearing 
of horses and sheep. Other animals reared 
to a considerable extent are mules, swine, 
alpacas, llamas, and vicunas. 

Little progress has been made in manufac¬ 
turing, and the output consists mostly of wear¬ 
ing apparel and utensils. The exports embrace 
hides, rubber, coffee, wool, metals, lumber, and 
products derived from medicinal plants, such 
as cinchona and sarsaparilla. Germany has the 
largest share of foreign trade, and the trade 
with the United States and Great Britain is 
making a steady growth. Among the leading 
imports are cotton goods, furniture, and manu¬ 
factures of iron and steel. Bolivia has no sea¬ 
port, and foreign trade is carried on largely 
by the Peruvian port Molliendo and the Chilean 
port Antofagasta, from which railroads are 
operated to the inland points of the eastern 
part of Bolivia. The highways are in a bad 
condition and are improved only to a limited 
extent. Few railroads are operated, and most 


of the mileage is made up of narrow gauge 
lines, but telegraph and telephone connections 
are quite common. Much of the inland trade is 
carried by pack animals, and rivers furnish an 
outlet to the Atlantic, but the distance across 
the continent is so great that the river trade 
has not been developed to any great extent. 

Government. Bolivia is a republic and its 
government is organized as a representative 
democracy. The president, elected by direct 
vote for four years, is the chief executive, and 
is assisted by a vice president and five minis¬ 
ters. The legislative authority is vested in a 
congress of two houses, the senate and cham¬ 
ber of deputies. In the former are eighteen 
members, elected for six years, and the latter 
has 64 members, elected for four years. The 
system of department courts includes judges of 
district and supreme tribunals. The national 
supreme court is the highest judicial authority. 
Local government is administered by the eight 
departments, and these are divided into prov¬ 
inces and cantons. Education is free and obliga¬ 
tory, but the public schools do not provide suf¬ 
ficient facilities to accommodate those of school 
age and the compulsory school attendance law 
is not well enforced. The common schools are 
maintained by municipalities and cantons, and 
in addition there are eight colleges and six 
universities. Several theological seminaries and 
a number of missionary and parochial schools 
are maintained. 

Inhabitants. The white inhabitants are 
largely of Spanish origin, but immigration from 
Europe, especially from Germany, is adding 
quite a number of whites. Mestizos and In¬ 
dians make up a large per cent, of the popula¬ 
tion. A number of the Indians are still uncivil¬ 
ized, especially the Guarani tribe. Roman 
Catholic is the religion of most of the people, 
but there is no restriction as to religious wor¬ 
ship, and a number of Protestant churches and 
missionary schools are maintained. Sucre is 
the capital and La Paz is the largest city. 
Oruro, Cochabamba, Santa Cruz, Potosi, and 
Huanchaca are the leading cities. The popu¬ 
lation has not increased materially for twenty 
years, but there has been a steady growth, 
especially in the towns. Population, 1921, 2,267,- 
935. 

History. The history of Bolivia is charac¬ 
terized by many wars and insurrections. It 
was a part of the ancient empire of the Incas 
and was conquered by Hernando Pizarro i:i 
1538 for Spain. At that time it was made a 
part of Peru and later of the government of 
La Plata, but in 1825 was organized as a sepa¬ 
rate state and named in honor of Simon Boli¬ 
var (q. v.), who became its first president under 
a constitution drawn by him and adopted in 
1826. In 1836 it was annexed to Peru under 
President Santa Cruz, but the union was soon 
set aside and Bolivia has been the scene of 
many revolutions and civil wars. Chile declared 


BOLOGNA 


329 


BOMB 


war against Bolivia and Peru in 1876, and as a 
result the port of Antofagasta and adjacent 
territory were lost to the Bolivians, thus cut¬ 
ting them entirely off the Pacific coast. A 
revolution took place in 1898, when a change 
was brought about in the administration by 
force of arms. 

BOLOGNA (bo-ldn'ya), an ancient city in 
Italy, capital of a province of the same name, 
located in a fertile plain near the Apennines, 
about eighty miles north of Florence. It is 
surrounded by a brick wall and penetrated by 
canals, which serve as arteries of commerce. 
The city is adorned by many palaces in which 
are historic paintings of the leading artists of 
Italy.. As a whole the general architecture is 
massive and substantial, but the styles are 
mediaeval in appearance, since the fagades of 
most of the buildings overhang the second 
story. A number of monuments adorn the 
parks and squares. The principal buildings in¬ 
clude the Palazzo del Podesta, the Palazzo 
Publico, and the basilica of Saint Petronio, the 
largest church in the city. The leaning towers, 
Degli Asinelli and Garisenda, built in the 12th 
century, are among the noted structures in the 
city. There are over one hundred churches 
remarkable for beauty and wealth. Near the 
city is the church of Madonna di San Lucca, 
at the foot of the Apennines, which is reached 
by an arcade of 640 arches. Other noted 
buildings include the university, the Academy 
of Fine Arts, the city hall, and many schools 
and hospitals. It has manufactures of clothing, 
macaroni, silk and linen textiles, leather, canned 
fruit, and machinery. Among the modern 
facilities are steam and electric railways, gas 
and electric lighting, and pavements of stone 
and asphalt. 

Bologna was founded by the Etruscans and 
is counted one of the oldest cities in Europe. 
It became a Roman colony in 189 b. c. In 728 
a. d. it was taken by Longobards, but later 
was held by Charlemagne, who made it a free 
city. Since 1860 it has been a part of Italy. 
It contains some of the most interesting and 
beautiful edifices and adornments of antiquity 
and is visited by many who travel for study. 
Population, 1916, 172,009. 

BOLOGNA, University of, an institution 
of higher learning at Bologna, Italy, noted as 
one of the most famous centers of education 
in the world. It is thought that the founda¬ 
tion was laid at the beginning of the Chris¬ 
tian era, but its early history is obscure, and, 
according to some writers, it was founded by 
Theodosius in 425. Subsequently it was de¬ 
stroyed as a result of wars and insurrections, 
but Charlemagne restored and enlarged it. In 
point of attendance it reached its greatest 
prosperity during the Middle Ages, when it 
had about 8,000 students, but with the rise of 
the great universities in Germany the attend¬ 
ance began to decline and at present the en¬ 


rollment is about 1,500. The scholars who 
made this institution famous include Luigi 
Galvani, Vesalius, Mme. Mazzolini, and the 
female professor Clotilda Tambroni. It is 
coeducational, and is equipped with a library 
of 260,000 volumes and excellent chemical and 
physical laboratories. The faculties include 
those of mathematics and sciences, philosophy 
and letters, medicine and surgery, jurispru¬ 
dence, pharmacy, engineering, drawing and 
architecture, politics, and veterinary surgery. 

BOLOMETER (bo-lom'e-ter), an instru¬ 
ment used to measure minute quantities of 
heat, especially in different portions of the 
spectrum. It is sometimes called actinic bal¬ 
ance and thermic balance. The essential part 
is an electrical apparatus known as Wheat¬ 
stone’s Bridge, which has two arms, one of 
which consists of three strips of platinum black¬ 
ened and exposed to the rays of the sun, and the 
other arm is connected with a small but sensi¬ 
tive galvanometer. A current of electricity is 
developed as soon as the platinum area is ex¬ 
posed to the sun, owing to the fact that it is 
highly sensitive, and the degree of heat is indi¬ 
cated by the needle of the galvanometer. This 
instrument, though so delicate that it is in¬ 
fluenced by minute changes of temperature, is 
the most reliable device for studying radiation. 

BOLSHEVIKI (bol-she've-ke), the name 
of the political party in Russia which favored a 
peace treaty at the end of the third year of the 
Great European War. It developed great 
strength under the leadership of Nikoli Lenine 
and Leon Trotzky, in 1917, in opposition to Alex¬ 
ander F. Kerensky and the party that wanted to 
continue the war in conjunction with the En¬ 
tente Allies. The peace conferences at Brest- 
Litovsk resulted from the activities of the bol- 
sheviki. ' 

BOLTON (bol'tun), or Bolton-le-Moors, 
an important manufacturing city in Lancashire, 
England, on the Croal River, about ten miles 
northwest of Manchester. The chief buildings 
include the town hall, two museums, the church 
of Saint Peter, the public baths, and five public 
libraries. Large quantities of coal are mined 
in the vicinity. It was noted for its manufac¬ 
ture of cotton and woolen goods as early as the 
14th century, when Flemish merchants stimu¬ 
lated the industry. Population, 1921,180,885. 

BOMA (bo'ma), the capital of the Congo 
Free State, on the Congo River, not far from 
its entrance into the Atlantic. It is regularly 
platted and has a number of fine buildings, 
including those erected by the government. 
The largest vessels enter its port, giving it 
direct steamship communication with Ostend, 
Antwerp, and other cities of Europe. It has 
a large interior and foreign trade, manufactures 
of utensils and clothing, and is the political 
center of the district of Boma and the country 
lying inland. Population, 1921, 4,360. 

BOMB (bom), an agent of destruction used 


BOMBARDIER BEETLE 


330 


BOMBAY 


in war. It is usually a large iron ball or shell 
filled with explosives and fired from a mortar 
or howitzer. Bombs are provided with a time 
or percussion fuse. They were first used at 
Naples in 1434. The conical shells fired from 
rifled cannon have largely supplanted the older 
bomb. A class of bombs to be thrown by 
hand are sometimes used with murderous effect. 
The most noteworthy instances of such use in 
the latter part of the last century were at Saint 
Petersburg, Madrid, and Paris. They are con¬ 
structed of a shell filled with high explosives, 
together with nails, scraps of iron, and bullets. 
The explosives used are nitroglycerin, fulminate 
of mercury, or chlorate of potash and picric 
acid. The explosion in the common bomb is 
effected by concussion, and in those depending 
wholly upon chemical action, as in one con¬ 
taining picric acid and chlorate of potash, it is 
effected by a coming together of the two liq¬ 
uids. 

BOMBARDIER BEETLE (bom-ber-der'), 
a kind of beetle found in temperate and tropi¬ 
cal countries. Many species have been de¬ 
scribed. Fully 25 species are found in differ¬ 
ent parts of the United States and Mexico. 
These beetles are remarkable for the secretion 
of a pungent fluid in the anal glands, which, 
when they are attacked by an enemy, is dis¬ 
charged with explosive force as a means of pro¬ 
tection. This fluid somewhat resembles nitric 
acid in that it leaves a stain and has a burning 
sensation when applied to the skin. Immediately 
on making the discharge, the insect makes good 
its escape, but, if needed as a means of defense, 
the fluid can be thrown out several times con¬ 
secutively. 

BOMBARDMENT (bom-bard'ment), the 
act of attacking a city or fort by throwing 
bombs and shells to destroy the buildings and 
fortifications. This manner of attack is made 
chiefly on the larger cities and more important 
fortresses, usually on those that occupy a strat¬ 
egic point or in which a powerful army or 
valuable stores are kept by the enemy. In 
modern times most bombardments involve both 
naval and military operations. The attacking 
party usually gives notice of the impending 
attack 24 hours before opening fire in order 
that noncombatants may protect their lives 
and property by moving out of the range of 
the guns, though in some cases the enemy is 
surprised by a sudden attack, when no notice 
is given. In many cases excavations are made 
underground or bomb-proof masonry is built 
as a means of protecting life. Sebastopol, in 
the Crimean War, is an example of heavy 
bombardment, and Port Arthur, which the Jap¬ 
anese captured after repeated assaults, is an 
instance of combining the naval and military 
operations to good advantage. 

BOMBAY (bom-ba/), the chief seaport city 
of India and capital of a province of the same 
name. It is located on a small island in the 


Arabian Sea, which was visited by the Portu¬ 
guese in .1509 and annexed by them in 1532. 
It was ceded to Charles II. as a part of the 
dowery of his bride, the Infanta Catharine. 
In 1668 it was transferred to the East India 
Company, and in 1685 became the principal 
presidency of their possessions. There is a 
closer resemblance between it and European 
cities than is seen in any other city of Asia. 
The harbor is one of the finest in the world, 
and is both commodious and sufficiently secure 
for the heaviest ironclads. It has many sub¬ 
stantial business blocks and magnificent homes 
in the newer suburban districts, where the 
larger numbers of its European inhabitants 
reside. The public buildings include the cus¬ 
tomhouse, the city hall, the public mint, several 
cathedrals, the offices of public works, the gov¬ 
ernment courts, and the university. It has a 
well-organized and liberally patronized public 
school system, which is supported by taxation 
and government grants. Bombay has extensive 
manufacturing enterprises. The products include 
machinery, clothing, earthenware, textiles, and 
utensils. Its export and import commerce is 
very extensive, each aggregating about $175- 
000,000 annually. The city has railroad connec¬ 
tions with the country in all directions, is lighted 
by electricity, has street railway service, and is 
extensively connected by telegraph and tele¬ 
phone lines. Although the city presents ele¬ 
ments of prosperity, it contains many poor and 
destitute. The life of the native laborer is one 
of misery and destitution, often reaching the 
point of starvation. Large numbers of the 
poor die in consequence of the famines that are 
quite frequent in western and northwestern 
India. Population, 1920, 981,565. 

The province of which Bombay is the cap¬ 
ital lies in the western part of India. It is 
bounded on the north by Baluchistan; east by 
Rajputana, Central India, the Central Provinces, 
Besar, and Plydenabad; south by Mysore and 
Madras; and west by Baluchistan and the 
Arabian Sea. The area is 184,235 square miles, 
of which 122,778 square miles are under direct 
British administration. The climate at Bom¬ 
bay is unhealthful, owing to its low and moist 
location, but toward the northeast the district is 
favorable to Europeans. The chief rivers in¬ 
clude the Indus, Tapti, and Nerbudda. Among 
the mineral deposits are gold, iron, coal, salt, 
and petroleum. The rainfall is very heavy in 
the coast district, sometimes reaching 300 
inches, and heavy monsoons are frequent. 
Large areas still contain valuable forests, but 
in some regions deserts and saline lakes abound. 
The agricultural products embrace rice, wheat, 
barley, millet, cotton, and many varieties of 
tropical fruits. Railroads have been built 
through all the fertile districts, on which are 
located numerous cities with large populations. 
In 1907 the lines in operation had a length of 
6,890 miles. - The government of the district 


BONA 


331 


BONAPARTE 


is administered by a resident governor, ap¬ 
pointed by the crown, and a local legislative 
council. For administrative purposes it is di¬ 
vided into the four divisions of Central, North¬ 
ern, Southern, and Sind. Population, 1921, 
19,840,520. 

BONA (bo'na), or Bone, a seaport city of 
Algeria, on a bay of the Mediterranean, 85 
miles northeast of Constantine. It has a good 
harbor and a large interior and foreign trade, 
and is connected with Constantine, Algiers, and 
other cities by railway. The chief buildings 
include those erected by the government and 
a number of mosques and churches. It has 
manufactures of tapestry, clothing, saddlery, 
and earthenware, and its trade is chiefly in live 
stock, wool, cereals, wax, fish, and tobacco. 
Iron mines and marble quarries are worked in 
the vicinity. The French have occupied Bona 
since 1832, from which time it has been growing 
steadily in commercial importance. Popula¬ 
tion, 1916, 42,934. 

BONANZA (bo-nan'za), a term applied 
originally to the discovery of a vein of rich ore 
in a mine. It came into use in connection with 
the Comstock Lode in Nevada, where a num¬ 
ber of rich deposits were found. Now it is 
used in speaking of any successful enterprise 
or good fortune. The term is one of the pop¬ 
ular Americanisms (q. v.)„ 

BONAPARTE (bo'na-part), Charles Jo¬ 
seph, statesman, born in Baltimore, Md., June 
9, 1851. He is a grandson of Jerome Bona¬ 
parte, King of West¬ 
phalia. In 1871 he 
graduated at Harvard 
University and in 
1874 at the Harvard 
Law School, and be¬ 
gan a successful prac- 
t i c e in Baltimore, 
where he became 
prominent in reform 
movements. In 1902 
he was made a mem¬ 
ber of the board of 
Indian commission¬ 
ers, and two years 
later was chairman 
of the council of the 
National Civil Service Reform League. Presi¬ 
dent Roosevelt made him Secretary of the 
Navy in 1905. He was succeeded by Victor H. 
Metcalf in 1907, when he became Attorney Gen¬ 
eral. He died June 28, 1921. 

BONAPARTE, Elizabeth Patterson, first 
wife of Jerome Bonaparte, born in Baltimore, 
Md., Feb. 6, 1785; died April 4, 1879. She first 
met Jerome Bonaparte, then a youth of nine¬ 
teen, at Baltimore, who proposed marriage, 
which she accepted. The marriage was opposed 
by William Patterson, father of Elizabeth, and 
by Napoleon, brother of Jerome. She was not 
permitted to land when reaching Lisbon, Por¬ 


tugal, and Jerome proceeded to Egypt to con¬ 
sult with Napoleon, while Elizabeth sailed for 
Camberwell, England, where her son, Jerome 
Napoleon Bonaparte,, was born. The marriage 
was annulled in France by the imperial council 
of state, and on the application of Elizabeth she 
was granted a divorce in the courts of Mary¬ 
land, though she sought by every legal means 
to maintain the right of her son to inherit the 
throne. She visited Europe after Napoleon’s 
defeat at Waterloo, and again in 1819. She 
left a fortune of $1,500,000 to her grandsons, 
sons of Jerome Napoleon Bonaparte. 

BONAPARTE, Jerome, the youngest 
brother of Napoleon I., born at Ajaccio, Cor¬ 
sica, Nov. 15, 1784; died June 24, 1860. He 
studied in the college of Juilly, but soon en¬ 
tered the naval service in the Mediterranean, 
and later in the West Indies. In 1803 he mar¬ 
ried Elizabeth Patterson, the daughter of a 
Baltimore merchant, which was repudiated by 
his brother, and his wife was not permitted to 
enter France. He became King of Westphalia 
in 1806, and shortly afterward married a 
daughter of Frederick, King of Wiirttemberg. 
After the second abdication of Napoleon, he 
retired to the kingdom of his father-in-law, 
and subsequently became governor of the In- 
valides and in 1850 was made marshal of 
France. The son of his first wife, Jerome Na¬ 
poleon Bonaparte, graduated at Harvard and 
spent much of his life in France. He died in 
Baltimore, Md., June 17, 1870. 

BONAPARTE, Joseph, eldest brother of 
Napoleon I., born at Corte, Corsica, Jan. 7, 
1768; died at Florence, Italy, July 28, 1844. 
His education was secured at the college of 
Autun, France. Afterward he studied law 
and returned to Corsica, where he became a 
member of the administration of Corsica under 
Paoli, in 1792. When his brother, Napoleon 
Bonaparte, rose to power, he entered upon a 
successful diplomatic and military career. In 
1806 he became King of Naples with the name 
of Joseph, and two years later was made King 
of Spain. Flis dominion depended entirely upon 
the power of the French army, which proved 
insufficient to put down the Spanish insurgents, 
and he returned to France in 1813. After the 
success of the allied armies at Waterloo, he 
came to America and engaged in the pursuit of 
agriculture at Bordentown, N. J. While in 
America he assumed the title of Count de 
Survilliers. He returned to Europe in 1832, 
and in 1841 went to Florence, where his wife 
resided. 

BONAPARTE, Louis, brother of Napoleon 
I. and father of Napoleon III., born at Ajaccio, 
Corsica, Sept. 2, 1778; died July 25, 1846. He 
was educated at the school of Chalons and 
accompanied his brother in the Italian cam¬ 
paigns and to Egypt. Distinguishing himself as 
a military man, he rose to the rank of briga¬ 
dier general. He was induced by his brother 



C. J. BONAPARTE. 


BONAPARTE 


332 


BONE 


to accept the crown of Holland, but to this re¬ 
sponsibility he consented with reluctance. He 
administered the affairs of state with consid¬ 
erable ability, and sought in every way possible 
to promote the welfare of his subjects. His 
administration was not satisfactory to JNapo- 
leon, which caused him to abdicate at Haarlem, 
July 1, 1810, after which he retired to Rome 
to spend most of the remainder of his life. 
He was deeply affected by the death of his 
oldest son in 1831 and by the unsuccessful at¬ 
tacks of Louis Napoleon at Strasburg and 
Bologna. Bonaparte married Hortense Beau- 
harnais, the daughter of Josephine, in 1802. 
His death resulted from an attack of apoplexy. 

BONAPARTE, Lucien, prince of Canino, 
born in Ajaccio, Corsica, March 21, 1775; died 
at Viterbo, Italy, June 29, 1840. His education 
was secured at Autun, Brienne, and Aix and 
was both liberal and well directed. He took 
up his residence at Marseilles in 1793, where 
he held several positions in local government 
and distinguished himself as a politician and 
republican orator. In 1798 he settled in Paris, 
where he soon became a member of the Council 
of Five Hundred, and the following year was 
made president of the Council. While in this 
official position he contributed largely to the 
downfall of the Directory and Napoleon’s as¬ 
cent to power, Nov. 9, 1799. Napoleon sent him 
as ambassador to Spain and he afterward with¬ 
drew to Italy, where he devoted himself to 
sciences and arts, wholly indifferent to the mili¬ 
tary and political successes of his brother. He 
was offered the crown of Italy and Spain, but 
refused. After the final defeat of Napoleon, he 
took up his residence permanently in Italy as a 
student of science and literature, and later was 
made prince of Canino by Pope Pius VII. He 
published several works of merit, among them a 
description of Etruscan antiquities. 

BONAPARTE, Maria Letizia Ramolino, 
mother of Napoleon I., born in Ajaccio, Cor¬ 
sica, Aug. 24, 1750; died Feb. 2, 1836. She 
married Carlo Bonaparte in 1767, who died in 
1785, and subsequently removed from Corsica 
to Marseilles, where she was supported by a 
pension. When Napoleon became emperor, in 
1804, she received the title of Madame Mere, 
and after his downfall she lived in Rome. She 
was considered a woman of personal beauty 
and frugality and possessed much energy and 
pride. 

BONAPARTE, Napoleon. See Napoleon I. 

BOND (bond), Sir Robert, statesman, born 
at Saint John’s, Newfoundland, Feb. 25, 1857. 
He studied law, but decided to take up a polit¬ 
ical career, and entered the legislature of the 
colony in 1882. Two years later he was made 
speaker of the House of Assembly and was 
appointed executive counciler with the port¬ 
folio of Colonial Secretary in 1889, which he 
held until 1897, when he was appointed a dele¬ 
gate to act for Great Britain on the questions 


involved in treaties with France. Soon after 
he was appointed to assist Lord Pauncefote in 
negotiating a reciprocal treaty with the United 
States, and was instrumental in completing 
what is known as the Bond-Blaine convention. 
Subsequently he was prominent as a factor in 
making treaties relating to fisheries. In 1902 
he concluded with the United States negotia¬ 
tions for reciprocal trade relations between 
that country and Newfoundland, known as the 
Hay-Bond treaty. He was honored by mem¬ 
bership in a number of important commercial 
and political associations and delivered numer¬ 
ous impressive and scholarly addresses. 

BONE, the hard material that constitutes 
the skeleton or framework of mammals, rep¬ 
tiles, and birds. Its three purposes are to pre¬ 
serve the shape of the body, to protect the deli¬ 
cate organs and to serve as levers on which 
muscles may act to produce motion. In the 
early stages of life bones consist of cartilage, 
that is, cells massed together, except in the 
flat bones of the skull and shoulder blade, 
which consists largely of fibrous tissue. At 
maturity they contain about one part of ani¬ 
mal and two parts of mineral matter. The 
proportions vary with the age; in early life 
they consist of nearly one-half to one-half, 
while in old age the mineral matter is greatly in 
excess. The mineral matter may be dissolved 
by soaking the bone in weak muriatic acid, 
which will make it possible to bend it like rub¬ 
ber. The animal matter may be burned in fire, 
the remaining portion forming a brittle mineral 
mass. From this it may be seen that bones 
obtain their elasticity from animal matter and 
their hardness from mineral substances.- 

The cartilage found in young persons or 
animals turns gradually into bone by a process 
called ossification, but the portions near the 
joints are long delayed in ossifying, as a means 
to overcome to a great extent the shock of a 
fall or sudden jar. For this reason the bones 
of children are tougher than those of older 
people, and are less readily fractured and 
heal much quicker. In the body bones are 
moist, pinkish white in color, and covered with 
a tough membrane called periosteum. The in¬ 
terior is filled with marrow and permeated with 
blood vessels. All portions contain little cavi¬ 
ties, from which tiny tubes radiate that serve 
as passages for the blood vessels to nourish 
the bones. These vessels permit the blood to 
circulate as freely through the bones as any 
part of the body, supplying new material when 
needed and carrying away the worn out parts. 
From the broken ends of a bone the blood 
oozes and soon forms a gristly substance, 
which holds them in place. The blood then 
slowly deposits bone matter, and in about six 
weeks a broken bone becomes united. 

The bones of the human system resemble 
those of other animal organisms, but in shape 
and structure are peculiarly adapted to serve 


BONEBLACK 


333 


BONHEUR 


the human body. For convenience in study 
they arc considered as bones of the three divi¬ 
sions : the head, the trunk t and the limbs. In 
form they are flat, as the shoulder blade; long, 
as the bones of the limbs; and short and irreg¬ 
ular, as those of the wrist and ankle. The 
bones of the head are classified as eight skull 
and fourteen face bones. These bones form a 
cavity for the protection of the brain and the 
organs of hearing, taste, smell, and sight. All 
these are immovable, except the lower jaw, 
which swings on a hinge. The bones of the 
trunk include eight in the cervical region, thir¬ 
ty-seven in the thorax, five in the lumbar 
region, and four in the pelvis. The bones of 
the limbs include sixty-four in the upper extrem¬ 
ities, and sixty in the lower extremities. The 
total number of bones in the body is about 210, 
these differing somewhat according to age, since 
several bones unite later in life. The size, 
form, and structure of the bones depend en¬ 
tirely upon the purpose they are to serve. Some 
are round and hollow and add lightness and 
strength; others are flat and broad to admit 
of large muscular attachment; while still others 
are short and solid to enable rapidity and facility 
in movement and to supply sufficient strength. 

The bones of animals are gathered from 
slaughter houses and converted into articles 
of commerce. Ground into powder, they sup¬ 
ply a valuable fertilizer for the production of 
cereals, vegetables, and fruits. In some locali¬ 
ties their fats are first extracted, which are used 
in the manufacture of soap and lubricants. In 
powdered form they are prescribed as medi¬ 
cines and add largely to the elements that build 
up a system wanting in material strength. They 
also serve for making handles in cutlery, for 
sugar refining, and for making boneblack. 

BONEBLACK, or Animal Charcoal, a 
commercial product obtained by heating bones 
in closed retorts, until the gases escape and 
the residue is carbonized. The portions re¬ 
maining in the vessel weigh about half as much 
as the original bones. They are reduced by 
passing them between rollers and separated by 
means of sieves into different grades, the sizes 
ranging from small grains to particles as large 
as navy beans. Boneblack is used to decolor¬ 
ize liquids, such as the syrup of sugar, and is 
employed to deodorize and to separate mineral 
substances from their solutions. Animal char¬ 
coal serves to remove the chemical impurities 
from water, but its use in refining sugar is the 
most important. Deodorization and decolor- 
ization take place by allowing the substances 
to be purified to percolate through layers of the 
charcoal, and in some cases the liquids are 
filtered several times to secure the best results 
After using the boneblack a number of times 
it becomes saturated, when the ability to absorb 
may be restored by reheating it. 

BONESET, or Thoroughwort, a perennial 
plant of America, distinguished by large hairy 


leaves, b'ght purple flowers, and a stem from 
three to five feet in height. The leaves and 
flowering tops have a bitter taste and are used 
as a tonic. Boneset tea is made by steeping 
the leaves in hot water, and, when taken in 
this form, as warm as possible, it produces 
perspiration. It is recommended for ague, in¬ 
fluenza, and muscular rheumatism. 

BONHAM (bon'am), a city in Texas, 
county seat of Fannin County, about thirty 
miles east of Sherman, on the Denison, Bon¬ 
ham and New Orleans and the Texas and Pa¬ 
cific railroads. It is surrounded by a fertile 
region and is a market for tobacco, cereals, 
and cotton. Among the chief buildings are 
the county courthouse, the Carlton College, 
and the Bonham Masonic Institute. The man¬ 
ufactures include cigars, flour, machinery, vehi¬ 
cles, and textiles. It has waterworks, electric 
lightning, and a large trade in farm produce. 
Population, 1900, 5,042; in 1920, 6,008. ' 

BONHEUR (bo-nur'), Marie Rosa, famous 
animal painter, born at Bordeaux. France, 
March 22, 1822; died at By, France, May 25, 
1899. Her education 
was directed by her 
father, Raymond 
Bonheur, an artist, 
who died in 1853. The 
first of her works ex¬ 
hibited in the Salon 
were “Two Rabbits” 
and “ Goats and 
Sheep.” In 1849 she 
produced her famous 
paint mg, “Plowing 
with Oxen.” now in 
the Louvre. Her well- 
known “Horse Fair” 
attracted much atten¬ 
tion at the Salon in 1853, and was bought by 
Cornelius Vanderbilt in 1887 for $53,500 and 
presented to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, 
New York. After the capture of Paris by the 
Germans in 1870, her studio was visited by the 
Crown Prince of Prussia and by his order it 
was protected from damages. She wore a 
masculine costume in attendance at horse fairs 
and other places of interest to gather models 
for her work. As a means of studying the 
habits and characteristic positions assumed by 
animals she kept a menagerie of her own to 
paint from it the real and beautiful in nature. 
The honors bestowed upon her include mem¬ 
bership in the Institute of Antwerp, in 1868; 
the Cross of the Order of Leopold from the 
King of Belgium, in 1880; the Cross of the 
Order of Isabella the Catholic from the King 
of Spain; and the Cross of the Legion of 
Honor. Besides those named above, her works 
include “The Haymaking Season in Auvergne,” 
“Sheep at the Seaside,” “The Lion at Home,” 
“High Life and Low Life,” and “The Stam 
pede.” 



MARIE ROSA BONHEUR. 




BONHQMME RICHARD 


334 


BONYTHON 


BONHOMME RICHARD (bo-nom'), the 
flagship used by John Paul Jones (q. v.) in the 
American Revolution, at the time he captured 
the British sloop Serapis, on Sept. 23, 1779. 
He had collected a number of vessels and was 
sent to the coast of Scotland, where he cap¬ 
tured many prizes. Late in September he at¬ 
tacked the Serapis under Captain Pearson. Sail¬ 
ing broadside of that vessel, and after lashing 
the two boats together, a terrific hand-to-hand 
fight ensued. The British ship surrendered 
after a fight of three hours, but the Richard 
was damaged and sent to the bottom of the 
North Sea. For this victory Congress gave 
Jones the thanks of the nation and a gold 
medal. 

BONIFACE (bon'i-fas), the name of nine 
popes, of whom only three are celebrated in 
history.—Boniface I., who reigned in 418-22, 
was the earliest to assume the title of first 
bishop of Christendom.—Boniface VIII., who 
reigned in 1294-1303, was noted for the dis¬ 
tinguished pomp displayed in the inauguration, 
in which the kings of Sicily and Hungary 
served him at table with their crowns upon 
their heads. He became obnoxious by inter¬ 
fering in many of the temporal affairs of 
Europe and was made a prisoner by Philip of 
France for taking part in the disputes between 
that country and England. He was assigned 
an unenviable place in Dante’s “Inferno.”— 
Boniface IX. reigned in 1389-1404. He was 
opposed by Benedict XIII., who was located 
at Avignon and claimed the papal dignity. 

BONIFACE, Saint, the apostle of Germany, 
born at Crediton, England, in 680; slain by 
armed pagans in 755. He set out on a mission¬ 
ary expedition in 715 to operate in Friesland, 
but was frustrated by a war waged by Charles 
Martel against the Friesian king. Later he 
was given unlimited power to do missionary 
work by the Pope and attained great success in 
Hesse, Thuringia, and Friesland, where he 
converted thousands of heathen and baptized 
them into the Church of Rome. In 723 he was 
made bishop, and in 732 became archbishop and 
primate of all Germany. He founded churches, 
built convents, established bishoprics, and con¬ 
verted a pagan country into a Christian land. 
While in Friesland he was assailed by a mob 
and killed. His remains were buried at the 
abbey of Fulda, where a statue was erected to 
his honor in 1842. Both the Anglican and the 
Roman churches celebrate his festival on 
June 5th. 

BONN (bon), an important city of Germany, 
in Rhenish Prussia, on the Rhine River, about 
fifteen miles southeast of Cologne. It is con¬ 
nected by railroads with all parts of Germany 
and carries on a large manufacturing and job¬ 
bing trade. The chief buildings include the 
railway station, the museum, the city hall, and 
the Munster Church, which dates from the 11th 
century and is in the Romanesque style. It 


is the seat of the famous University of Bonn 
(q. v.), in which Schlegel, Niebuhr, Brandis, 
and Ritschl were leaders in educational thought. 
The Beethoven House, in which the composer 
was born, now contains the Beethoven Museum. 
In its burial grounds are the graves of Schlegel 
and Schumann. Many tourists visit the city, 
being attracted by its pleasing villas and his¬ 
torical surroundings. Bonn was the seat of 
the electors of Cologne, and by the virtue of 
the Congress of Vienna it passed into the 
hands of Prussia in 1815. The city is beauti¬ 
fully improved with monuments, parks, electric 
railways, and waterworks, and is celebrated 
for its sanitary regulations. Population,. 1905, 
81,996; in 1920, 87,967. 

BONN, University of, an institution of 
higher learning at Bonn, Germany, which ranks 
next to that of Berlin among the German edu¬ 
cational institutions. The foundation was laid 
in 1777 by Maximilian Frederick, Archbishop 
of Cologne, who established an academy, but 
this was changed to a university in 1818 and 
removed to its present location in Bonn. The 
departments are law, medicine, philosophy, and 
theology. In its library are 280,000 volumes 
and many valuable manuscripts. The chief 
buildings include the university proper, and the 
laboratories, the observatory, and the physio¬ 
logical institute. Niebuhr, Arndt, and Schlegel 
were connected with this institution. The 
attendance 2,550, including a number of stu¬ 
dents from foreign countries. 

BONNER (bon'ner), Robert, publisher, 
born near Londonderry, Ireland, April 28, 
1824; died in New York, July 6, 1899. When 
young he came to the United States and 
learned the trade of a printer. He became 
proprietor of the New York Ledger in 1851. 
Several educational institutions received lib¬ 
eral donations from him, among them the Col¬ 
lege of New Jersey, at Princeton. He became 
an admirer of fine horses and was the owner 
of Dexter and Maud S. 

BONY PIKE, a ganoid fish native to North 
America, found chiefly in the brackish waters 
of rivers and lakes. It is covered with hard, 
bony scales and the vertebrae are completely 
ossified. It breathes atmospheric air, coming 
to the surface for that purpose, and feeds on 
other fishes. Several species are found in Cen¬ 
tral America and the United States. These 
fish are interesting because they represent a 
fossil species and their type is almost extinct. 
The gar pike and the alligator gar belong to the 
same genus. The average length is three feet, 
but sometimes specimens six feet long are 
found. 

BONYTHON, Sir John Langdon, journal¬ 
ist, born in London, England, Oct. 15, 1848. 
He studied at the Brougham School in 
Adelaide, Australia, and engaged on the lit¬ 
erary staff of The Adelaide Advertiser. In 
1887 he was oresident of the council of the 


BOOBY 


335 


BOOK 


South Australian School of Mines and Indus¬ 
tries, and subsequently held other positions in 
associations devoted to the promotion of com¬ 
merce and industry. He was elected a mem¬ 
ber of the first Parliament of the Common¬ 
wealth of Australia for the State of South 
Australia in 1901, and was subsequently 
reelected. His newspaper, The Adelaide Adver¬ 
tiser, of which he became editor and proprietor 
in 1898, has exercised a wide influence in pro¬ 
moting the interests of education and govern¬ 
ment of Australia. 

BOOBY (boo'by), a swimming bird closely 
allied to the gannet, whose name was derived 
from its apparent stupidity. Audubon as¬ 
serted that several specimens studied by him 
learned to be upon their guard and that they 
became difficult to approach after they had been 
harmed and frightened several days in succes¬ 
sion, but usually this bird has neither fear nor 
apparent desire to flee from danger. It inhabits 
the eastern coast of North America as far north 
as Cape Hatteras. The nests are rudely con¬ 
structed on rocky ledges, usually near the sea, 
and two or three eggs are laid at a time. 
While its flesh is not agreeable, it is sometimes 
eaten, though mostly by natives. 

BOOK, the common name applied to a writ¬ 
ten or printed composition forming a single 
volume. The early writings were preserved 
largely on monuments, on the walls of build¬ 
ings, and on ledges of stone. These were 
chosen because of their endurance against the 
corrosions of time. The Egyptians used the 
papyrus, a plant native to Egypt, to prepare 
writing material as early as 2000 b. c. It was 
prepared by cutting the stem of the plant into 
longitudinal slices, w r hich were then pressed 
and gummed together. The Babylonians and 
Assyrians used either papyrus or preserved 
their writings on a kind of clay tablets that 
were hardened by baking. It is claimed that 
the Koran was written on the shoulder blades 
of sheep, and there are numerous instances 
in which pieces of beechen boards were used 
in making books. The early books made of 
papyrus and skins of animals were in the form 
of a roll, written on both sides, and when 
used in study or for reference were wound 
back and forth. In Ezekiel ii, 9-10, reference 
is made to this form in these words: “Lo, 
a roll of a book was therein; and he spread 
it before me; and it was written within and 
without.” Books made in this form and 
transcribed by hand were very expensive. 
Plato paid $1,560 for a book; Aristotle, 
$2,900 for another; and Alfred the Great, about 
the year 872, gave an estate for a single 
volume. 

The invention of paper and the printing press 
greatly cheapened books, but enormous prices 
are still paid for rare and copiously illustrated 
works. A copy of Machlin’s Bible, illustrated 
by Tomkins, was valued at $2,625 when the 


first edition was published. Another Bible in 
fifty-four large folio volumes with 7,000 illus¬ 
trations, some of them hand-drawn, w r as sold 
for $25,000. Formerly the size of a book was 
taken from the number of leaves it contained. 
A fine example of this is found in the library 
of the University of Gottingen, which con¬ 
tains a Bible that has 5,373 leaves. The leaves 
were represented in number by the folio, 
quarto, and octavo, and the page by the 
size of the paper, designated as royal, demy, 
or crown. Now the size of the page depends 
upon the number of leaves into which 
the sheet of paper that enters the book is 
folded. However, to express the size defi¬ 
nitely, it is necessary that the size of the sheet 
be given in inches. A sheet of paper folded 
once, such as makes two leaves and four 
pages, is called a folio; folded twice, making 
eight pages, is called a quarto; folded three 
times, making sixteen pages, an octavo. The 
common sizes used are 8vo for large books 
and 12mo and 16mo for ordinary sizes. Folio 
and quarto books are rare, owing to their size 
being too large and difficult to handle. Illus¬ 
trations have been used in books from an 
early date. The books now commonly sold 
in the market contain illustrations of the two 
kinds known as half tones and zinc etchings, 
these having largely superseded the wood 
engravings used early in the printer’s art, and 
the finer and more expensive steel engravings 
of recent times. 

When the Alexandrian Library became gen¬ 
erally known, a market for books originated, 
and since that time the bookstore has been a 
common institution. The book trade is now 
one of the most important industries, employ¬ 
ing large numbers of men and women and 
involving investments of enormous sums of 
money. When papyrus and parchments consti¬ 
tuted the books in use, the printer’s ink of the 
present time was unknown, but instead vegeta¬ 
ble inks were made. Others were secured from 
animals, especially from the cuttlefish. These 
were applied to the permanent material, after 
the writing had been temporarily placed on 
the leaves of the palm and the inner bark 
of the elm, ash, and maple, which were used 
instead of tablets. When the manuscript writ¬ 
ing was completed, it was coated over with a 
durable and transparent varnish. This served 
to protect the writings, whether on vellum, 
parchment, or any other material used in writing. 

The subject-matter of a book is called the 
text. It is preceded by the title page, on which 
are the title of the contents, the name of the 
author and publisher, the date of publi¬ 
cation, and sometimes the notice of copy¬ 
right, but the last mentioned usually follows 
the title page. The preface is a statement of 
the author or editor in chief, explaining the 
plan and scope, after which is the table of 
contents and the text. Some books have an 


BOOKBINDING 


33G 


BOOKKEEPING 


index, which may either precede or follow the 
text. A collection of books constitutes a 
library. 

BOOKBINDING, the art of stitching or 
fastening together the leaves of a book for 
convenient use and covering them with a suita¬ 
ble cover. When books were rare and costly 
because of great patience and time required 
for writing them, the binding was done and 
the covers decorated on the most elaborate 
plans obtainable. The type-setting machines 
and high-speed printing presses are modern, 
but even with the invention of rude printing in 
the first half of the 15th century the production 
and cost of books were revolutionized. To 
prepare a page in type form and take off 
impression after impression was a vast im- 
, provement over the slow work of the Egyp¬ 
tian vassal and the Roman slave, who were 
employed to do much of the copying in ancient 
Egypt and Rome. In those early ages the 
books in common use were inclosed in a bind¬ 
ing of boards with corners plated and sides 
clasped. The books of the wealthy and noble 
were encased with ivory, embellished with gold, 
and ornamented with costly gems. Not only 
were the bindings elaborate, but the title pages 
were very costly. The rolls included in the 
writings on scrolls were richly carved and fin¬ 
ished in ivory and costly gems. 

Binding has become a separate industry in 
the larger cities, and in many instances it is 
entirely apart from the printing institutions. 
The printed pages are sent to the binder, 
where much of the folding and other essen¬ 
tials in binding are done by machinery. The 
chief processes in binding are the following: 
Folding the printed sheets; gathering them in 
consecutive order; pressing them to secure 
compactness; setting the back for cords and 
sewing them; rounding the back edges and 
applying glue; trimming the edges; binding 
the book to the sides in the binding material, 
whether paper, cloth, or leather; lettering back 
and sides; and completing edges by gilding 
or otherwise. Books may be full, half, or quar¬ 
ter bound. A full-bound book is with the back 
and sides leather; half-bound is with the back 
and corners leather, and the sides cloth or 
paper; and quarter-bound is with the back 
leather and the sides cloth or paper. Many 
books are bound entirely in paper, cloth, and 
cloth-vellum. Books of law and medicine are 
bound largely in sheepskin, and the finer library 
books are in calf, morocco, or russia. 

BOOKKEEPING, a system of recording 
the mercantile or pecuniary transactions so as 
to exhibit the condition and progress of busi¬ 
ness in a plain and comprehensive manner. 
It is an important branch of instruction in all 
commercial schools and business colleges and 
is studied by both sexes. Bookkeeping is 
taught in many institutions in connection with 
arithmetic and penmanship, and quite uni¬ 


formly enters into the course of study in the 
evening schools of the larger cities of Canada 
and the United States. The institutions which 
teach it regularly conduct exercises that nearly 
approximate the operations of actual business. 
Thus, students carry on business correspond¬ 
ence, make and receive formal consignments of 
merchandise, buy and sell exchanges upon the 
different sections of the country, and become 
quite well informed in the business methods of 
banking. The functions of students are 
changed from time to time, hence they take 
the place of the shipper for a brief time, later 
that of a bookkeeper, afterward that of a col¬ 
lector, etc., and in this way learn to transact 
the business in various lines of trade and 
industry. 

Bookkeeping as now taught is of two kinds, 
single entry and double entry. The terms debit 
and credit, meaning debtor and creditor, usu¬ 
ally marked Dr. and Cr., are employed arbi¬ 
trarily. The books used include a daybook , a 
journal, and a ledger. In the daybook arv 
entered the transactions on the date and in 
the order of their occurrence, while the ledger 
contains the accounts. The journal is used 
to separate each transaction so as to simplify 
its transfer to the ledger. On the left-hand 
side of the ledger are the items of debit, as 
cash received, and on the right-hand side are 
the items of cash disbursed, and the difference 
is known as the balance. A payment in cash 
is called a liquidation. When the items are 
transferred from the journal to the ledger, 
they are said to be posted. An examination to 
verify the two columns of an account is known 
as taking a trial balance. In a large business 
establishment, where the double entry system 
is used, several account books are employed 
to permit checking different phases or depart¬ 
ments with the view of knowing the condition 
of each. Such books include the bill book, 
stock book, invoice book , cashbook, and account 
sales book. 

Single entry bookkeeping involves less labor 
than double entry, but does not provide the 
same degree of safety against errors. Accounts 
are usually kept in two records, the daybook 
and the ledger. The customer is charged on 
the debit side with debts he is to pay, and is 
credited on the credit side with cash or mer¬ 
chandise he may turn in for value received. 
To find the balance, the sum of the credits 
are compared with the sum of the debits. 
Double entry requires that a much more com¬ 
plete record be kept, and under this system 
every transaction is entered in two places, in 
a debit and a credit column. In this system 
a daybook, a journal, and a ledger are used. 
The transactions are entered in the daybook 
the same as in single entry, but from it they 
are transferred to the journal, classified accord- 
ing to the names or titles of the ledger account, 
and afterward are posted in the ledger. 


BOOK OF MORMON 


337 


BOONE 


BOOK OF MORMON, the book held 
sacred by the Mormons and by them regarded 
as a part of the Holy Scriptures. It assumes to 
contain a record of a chosen people in America, 
from the confusion of tongues at Babel until 
the time of Maroni, the last survivor of his 
race, who is thought to have died about 420 
a. d. See Mormons. 

BOOKPLATE, the name of a label used to 
indicate the ownership of a book or its place 
in a library. In recent years many wealthy 
persons have collected these plates and much 
has been written in current literature in regard 
to the different styles used by various persons 
and organizations. It is thought the first book¬ 
plates were made in Germany, whence they 
were taken to England, and subsequently 
brought from that country to America. They 
were plain and rude until about 1516, when 
Albrecht Differ began to design and engrave 
many artistic forms. Others of much beauty 
are those made by Hans Holbein and Jost 
Amman, who gave special attention to select¬ 
ing quotations from the classics, which were 
engraved in artistic forms and accompanied 
with the name and coat of arms of the owner. 
The best known designs of England are those 
in the Chippendale style, characterized by grace¬ 
ful effects instead of the somber designs, and 
in them were introduced pictures of flowers, 
fruit, landscapes and human figures. Many of 
these plates have been commanding high prices 
and are listed by sellers of old and rare books. 

BOOM (boom), a word frequently used to 
denote rapid development in a particular in¬ 
dustry or locality. When shares in business 
enterprises are increasing in value, or the devel¬ 
opment of a city or state is progressing rap¬ 
idly, it is said they are on a boom. 

BOOMERANG (bdom'er-ang), a missile 
weapon invented and used by the natives of 
Australia. It is made of a curved stick, flat 
on one end and round on the other, about 
two feet long, two inches wide, and half an 
inch thick, and rounded at the ends. The 
savages grasp it at one end and throw it 



BOOMERANGS. 


upward or forward. When thrown forward 
it has a skipping motion until it strikes the 
object aimed at or falls to the ground. When 
thrown upward, it slowly ascends and in its 
backward flight falls to the ground behind 
the thrower, near its starting point. It is a 
powerful weapon in war and in the pursuit 
of wild game. A similar missile was used 
by the Assyrians and Egyptians. 

V 


BOONE (boon), a city of Iowa, county seat 
of Boone County, forty-two miles northwest of 
Des Moines, on the Chicago and Northwestern, 
the Chicago, Milwaukee and Saint Paul, and 
other railroads. The chief buildings include the 
post office, the Eastern Star Home, the 
Eleanor Moore Hospital, the high school, the 
Ericson Library, and the county buildings. 
About two miles west of the city the Des 
Moines River is crossed by the famous Boone 
viaduct, the highest double-track railroad via¬ 
duct in the world, 185 feet above low-water 
mark. In the vicinity are extensive deposits of 
coal and fire and pottery clay. Among the in¬ 
dustries are brick-making, railroad machine 
shops, coal mining, an artificial ice plant, and 
grain and live stock shipping. The city has 
systems of gas and electric lighting, waterworks, 
sewerage, pavements, and electric urban and 
interurban railways. It was incorporated as the 
town of Montana in 1866, but the name was 
changed to Boone two years later, when it 
became a city. In 1887 the town of Boonsboro 
was annexed. Population, 1920, 12,451. 

BOONE, Daniel, hunter and pioneer, born 
in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, Feb. 11, 1735; 
died in Charette, Mo., Sept. 26, 1820. In 1748 
h e came to Hol¬ 
man’s Ford, S. C., 
where he became in¬ 
spired by accounts of 
pioneer life, and in 
1767 started with a 
party of six to ex¬ 
plore the wilds of 
Kentucky. He was 
twice taken prisoner 
by the Indians, but 
escaped and returned 
to his home in 1771. 

Two years later he 
started with six fam¬ 
ilies and made a settlement at Boonesborough, 
on the Kentucky River, where he built a fort. 
Soon after he was taken captive by the Indians 
and carried to Detroit, where he was adopted 
by a Shawnee chief. Learning that the Indians 
were planning an attack on Boonesborough, 
he escaped and reached that place in about 
four days, in ample time to warn his com¬ 
rades and repel the attack. Soon after he 

was given a major’s commission from Virginia 
and later became lieutenant colonel. In 1780 
he brought his family back to Kentucky, and 
later successfully led a force against 400 
Indians at Blue Lick. He moved to Missouri 
in 1795, where the government of Spain granted 
him 8,000 acres of land, the title to which he 
lost when the territory was acquired by the 
United States. However, Congress confirmed 
his title to 850 acres in consideration of valua¬ 
ble services. Enoch Boone, his son, was the 
first white child born in Kentucky. His life 
was written by John Filson (1784), and repub- 



DANIEL BOONE. 




BOOTH 


338 


BOOTH 


lished in Finley’s “Description of the Western 
Territory.” The remains of Boone and his 
wife were removed to the Frankfort cemetery 
in 1845. 

BOOTH (booth), a stall or tent erected at 
fairs. In early times trade in Europe was 
carried on chiefly by fairs. The huts or tem¬ 
porary movable structures in which the traders 
exposed their goods for sale were called booths. 
The term is also applied to the stalls or apart¬ 
ments used by voters in the Australian voting 
system. 

BOOTH, Edwin Thomas, son of Junius 
Brutus Booth, celebrated actor, born at Belair, 
Md., Nov. 13, 1833; died in New York City, 

June 7, 1893. He 
was educated for 
the stage by his 
father, and appear¬ 
ed in regular per¬ 
formance for the 
first time at Boston 
in 1849. During his 
father’s illness in 
1851 he played the 
part assigned the 
former in Richard 
III. The next year 
he traveled through 
Australia and the 
Sandwich Islands, 
returning by the 
way of California to the eastern states. He 
played Hamlet one hundred nights consecu¬ 
tively, and in 1862 was manager of the Winter 
Garden Theater, New York, where he brought 
out with much success many Shakespearian 
plays. He was manager of the Booth Theater, 
costing a million dollars, which did not prove 
a financial success. Such noted professionals as 
Cushman, Davenport, Wallack, and Modjeska 
appeared in his theater. Later he made trips 
through Germany and England and visited pro¬ 
fessionally the principal cities of the United 
States. His name became as inseparably asso¬ 
ciated with Hamlet as his father’s was with 
Richard III. His skill and brilliancy were re¬ 
markable and he showed a refinement in inter¬ 
pretation and depth of feeling never before 
attained in Shakespearian plays. 

BOOTH, John Wilkes, actor and assassin 
of President Lincoln, brother of Edwin Thomas 
Booth, born in Hartford County, Maryland, in 
1838. As an actor he never became celebrated 
owing to a touch of insanity inherited from his 
father, and he was nervous and erratic. He was 
an ardent supporter of the institution of Negro 
slavery, and while playing at Ford’s Theater, 
Washington, on April 15, 1865, shot President 
Lincoln, who occupied a private box. In an 
attempt to escape he broke a leg, but passed 
through a back door and mounted a horse held 
in waiting, on which he fled to Virginia. He 
was concealed in a barn near Bowling Green, 


Va., where he resisted arrest and was shot by 
Sergeant Boston Corbett, April 26, 1865. 

BOOTH, Junius Brutus, celebrated trage¬ 
dian, born in London, England, May 1, 1796; 
died on a steamboat on the Mississippi River, 
Dec. 1, 1852. He was the son of an attorney 
and secured a good education in various depart¬ 
ments of art. Contrary to his fathers wishes, 
he appeared on the stage in Peckham, and in 
1814 traveled with an English company through 
Holland and Belgium. In 1817 he played 
Richard III. at London with much success. 
In 1821 he came to America and appeared at 
the Richmond Theater, Virginia, which was 
followed by other engagements. He visited 
London in 1825 but returned to America two 
years later and opened the Park Theater in 
New York. He purchased a tract of land 
about twenty-five miles from Baltimore on 
which he made his home a large portion of the 
time. In 1852 he went to California, and trav¬ 
eled through the Southern States, giving enter¬ 
tainments, but became sick while on his way 
home and died en route. 

BOOTH, Maud Ballington, reformer and 
author, born in London, England, in 1865. Her 
father, Mr. Charlesworth, a wealthy clergyman, 
became interested in the work of the Salvation 
Army. In 1884 she joined Catherine Booth 
in organizing an Army in Paris and later did 
similar work in Switzerland. She married 
Ballington Booth in 1897, and subsequently 
they seceded from the Salvation Army and 
established the Volunteers of America. She 
has been eminently successful in promoting 
organization work and in advocating reforms 
by lecturing and writing. She published “Look 
Up and Hope,” “Sleepy Time Stories,” “Lights 
of Childland,” “After Prison—What?” and 
“The Curse of Septic Soul Treatment.” 

BOOTH, William, organizer and com¬ 
mander of the Salvation Army, born at Not¬ 
tingham, England, April 10, 1829. He received 
an education by private tutors at his home and 
was ordained as a minister of the Methodist 
New Connection in 1850. Eleven years later 
he resolved to sever all denominational connec¬ 
tion and devote himself entirely to evangelistic 
services. He married Catherine Mumford in 
1855, to whom much credit is given for the suc¬ 
cess of his enterprises. Booth organized the 
Salvation Army in 1878, which since has spread 
generally to all Christian countries and has 
become a powerful agency in religious work. 
The strong element in the growth of the organ¬ 
ization is that every convert receives an appoint¬ 
ment to do some work in the plan of conver¬ 
sion. General Booth visited the degraded and 
destitute portions of London and other cities, 
in which the poorer classes were attracted to 
the services and interested in reformation. In 
1880 the War Cry, a weekly publication, was 
established and is now widely circulated. Booth 
published his famous work, “Darkest England 



EDWIN THOMAS BOOTH. 






BOOTHBY 


33!) 


BORAX 


and the Way Out,” in 1890. The American 
division was under the command of Ballington 
Booth until 1896, when he organized the Amer¬ 
ican Volunteers with headquarters in New York 
City. The American division was visited three 
times by General Booth, and is still the strong¬ 
est organization of this character in the West¬ 
ern Continent. He died Aug. 20, 1912. 

BOOTHBY (booth'bi), Guy Newell, nov¬ 
elist, born at Adelaide, South Australia, Oct. 
13 , 1867. He studied in his native city and in 
England, and subsequently made extensive tours 
of Asia and Australia. His writings are based 
largely upon adventures and have been widely 
read in Great Britain, including Canada, and in 
the United States. Among the books are 
“Across the World for a Wife,” “A Sailor’s 
Bride,” “Pharos the Egyptian,” “Love Made 
Manifest,” “Long Live the King,” “Billy 
Binks, Hero, and Other Stories,” and “The 
Viceroy’s Protege.” 

BOOTHIA FELIX (boo'thi-a fe'lix), a 
peninsula of North America, the most northerly 
point of that continent, located between Boothia 
Gulf and McClintock Channel. Its length from 
north to south is 150 miles and the width is 
fifty miles. Bellot Strait, on the north, sepa¬ 
rates it from North Somerset Island, and in the 
south it contracts to a narrow isthmus, which 
connects it with the mainland. Sir John Ross 
discovered it in 1829 and named it after Sir 
Felix Booth, who had contributed to the expe¬ 
dition. The northern magnetic pole was located 
on this peninsula in 1831, near the west coast 
and not far from Cape Adelaide. 

BOOTH-TUCKER (tuck'er), Emma 
Moss, officer in the Salvation Army, born in 
Gateshead, England, Jan. 8, 1860; died Oct. 
28, 1903. She was a daughter of William 
Booth, general of the Salvation Army, and the 
wife of Commander Booth-Tucker. In 1880-88 
she had charge of the international training 
homes of the Army and long held the rank 
of consul, in which latter position she had joint 
jurisdiction with her husband in the United 
States. Her death resulted from a railroad 
accident. 

BOOTLE (boo't’l), a city of England, in 
Lancashire, on the Mersey River. It has trans¬ 
portation facilities by the Leeds-Liverpool 
Canal and several railroads, and is a manufac¬ 
turing center of flour, clothing, and machinery. 
Many business men of Liverpool, near which 
it is located, reside in Bootle. Its institutions 
include a gymnasium, a public library, a 
museum, and a technical school. Population, 
1907, 67,114; in 1921,69,881. 

BOOTS, the articles of dress worn to pro¬ 
tect the feet and lower legs. They are a variety 
of shoes, but differ from them in that they 
extend higher up the leg, sometimes above the 
knee. They were developed from the sandal, 
which is the simplest and oldest kind of foot 
protector, and are used more commonly by men 


than by women. The boot was worn by the 
Greeks and Romans, who made ornamental 
designs, both on the part covering the foot and 
the portion extending above the ankle. In 
Greece buckskin was used in making the princi¬ 
pal upper parts, and the soles were heavy so 
as to apparently increase the stature of the 
wearer. An elaborately adorned boot with wide 
tops came into general use in continental 
Europe in the 14th century, and subsequently 
the matter of regulating the styles was a sub¬ 
ject for legislation by various governments. 

The introduction of machinery in the manu¬ 
facture of all classes of boots and shoes has 
greatly revolutionized the trade in these arti¬ 
cles. A combined lasting and sole-nailing 
machine was invented in 1810 and soon began 
to be used with marked success in England and 
America. It was followed by the discovery 
that wooden pegs can be utilized in fastening 
the uppers and soles together, which was the 
common method until 1860, when the McKay 
sewing machine came into general use for this 
purpose. Another important invention is the 
Goodyear machine, which fastens the uppers 
and soles together by means of a welt. Later 
screw-wire machines, heeling machines, and 
other inventions followed, enabling the work 
of cutting, sewing, trimming, and polishing to 
be done almost entirely by machine labor. Now 
the work is greatly diversified, each part being 
done by different workmen on machines 
designed specially for particular purposes. The 
facility with which boots and shoes of all kinds 
are made has been demonstrated many times 
at the great expositions, where exhibits of the 
complete routine of work were made and the 
machines exhibited in their working capacity. 

The manufacture of footwear is a vast indus¬ 
try in America, both in Canada and the United 
States. In the number of articles and the value 
of the product, the New England States take 
a high rank in the manufacture of boots and 
shoes, including those made of rubber and 
leather. Chicago, Saint Louis, and many cities 
of the Mississippi valley, and the cities of Mon¬ 
treal and Toronto, are centers of boot and shoe 
manufactures. According to the census of the 
United States in 1920, the annual product was 
valued at $261,028,580 and the laborers em¬ 
ployed numbered 142,922, about one-third of 
whom were women. See Shoes. 

BORAX (bo'racks), a crystalline salt found 
native in certain mineral springs and on the 
shores of many lakes. The chief supply is 
derived from Tibet, Peru, Chile, Tuscany, Ger¬ 
many, and several sections of North America, 
especially Nevada and California. It is pre¬ 
pared for commerce by washing the tincal, the 
crude material, with a solution of sodium 
hydroxide, and after dissolving in water it is 
treated with caustic alkali, after which the solu¬ 
tion is evaporated and the borax crystallizes in 
six-sided prisms. The treatment varies some- 




BORCHGREVINK 


340 


BORGHESE 


what with the condition in which the deposits 
are found. At Alameda, Cal., are refineries 
which treat the product secured from Clear 
Lake and other localities. There the crude 
material is dissolved in water and then treated 
with sodium carbonate, and the resulting solu¬ 
tion is cooled in tanks, in which the borax 
forms on steel rods. Borax is used chiefly in 
soldering metals, glazing pottery and china- 
ware, preserving milk and meat, treating 
ulcers and skin diseases, and loosening dirt, and 
as an antiseptic and disinfectant. 

BORCHGREVINK (bork'gre-vmk), Cars- 
ten Egeberg, scientist and explorer, born at 
Christiania, Norway, in 1864. After studying 
in his native city and at the Royal Saxon School 
of Forestry, he emigrated to Australia, where 
he was surveyor and later instructor of lan¬ 
guages at Cooerwell College in New South 
Wales. In 1895 he accompanied the whaler 
Antarctic upon an exploration of the south 
polar seas. He made a second exploring trip 
in 1898, when he sailed from London in the 
Southern Cross, landing at Camp Adare, South 
Victoria Land, on Sept. 17, 1899, where he spent 
nearly a year in making investigations and 
exploring the surrounding regions. The fol¬ 
lowing year he returned to New Zealand. In 
this tour of exploration he found a new island, 
Duke of York, situated in Robertson Bay, and 
discovered the south magnetic pole to be 
located at about 73° 20' south. By making a 
tour with sledges he reached latitude 78° 50', 
which is the extreme point south visited up to 
this time by explorers. 

BORDEAUX (bor-do'), an important city 
in France, capital of the department of 
Gironde, on the Garonne River, about sixty 
miles from its mouth, but accessible by all ves¬ 
sels. It has railroad connection with the lead¬ 
ing cities of France, electric urban and inter- 
urban railways, and finely paved streets and 
public drives. Shipbuilding is an extensive 
enterprise. In the Roman period it was known 
as Burdigala, when it ranked as a commercial 
emporium. It was taken by Charles Martel in 
735, captured by the Normans in the 9th cen¬ 
tury, transferred to the English crown in 1152, 
and restored to France in 1451. In the latter 
part of the war of 1870-71 it was the seat of the 
French general assembly, which had been driven 
there by the German army of invasion. At 
present it has a large commercial trade. Popu¬ 
lation, 1921, 261,678. 

BORDEN (bor'den), Gail, inventor, born at 
Norwich, N. Y., Nov. 16, 1801; died Jan. 11, 
1874. He removed to Covington, Ky., when a 
youth, taught school in Mississippi in 1822, and 
subsequently became a surveyor. While on a 
surveying expedition he conceived the idea of 
making food suitable for emigrants and became 
the originator of pemmican, a kind of meat 
biscuit now used in polar expeditions. In 1856 
he was granted a patent for his method of con¬ 


densing milk. Afterward he took up the manu¬ 
facture of condensed fruit juices and beef ex¬ 
tract. He established milk-condensing plants at 
Elgin, Ill., and Brewster’s Station, N. Y. 

BORDEN, Robert Laird, statesman, born at 
Grand Pre, Nova Scotia, June 26, 1854. He 
studied at Acacia Villa Academy in Horton, 
was called to the bar in 1878, and built up an 
extensive practice in the supreme courts of 
Nova Scotia and Canada. In 1896 he was 
elected to the House of Commons and in 1901, 
upon the resignation of Sir Charles Tupper, be¬ 
came the leader of the Conservative party in 
the House of Commons. He was defeated for 
reelection for Halifax in 1904, but was returned 
for Carleton, Ont. In 1911 he was in opposi¬ 
tion to reciprocity with the United States and 
became Premier, succeeding Sir Wilfrid Laurier, 
whose party was defeated. He was knighted in 
1914 for efficient service. 

BORDENTOWN, a city of New Jersey, in 
Burlington County, six miles southeast of 
Trenton, on the Pennsylvania Railroad. It is 
on the Delaware River and the Delaware and 
Raritan Canal and is important as a manufac¬ 
turing point for the production of worsted 
goods, ironware, machinery, and clothing. Its 
public institutions include a convent, a school 
for girls, and the Bordentown Military Insti¬ 
tute. The city was incorporated in 1849. Near 
it is “Ironsides,” the home of Charles Stewart, 
and a number of fine estates, including the 
former residence of Joseph Bonaparte. Popu¬ 
lation, 1900, 4,110; in 1920, 4,371. 

BORDER, The, the territory lying immedi¬ 
ately on both sides of the frontier between 
England and Scotland. The region is noted for 
many historical battles and invasions important 
in the history of the Scotch and English. 
Among the noted forays of the Border is the 
Chevy Chase (q. v.). The writings of Sir 
Walter Scott commemorate Border warfare. 

BORE, or Eagre, a tidal phenomenon at the 
mouths of certain rivers. Bores are common to 
rivers that gradually expand toward a wide mouth, 
and in which high tides occur. The spring flood 
tides drive great quantities of water from the sea 
into the river and form a kind of watery ridge, 
which rushes upward with great violence. The 
most celebrated bores are those M the Indus, 
Ganges, and Brahmaputra, of Asia, but the phe¬ 
nomenon is observable in other streams. In one 
of the branches of the Ganges the bore travels 
seventy miles in four hours, sometimes forming 
a wall of water ten feet high. In the Amazon it 
rises from ten to twelve feet. The bore of the 
Petitcodiac River extends from the Bay of Fundy 
to Moncton, N. B., about 95 miles. 

BORGHESE (bor-ga'sa), Camillo, Prince, 
soldier, born in Rome, Italy, July 19, 1785; died 
April 9, 1832. He served in the French army 
after the invasion of Italy and in 1803 married 
Pauline, a sister of Napoleon, who created him 
Duke of Guastalla and made him governor 


BORGIA 


341 


BORNEO 


general of the provinces beyond the Alps. He 
sold the Borghese collection of antiquities and 
artistic treasures, which had been gathered by 
his father, to Napoleon, who removed them to 
France, but they were restored to him after 
the fall of the emperor. These treasures are 
now in the Borghese Palace, a fine structure 
in the villa Borghese, at Rome. The govern¬ 
ment of Italy purchased the villa and the 
Casino, in which the treasures are stored, and 
the public has access to the place, which con¬ 
tains many valuable sculptures and paintings. 

BORGIA (bor'ja), Cesare, son of Pope Al¬ 
exander VI., born in Italy in 1476; killed March 
12, lo0<. At the age of seventeen he was raised 
to the rank of cardinal and soon after made 
captain general. In 1499 he married Charlotte, 
daughter of Jean d’Albert, King of Navarre, 
and soon after accompanied Louis XII. to Italy, 
where he undertook the conquest of the Romagna 
for the Pope. In his warfare he showed great 
cruelty by murdering those who stood in his 
path to promotion. His cruelty and oppression 
caused him to become infamous. He was made 
Duke of Romagna by his father, but was 
deposed at the death of the latter and after¬ 
ward was killed. Though base and cruel, he 
patronized learning and possessed a persuasive 
eloquence. 

BORGIA, Lucretia, daughter of Pope Alex¬ 
ander VI., sister of Cesare Borgia, born at 
Rome in 1480; died June 24, 1519. She was 
married to Giovanni Sforza, Lord of Pesaro, 
in 1493, but the marriage was dissolved by her 
father four years later, and she was given as 
wife to Alphonso, son of Alphonso II., King 
of Naples. Her second husband was assassin¬ 
ated two years after and she was married to 
Alphonso d’Este, son of the Duke of Ferrara. 
Some writers have accused her of many crimes, 
though, perhaps, many accusations are unjust. 
She was a patron of music and learning, and 
was celebrated as a lover of good literature. 

BORIC ACID (bo'rik), a compound of 
boron, oxygen, and hydrogen. It is found na¬ 
tive in Tuscany, the Lipari Islands, California, 
and elsewhere. The first discovery of this 
substance was made in 1777 in the lagoons of 
Tuscan, which are still the principal source 
of supply. Several lakes in California and 
Nevada yield borax in combination with various 
elements. It is derived from hot vapors which 
come naturally from thermal lakes and springs, 
and these vapors, which are largely boric acid, 
are absorbed by being passed through water. 
The acid turns blue litmus purple. It is used 
chiefly in the manufacturing of borax, in glazing 
porcelain, and in preparing certain pigments. 

BORING MACHINE, a mechanical device 
used in boring holes in wood, rock, and metals. 
The auger (q. v.) is a simple tool for making 
holes in wood, while the gimlet and awl are 
used where smaller opening are required. 
Drills are used in piercing stone and metal. 


The diamond drill, constructed of a hollow 
tube with diamond cutters at one end, is the 
most effective in boring rock. The larger bor¬ 
ing machines are operated by steam or com¬ 
pressed air. They do the work quickly and 
without danger of loss from obstructions that 
usually prevent the lighter apparatus from cut¬ 
ting through to the depths desired. Boring 
machines intended to be .operated by hand usu¬ 
ally have a metallic framework mounted on a 
wooden base, and the bit is turned by means 
of a handle or brace acting upon small cog¬ 
wheels, one of which turns horizontally with 
the bit or auger. 



1, Brace with bit; 2, auger; 3, adjustable bitstock. 


BORNEO (bor'ne-o), one of the largest 
islands of the world, located in the center of 
the East Indies. It has an area of 290,000 
square miles. A large number of small islands 
are located near the coast, of which Labuan, 
off the coast of Brunei, is the most important. 
Darwin considered Borneo and the East Indies 
to be the elevated portions of a vast continent 
submerged in the Pacific, which is probable. 
The surface is mountainous, attaining its cul¬ 
minating summit in Mount Kini Balu, in the 
northern part, which has a height of 13,690 
feet. While the island has no active volcanoes, 
it is frequently subject to earthquakes, how¬ 
ever, not .of a serious nature. It is watered 
by numerous rivers, among them the Barram, 
Limbang, the Rejang, and the Batang Lupar. 
Many of the rivers are navigable and add 
largely to the transportation facilities of the 
island. The rivers and lakes are infested by 
crocodiles and various animals common to 
swampy and marshy districts. Other wild ani¬ 
mals include the tapir, elephant, deer, leopard, 
rhinoceros, buffalo, many varieties of monkeys, 
and birds of song and fine plumage. 

The productions of Borneo consist of sago, 
rice, tobacco, pepper, gambier, coffee, cotton, 
and many varieties of tropical fruits. The for¬ 
ests yield an abundance of excellent timber and 
edible birds’ nests. It has extensive mineral 
deposits, including zinc, gold, quicksilver, tin, 
antimony, and diamonds. The manufactures 































BORNU 


342 


BOSNIA 


are not extensive, the most important being 
cotton fabrics, utensils, matting, and fancy bas¬ 
kets. A large part of the interior is inhabited 
by the Dyaks, a native race mixed more or less 
with the Malays, and other races include the 
Chinese, Japanese, and Europeans. Moham¬ 
medan is the principal religion. The exports 
are large and greatly exceed the imports. Gen¬ 
eral fertility of the soil, good climate in the 
larger portions, and growing European influ¬ 
ence are collectively a potent factor in widening 
commerce and increasing wealth. Both the 
Dutch and British have constructed telephone, 
telegraph, and railroad lines to connect the in¬ 
terior parts with the coast. 

The history of Borneo dates from 1578, 
when it was discovered by the Portuguese, but 
the first European settlement was not made 
until the seventeenth century, by the Dutch, 
who visited the island in 1598. British North 
Borneo includes the extreme northern peninsula 
of the island. It has an area of 31,106 square 
miles. The north central part is called Brunei, 
which consists of about 3,000 square miles, and 
is under the semi-independent government of 
a native sultan, who is subject to Great 
Britain. The capital of the state is Brunei, 
located on a river of the same name, and has 
a population of 10,500. To the south and west 
of Brunei is the English possession Sarawak, 
which has an area of 42,000 square miles, with 
the seat of local government at Sarawak, a 
city of about 18,000 inhabitants. The larger 
part of Borneo belongs to Holland. The Dutch 
possessions contain an area of 213,894 square 
miles. The region belonging to Holland is 
divided into two districts, that of the South 
and that of the East. Pontianak, population 
9,500, is the capital of the former, and Ban- 
jermasin, 30,380, of the latter. British North 
Borneo has a population of 250,000; Brunei, 
25,000; Sarawak, 500,000; and Dutch Boreno, 
1,225,000. 

BORNU (bor-noo'), a kingdom of Negroes, 
in the central part of the Sudan, Africa, with an 
area of 50,000 square miles. It extends south¬ 
west from Lake Tchad, which forms its north¬ 
eastern limits. The two principal rivers are 
the Shari and Yeou, which flow into Lake 
Tchad from the west. The district is more or 
less included in the German possession of 
Kamerun and the British Niger Territories. It 
is exceedingly fertile and produces rice, indigo, 
cotton, tobacco, corn, cocoa, palm oil, ivory, 
and fruits for export. Domestic animals, in¬ 
cluding horses, cattle, sheep, elephants, and 
buffaloes, are reared extensively. The religion 
is Mohammedan and the labor is largely based 
on a system of slavery. Kuka is the capital 
and chief trading point. It has a population 
of about 60,500. Other cities include Bundi, 
Yola, Birni, and Gummel. The army of the 
reigning sultan numbers about 30,000 men. 
Population, about 5,250,000. 


BORODINO (ba-ra-dye-no'), a village of 
Russia, in the government of Moscow, on the 
Kologa River, a tributary of the Moskva. It 
is celebrated as the site of a battle on Sept. 7, 
1812, between the Russians under Kutusoff and 
the French under Napoleon. The French army 
consisted of about 150,000 men and the Russian 
army was somewhat smaller, and the struggle 
was chiefly an attempt of the French to capture 
the lines of redoubts and press on to Moscow. 
Napoleon made three assaults and remained in 
the field, while the Russians retreated in good 
order, but Moscow was soon after occupied by 
the French. Both sides claimed the victory, 
but it was disastrous to the French in that the 
Russians burned Moscow and destroyed the 
stores. About 75,000 were killed and wounded 
in the Battle of Borodino, which is called the 
Battle of Moskva by the French, from the river 
of that name. 

BORON (bo'ron), a chemical element dis¬ 
covered by Sir Humphry Davy in 1808. It is 
not found native, but occurs in combination 
with borax, ulexite, and sassoline. It fuses 
only at a very high heat and has a specific 
gravity of about 1.84. Its principal commercial 
use is in making boric acid and certain borates. 

BORROMEAN ISLANDS (bor-ro-ma'an), 
a group of four small islands in northern Italy. 
They are rocky and famed for their beauty. 
Isola Bella, the most celebrated of the group, 
has a beautiful palace of the Borromeo family, 
from whom they were named. Isola Madre, the 
largest island, has fine groves of orange trees 
and gardens of tropical flowers. These islands 
were improved in 1671 by Count Borromeo 
(1538-84), a celebrated Roman Catholic cardi¬ 
nal. 

BOSNA-SERAI (bos'na-ser-i'), or Sera- 
jevo, the capital of Bosnia, on the Miljacka 
River, 120 miles southwest of Belgrade. It 
has extensive railway facilities, potteries, dye 
works, machine shops, and silk-weaving estab¬ 
lishments. In the vicinity are iron mines and 
mineral springs. The chief buildings are those 
erected by the government, including the gov¬ 
ernor’s residence. Other buildings of note are 
the seminary, a Catholic cathedral, and the 
mosque of Husref Bey. Many fine bazaars are 
maintained and the trade is important, owing 
to its location between Turkey and Austria- 
Hungary. Population, 1920, 59,875. 

BOSNIA (boz'm-a), a province of Austria- 
Hungary, transferred with Herzegovina and 
Novibazar from Turkey by the Treaty of Ber¬ 
lin in 18 <8. The area, including Herzegovina 
and Novibazar, is 19,702 square miles. In Bos¬ 
nia the surface is mountainous, including ranges 
of the Dinaric Alps, but toward the south, in 
Herzegovina, it is level or gently undulating. A 
large part is fertile and well adapted to agri¬ 
culture. It is well watered by the Bosna, Save, 
Drina, and Verbas rivers and is rich in forests 
and minerals. The products are wheat, barley, 


BOSPORUS 


343 


BOSTON 


tobacco, hemp, rye, buckwheat, and domestic 
animals. Copper, iron, antimony, chromium, 
and salt are mined profitably. It has manufac¬ 
tures of sugar, matches, chemicals, woolen and 
cotton goods, iron products, firearms, machin¬ 
ery, leather, and dairy products. Bosna-Serai 
(q. v.), or Serajevo, is the capital and largest 
city. The principal cities, besides the capital, 
are Mostar, population 15,500, and Banjaluka, 
14,380. The district is well traversed by tele¬ 
phone, railway, and telegraph lines. For the 
purpose of government (Landesregierung) it is 
divided into four departments and these are 
subdivided into six district (Kreis) and fifty- 
four county (Bezirk) authorities. The chief 
religious affiliations are with the Mohammedan, 
Greek Catholic, Roman Catholic, and Jewish 
faiths. A Servian dialect is spoken chiefly, but 
German is the official language and is taught 
in the schools. The territory included in the 
province was a part of Dalmatia and Pannonia 
in the time of the Romans. It belonged to 
Turkey from 1463 until it was given to Aus¬ 
tria-Hungary in 1878. Francis Joseph annexed 
it in 1908 by proclamation and it is now a 
possession of Jugo Slavia. Population, 1921, 
1,998,375. 

BOSPORUS (bos'po-rus), a strait connect¬ 
ing the Black Sea with the Sea of Marmora, 
and separating Europe from Asia. It was so 
named because, according to legend, Io was 
transformed into a cow and swam across it. 
It is about nineteen miles long, 190 feet deep, 
and from one-third to two miles wide. To dis¬ 
tinguish it from the Cimmerian Bosporus, 
which is between the Black Sea and the Sea 
of Azov, it is properly called the Thracian Bos¬ 
porus. It is under the control of Turkey and 
is defended by a series of forts. On its shores 
are many lighthouses, especially at its northern 
and southern ends, and it is improved for ex¬ 
tensive commercial activity. In ancient times 
the kingdom of Bosporus was located on both 
sides of the strait. It was founded in 502 
b. c., became tributary to the Scythians in 290, 
and was vanquished by Pontus in 116. The 
region was long under Roman dominion, when 
it formed a part of the Eastern Empire. 

BOSSUET (bo-sii-a/), Jacques Benigne, 
pulpit orator, born in Dijon, France, Sept. 27, 
1627; died April 12, 1704. He studied philos¬ 
ophy and theology at the College of Navarre, 
Paris, and was ordained a priest in 1652. The 
same year he was made canon of Metz, where 
he became renowned as a pulpit orator, and sub¬ 
sequently preached in Paris, where he delivered 
a number of sermons in the presence of Louis 
XIV. In 1069 he was made Bishop of Condon, 
the following year became tutor to the dauphin, 
and subsequently was Bishop of Meaux. He be¬ 
came noted as a controversialist by his contro¬ 
versy with Fenelon (q. v.), in which he was 
supported by the Pope, and favored the revoca¬ 
tion of the Edict of Nantes. His chief writ¬ 


ings include “Discourse on Universal History,” 
“Funeral Orations,” and “An Exposition of the 
Doctrines of the Catholic Church on Subjects 
of Controversy.” 

BOSTON (bos'tun), the capital of Massa¬ 
chusetts, chief city of New England, and fifth 
in size of the American cities. It is located in 
Suffolk County, of which it is the county seat, 
on Boston Bay, and at the mouths of the Mys¬ 
tic and Charles rivers. It is 232 miles by rail¬ 
way northeast of New York, and is the focus of 
many steam railway and electric lines. The 
principal railroads include the Boston and 
Maine, the Boston and Albany, the Fitchburg, 
and the New York, New Haven and Hartford 
lines. On Boston Harbor, an arm of Massa¬ 
chusetts Bay, is the older part of the city, situ¬ 
ated between it on the east and the Charles 
River on the west. Originally large tidal 
marshes occupied a considerable area along 
the shore, but these were filled in and many 
acres were added to the area of the city, for 
which purpose a number of elevated points, 
such as Beacon and Fort hills, were cut down. 

The city has an area of about 43 square miles. 
This is made up of the original site and the 
additions annexed from time to time. East 
Boston, on Noddle’s Island, was added before 
the Revolution; South Boston, annexed in 
1804; Roxbury, in 1868; Dorchester, in 1870; 
and Brighton, Charlestown, and West Roxbury, 
in 1874. Practically all the streets are paved 
substantially, including pavements constructed 
of Belgian blocks, macadam, gravel, and asphal- 
tum. Scollay Square is located near the center 
of the peninsula, between Boston Harbor and 
the Charles River, and from it radiate the 
streets in the compactly built business portion. 
Many of the streets do not extend uniformly 
with the cardinal points of the compass, but 
the main thoroughfares have a direction ap¬ 
proximately north and south to a point nearly 
opposite Fort Point Channel, whence they turn 
to the southwest. State Street is the impor¬ 
tant financial center, corresponding to Wall 
Street in New York, and Tremont, Hanover, 
and Washington streets are among the business 
thoroughfares. Commonwealth Avenue, 240 
feet wide, is one of the finest boulevards in 
America. The Fenway, Massachusetts Avenue, 
and the Strandway are boulevards of much 
beauty. Many cross streets facilitate intercom¬ 
munication, and an efficient street railway sys¬ 
tem has lines extending to all parts of the city, 
except East Boston, which is connected by 
ferry. A subway and an elevated railway carry 
a large portion of the travel in the crowded 
part of the city. 

Northwest of the peninsular, across Boston 
Harbor, is East Boston, connected by ferry 
with the main business section. Charlestown 
is located north of the peninsula and Cambridge 
is west, across the Charles River, and South 
Boston lies east of South Bay and Fort Point 



BOSTON 


344 


BOSTON 


Channel. The fashionable residential section is 
in the southwestern part, extending to Rox- 
bury. 

Buildings. The architecture is generally 
substantial and commodious and the buildings 
include many of historical interest, both from 
the style of construction and their association 
with great events. On Beacon Hill is located 
the State House, built in 1795, and in its vicin¬ 
ity are statues of Daniel Webster and Horace 
Mann and Saint Gaudens’ Shaw Monument. 
The city hall, on School Street, and the custom¬ 


house, on State Street, are fine structures, and 
near the former is the county courthouse, 
erected at a cost of $2,500,000. In the vicinity 
of Copley Square are many of the larger 
buildings, including the museum of fine arts, 
the public library, and the Second Unitarian 
Church. Here also is the New Old South 
Church, a fine Gothic architectural structure. 
The First Church of Christ (Scientist), the 
First Spiritual Temple, and the Roman Catholic 
Cathedral of the Holy Cross are among the 
finest ecclesiastical buildings. Boston has .fullv 


300 churches, representing the leading Chris¬ 
tian denominations, and its public library is 
the largest free circulation library in America. 

Many of the office buildings, department 
stores, and public institutions are models of 
substantial construction and convenient archi¬ 
tectural design. These include the Massa¬ 
chusetts General Hospital, the Chamber of 
Commerce, the Masonic Temple, the Sears and 
Ames building, the Tremont Temple, the Nat¬ 
ural History Museum, the New England Con¬ 
servatory of Music, and the Youth’s Companion 
building. Boston has many 
theaters and other places of 
amusement, foremost among 
which is the Boston Theater. 
The Vendome and Touraine are 
residential hotels, and the Quincy 
House, the Adams, the Parker 
House, the Lenox, and the 
United States are among the 
larger commercial hotels. 

Foremost among the histori¬ 
cal buildings is the Christ 
Church, known as Old Church 
North, erected in 1723, in whose 
spire were hung the lanterns for 
Paul Revere. The Old State 
House, on Washington Street, at 
the head of State, dates from 
1748. It was restored to its pro¬ 
vincial appearance in 1882 and 
it contains a collection of inter¬ 
esting relics and paintings. 
King’s Chapel, at the corner of 
School and Tremont streets, es¬ 
tablished in 1689 and rebuilt in 
1754, was attended during the 
colonial period by the royal gov¬ 
ernors and has the oldest ceme¬ 
tery in Boston. At the corner 
of Milk and Washington streets 
is the Old South Meeting House, 
built in 1729. Other noteworthy 
structures are the Faneuil Hall, 
known as the “Cradle of Lib¬ 
erty,” and the Old Corner Book¬ 
store. Among the old ceme¬ 
teries are Old Granary Burying 
Ground, containing the graves 
of Paul Revere and Samuel 
Adams ; Central Burying 
Ground; and Copp’s Hill Burial Ground, which 
contains the graves of Irving Cotton Mather 
and others of his family. King’s Chapel Bury¬ 
ing Ground contains the graves of John Win- 
throp and many early colonists. 

Parks. Foremost among the public grounds 
is The Common, one of the oldest and most 
interesting public parks in America. It is 
located in the heart of the city, containing 48 
acres, and has been preserved for public use 
since 16*4. The “Great Elm” stood near the 
center until 1876, when it was blown down. 











































BOSTON 


345 


BOSTON 


and at nearly the same place now stands the 
Soldiers’ Monument, erected to the soldiers 
who fell for their country. The Boston Mas¬ 
sacre is commemorated by the Crispus Attucks 
Monument, which stands near the Tremont 
Street Mall. The Public Garden, containing 
24 acres, is near The Common, and in it are 
an artificial lake and statues of Washington, 
Charles Sumner, and Edward Everett. Com¬ 
monwealth Avenue, the finest boulevard of 
Boston, extends from the Public Garden into 
the Back Bay district, which is famed for its 
beautiful lawns and fashionable buildings. 
Marine Park, which includes Castle Island, 
North End Park, at the northern extremity 
of the peninsula, and the beautiful park of 
“The Fens” district are other points of interest 
and beauty. In the Arnold Aboretum are all 
the shrubs and trees that can be grown in the 
climate of Massachusetts. 


FANEUIL HALL. 

Boston is noted for its many fine monuments, 
some of which have already been named in 
this article. Charlestown is the site of Bunker 
Hill monument (q. v.), a granite obelisk, and 
here also are a soldier’s monument, a monu¬ 
ment to John Howard, and statues of Colonel 
Prescott and General Warren. A statue of 
Beethoven is in the Music Hall; one of Gov¬ 
ernor Winthrop, in Scollay Square; one of Leif 
Ericson, in Commonwealth Avenue; one of 
Samuel Adams, in Adams Street; one of Ad¬ 
miral Farragut, in Marine Park; and one of 
Columbus, near the Roman Catholic cathedral. 

Institutions. Many educational and charita¬ 
ble institutions are maintained and liberally 
patronized. They embrace the Boston Univer¬ 
sity, Massachusetts Normal Art School, Boston 
College, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 
Perkins Institute, Tufts College Medical School, 


and the medical and dental schools of Harvard 
University. The Boston Latin School was 
founded in 1635. The Lowell School of Design, 
the New England Conservatory of Music, and 
a number of other institutions are centers of 
training in the arts. Besides the books and 
manuscripts in the Boston Public Library, which 
is one of the largest in the country, there are 
noted collections in the Boston Athaeneum, the 
Congregational Library, the American Academy 
of Arts and Sciences, the State Library, and the 
leading educational institutions. A large num¬ 
ber of literary, historical, and scientific societies 
are maintained and much is done in the way of 
charity. Boston holds high rank in the main¬ 
tenance of reformatories. The principal alms¬ 
houses and penal institutions are on the islands 
in the harbor. 

Industries. Boston is preeminently a center 
of manufacturing, but many of the factories 
owned and operated by citizens are located in 
towns of the surrounding country. The exten¬ 
sive transportation facilities make it possible to 
reach these factories, and the products are 
handled largely through the business houses of 
the city. The census of 1910 places the value of 
the manufactured product within the city at over 
$255,000,000 per year. 

The terminus of important railroads are 
located on a safe and commodius harbor. Bos¬ 
ton is noted as the financial center of New En¬ 
gland. Its foreign commerce ranks next to that 
of New York, and as a wool market it is ex¬ 
ceeded only by London. The largest vessels 
enter its harbor, which is eight miles wide and 
sixteen miles long, and is protected by strong 
fortifications. Lighthouses and beacons are 
located on a number of the islands. The trade 
is handled at a system of freight terminals, 
where the railroads and ships come together, 
and the passenger traffic is cared for at two 
terminal stations, the South Station and the 
North Station. The export and import trade 
carries all articles of manufacture and produc¬ 
tion familiar to the American people, and the 
internal revenue collected annually is $8,500,000. 

History. The history of Boston may be said 
to begin in 1626, when the first settlement was 
made on the peninsula, and a few years later 
a company of colonists removed from Charles¬ 
town to join the settlement. These included 
John Winthrop and a number of colonists 
brought by him to Salem. The place was first 
known as Trimontaine, but was renamed Boston 
in 1630, and two years later the first meeting 
house was built. It soon became the principal 
town and business center of the Massachusetts 
Bay Colony, and was the chief seat of Puritan 
learning and religious life. In the movement 
for American independence, it took a leading 
and aggressive part. Here occurred riots fol¬ 
lowing the Stamp Act, the skirmishes at 
Charlestown, the Battle of Bunker Hill, the 
Boston Massacre, the Boston Tea Party, and 





























































BOSTON MASSACRE 


346 


BOTANY 


many important events following the Battle of 
Lexington. 

Its material growth in wealth and as a center 
of commerce dates since the Revolutionary 
War. In 1822, when it had a population of 
47,000, it received its charter as a city. The 
Brittania, a Cunard liner, was the first steamer 
of that line to enter the harbor, in 1840. William 
Lloyd Garrison and others did much to promote 
sentiment in favor of the abolition of slavery, 
and the city was enthusiastic in its support of 
the Federal government during the Civil War. 
A destructive fire swept over it in 1872, when 
about fifty acres of its business section were 
laid waste. However, it was rebuilt to much 
better advantage and substantial modern struc¬ 
tures replaced many of the older ones dating 
from colonial times. As a literary center it has 
taken a prominent place in learning and culture. 
In or near it lived Hancock, Motley, Thoreau, 
Lowell, Whittier, Longfellow, Prescott, Holmes, 
Parkman, and Emerson. The inhabitants are 
largely American, but include many Irish, Ger¬ 
mans, English, and Italians. It is exceeded in 
population only by New York, Chicago, Phila¬ 
delphia, and Saint Louis. Population, 1900, 
560,893; in 1905, 593,598; in 1920, 748,060. 

BOSTON MASSACRE, an affray at Boston, 
Mass., on March 5, 1770, between seven British 
soldiers under Captain Preston and a mob 
of citizens. Several minor riots had taken place 
from time to time, owing to opposition by the 
people of Boston to the stationing of troops in 
the city. It took place on State Street, formerly 
King Street, where the soldiers were attacked 
with stones and other missiles. One of the sol¬ 
diers who received a blow fired, and his com¬ 
panions, mistaking an order, followed in shoot¬ 
ing at the mob. Three of the populace were 
killed and seven were wounded. The mob 
retreated and the bells of the city rang an 
alarm, causing several thousand people to 
gather, but no further hostilities took place. 
Several of the soldiers were tried on a charge 
of murder, but were acquitted. This affray did 
much to create a sentiment in favor of treating 
the colonists with consideration, and the garri¬ 
son was removed to Castle Island. 

BOSTON TEA PARTY, a popular name of 
an occurrence in Boston Harbor on Dec. 16,1773. 
The American colonies had protested to Parlia¬ 
ment against placing a tax on articles imported, 
and the American merchants entered into an 
agreement not to import from Great Britain 
while such tax was collected. However, that 
body declared their right to tax the colonists 
without their consent, and, when the English 
East India Company sent cargoes of tea to the 
port of Boston, the Americans resisted the col¬ 
lection of the duty. A conference was held 
in the Old South Meeting House, after which 
sixty men, disguised as Indians, boarded the 
vessels in the harbor and threw 342 chests of 
tea into the water. To retaliate, the govern¬ 


ment closed the port against all commerce and 
navigation. 

BOSTON UNIVERSITY, an institution of 
higher learning at Boston, Mass. It was char¬ 
tered in 1869 and is under the auspices of the 
Methodist Episcopal Church. The foundation 
was laid by Isaac Rich, who bequeathed a large 
part of his great estate for that purpose. It 
offers both college and graduate courses, and 
has departments of liberal arts, agriculture, the¬ 
ology, law, and medicine. The post-graduate 
department is known as the School of All 
Sciences, which is affiliated with the University 
at Rome and the National University at Athens. 
Its agricultural department is at Amherst, Mass., 
known as the Massachusetts Agricultural Col¬ 
lege. The -faculty consists of 250 professors 
and instructors, and the attendance is about 
2,500 students. 

BOSWELL (boz'wel), James, friend and 

biographer of Samuel Johnson, born in Edin¬ 
burgh, Scotland, Oct. 29, 1740; died June 19, 
1795. He was the eldest son of Lord Auchin- 
leck, studied at Edinburgh and Cambridge, and 
became a member of the Scottish bar. In 1763 
he formed the acquaintance of Johnson, and 
later that of Paoli, Rousseau, and Voltaire. He 
accompanied Johnson on a tour to the Hebrides 
and to Scotland, and wrote the “Life of Samuel 
Johnson/’ one of the most excellent biographies 
ever published. It appeared in 1791, and a sec¬ 
ond edition was issued two years later to sup¬ 
ply the popular demand. His other writings 
include “Journal of a Tour to the Hebrides.” 
Though noted as a writer, he did not build up 
an important law practice. 

BOS WORTH (boz'worth), a small town of 
Leicestershire, England, noted for the Battle of 
Bosworth Field, on Aug. 22, 1485. The battle 
was fought between Richard III. and the Earl 
of Richmond, afterward Henry VII. The for¬ 
mer was deserted by his troops and rushed into 
the camp of the enemy, crying “Treason! trea¬ 
son !” and was slain. His death ended the 
Wars of the Roses. The town has a population 
of 1,150. 

BOTANY (bot'a-ny), the science that treats 
of plants—their structure, the functions of their 
parts, and the conditions governing their 
growth. It embraces a general description and 
classification of plants. The three kingdoms of 
nature are designated as animalvegetable, and 
mineral. Life is a condition common to ani¬ 
mals and plants, but the representative species 
of the two kingdoms are marked by a wide 
range of difference in form and structure. 
There are three main physical characteristics by 
which animals differ from plants. These consist 
in their food, the ability to move some or all 
of their parts, and the power of volition or will. 
Plants subsist on water, earth, and air, which 
they take in by their roots and leaves, while 
animals feed upon other animals and plants. 
The principal uses of plants are for animal food 


BOTANY 


347 


BOTANY BAY 


and protection, and to preserve the fertility of 
the soil and the purity of the atmosphere. The 
elements necessary for plant growth are light, 
heat, and moisture, and, since the requisite 
amount of these varies with different kinds of 
plants, we find in every climatic zone a flora 
peculiarly adapted to local conditions. Plants 
are propagated by seeds, spores, or particles of 
the main stock. 

Botany treats of plants as wholes and also 
as consisting of various organs. The organs 
of vegetation are the roots, stems, and leaves. 
The roots grow downward and gather moisture 
and nutrition from the soil. They commonly 
divide into many small branches or fibers called 
rootlets. The part which grows upward and 
bears the leaves and blossoms is called the stem. 
It usually has many branches and branchlets, 
each having leaves in various proportions, but 
in some species the leaves are wanting. The 
leaves are green or brownish, and grow mostly 
from the upper part of the stem. They are of 
different forms and sizes, with one side toward 
the sky and the other toward the ground. The 
foliage of plants is constituted of leaves. Plants 
and their organs and functions are treated 
under plants, which see. 

Classification. The classification is now 
based on the particular species of plants and 
their principal affinities. By species is meant 
an assemblage of individual plants having char¬ 
acteristics in common, coming from the same 
original stock, and having seeds or spores that 
produce similar individual plants. The view is 
held that species of the same kind may exhibit 
differences which are characteristic of distinct 
plants, but this is true only after long periods 
of time and under vastly different conditions^ 
Study is now generally confined to the affinity 
of plants of the same and different regions; to 
the cells and tissues by means of the micro¬ 
scope; to the growth of new species from differ¬ 
ent kinds; and to the relation of plants to their 
environments. The four principal divisions of 
botany now are: Structural or morphological, 
dealing with plant-structure; physiological, 
treating of the function and vital actions of 
plants; descriptive or systematic, relating to 
classification and arrangement; and paleontolog¬ 
ical, treating of fossil plants. Phanerogamic 
botany treats of flowering plants, and crypto- 
gamic botany, of flowerless plants. See Plants. 

History. The study of botany is not as old 
as astronomy or geography, but some branches 
of it were taught as early as the time of King 
Solomon, who spoke of plants “from the cedar 
in Lebanon even to the hyssop that springeth 
out of the wall.” The first work on botany 
dates from Theophrastus, ,a pupil of Aristotle, 
who lived in the 4th century b. c. His classifi¬ 
cation of plants is unsatisfactory, but he showed 
much greater skill in the description of plant 
organs than scholars who lived in the centuries 
immediately following his time. In the 1st cen¬ 


tury of the Christian era Diosconides, of Asia 
Minor, described about 600 plants in a work 
that was considered good authority until the 
revival of learning. About the same time Pliny 
the Elder described more than 1,000 species of 
plants. His work contains numerous errors 
and bears evidence of having been compiled 
from various sources, rather than written from 
personal investigation. 

The Arabians gave much attention to this 
science in the 8th century, but material progress 
was not made until the 16th century, when Otto 
Brunfels, a German writer, published an ex¬ 
tended work in two volumes with able descrip¬ 
tions and cuts, under the title “History of the 
Plants of Strasburg.” Other German writers 
soon followed with publications, and the store 
of knowledge was largely extended through 
works in the Dutch, Italian, and French. Be¬ 
fore the end of the century the principal uni¬ 
versities of Europe established chairs of botany 
and organized botanical gardens. Many schol¬ 
ars traveled throughout the latter part of the 
16th and 17th centuries for the study of plant 
life and structure in both hemispheres. The 
microscope opened a new epoch in the science 
about the middle of the 17th century and led to 
the study of minute portions and sap pressure, 
and brought vegetable philosophy forward as 
a very important branch of knowledge. 

Linnaeus, a Swedish naturalist, prepared and 
published a classification of plants in 1735, 
which was speedily adopted in place of those 
formerly used and served the purpose .of study 
for many years, although it has long since been 
displaced. It is based largely on the characteris¬ 
tics and the production of the flowers and the 
seed. In the 18th century scholars investigated 
large groups or families of plants, and added 
many valuable discoveries to the science. The 
system promulgated by Bernard Jussieu (1699- 
1777), a French scholar, is based on previous 
discoveries and natural affinities of plants. He 
devoted much time to the culture of plants in 
gardens, took personal observation of their 
growth, and lectured extensively in the leading 
universities of Europe. His system is now the 
basis of the classifications that are generally 
approved. The system is set forth in his “Ele¬ 
mentary Principles of Botany,” published in 
1804. He taught the subject according to this 
classification at Montpelier as professor of bot¬ 
any and later at Geneva. Other writers con¬ 
tributed valuable publications and lectures on 
the subject; those of Darwin rank among the 
highest. 

BOTANY BAY, an inlet five miles south 
of Sydney, on the east coast of Australia. It 
was discovered in 1770 by Captain Cook, and 
so named on account of the large number of 
formerly unknown plants found there. The 
first English penal colony was founded at Bot¬ 
any Bay in 1788, and later it was removed to 
Port Jackson, near the site of Sydney. It was 


BOTETOURT 


348 


BOTTLE 


long known as Botany Bay Settlement. A mon¬ 
ument was erected on the place where Captain 
Cook landed. 

BOTETOURT (bot'e-toort), Norborne 
Berkeley, public man, born in England about 
1734; died Oct. 15, 1770. He became a peer in 
1764, and four years later was made governor 
of Virginia. In 1769 the colonists protested 
against taxation and for sending accused per¬ 
sons to England for trial, and he dissolved the 
legislature which passed resolutions against the 
taxation laws. After failing to effect a concilia¬ 
tion, he demanded his recall and this the gov¬ 
ernment granted. 

BOTFLY (bot'fli), a large, yellowish fly, 
parasitic in its early stages upon certain ani¬ 
mals. The fully developed fly is more than 
a half inch in length, and the female has an 
extensile abdomen. They lay their eggs upon 
the hair of the horse, which the animal removes 
to the stomach by the tongue. There they are 
hatched and the larvae hang to the coats of 
the stomach, where they remain about a year, 
when they are discharged with the excrement, 
and after a brief time become perfect flies. The 
bots are very injurious to the horse, when a 
large number infest the stomach. Botflies are 
likewise troublesome to sheep, cattle, and some 
of the wild animals, but the species differ, and 
those that infest sheep bore through the skin, 
under which the larvae mature. 

BOTHA (bo'ta), Louis, soldier and states¬ 
man, born at Greytown, Natal, in 1864. He 
spent his early life on a farm in the Vryheid 
district, where he engaged in sheep and cattle 
raising, and later became a prominent member 
of the volksraad at Pretoria. At the beginning 
of the Anglo-Boer War, in 1898, he was given 
an important command, and distinguished him¬ 
self at Colenso and Spion Kop. In 1900 he was 
commander in chief of the Boer forces. After 
the war he supported the Boer-British coalition 
party, and in 1907 was made premier of the 
Union of South Africa. In 1915 he headed the 
British invasion of German Southwest Africa. 
He died Aug. 28, 1919. 

BOTHNIA (both'm-a), Gulf of, the north¬ 
ern extension of the Baltic Sea, between 
Sweden on the west and Finland on the east. 
It is about 430 miles long, 85 to 135 miles wide, 
and from 100 to 130 feet deep. The water is 
but slightly salty, owing to the inflow of numer¬ 
ous rivers and the limited evaporation due to 
its location in a cold region. It contains a num¬ 
ber of good harbors and is -the seat of much 
activity in the summer season for lumber, min¬ 
eral, and fish exports by water navigation. In 
the winter it is frozen over and is crossed on 
the ice. It yields large quantities of fish, in¬ 
cluding herring, salmon, and mackerel. 

BOTHWELL (both'wel), James Hepburn, 
Earl, known for his marriage to Mary, Queen 
of Scots, born in 1536; died in 1578. In 1557 
he occupied an influential position in Parliament. 


The murder of Queen Mary’s husband, Darnley, 
was thought to have been committed by him. 
He was tried, but acquitted when he appeared 
at court with 4,000 sympathizers. He divorced 
his own wife and forcibly carried Queen Mary 
a prisoner to Dunbar Castle, where he required 
her to marry him, having previously been cre¬ 
ated Duke of Orkney. The nation was aroused 
with indignation. Mary was imprisoned at 
Edinburgh and he fled to Malmo, on the coast 
of Sweden, where he died. 

BO TREE, or Peepul, the sacred fig tree of 
India and Ceylon. Trees of this kind are 
planted by the Buddhists near their temples. 
They yield a small edible fig, which is of little 
value, but the sap yields caoutchouc and the lac 
insect makes the tree its abode. At Anara- 
japura, in Ceylon, is a famous bo tree that was 
planted about 288 b. c. It is venerated by the 
Buddhists, since it is said that Vishnu was born 
under this tree. In 1887 it was partly de¬ 
stroyed. f 

BOTTA (bot'ta), Paul Emile, traveler, born 
in Turin, Italy, Dec. 2, 1802; died March 29, 
1870. He went to Egypt in 1830 as a physician 
of Mehemet Ali, and subsequently became 
French consul in Alexandria. In 1843 he made 
excavations near the Tigris for monuments of 
Assyria and there discovered the palace of Sar- 
gon, King of Assyria. He published a work 
entitled “Monuments of Nineveh.” 

BOTTGER (bet'ger), John Friedrich, in¬ 
ventor, born at Schleiz, Germany, Feb. 4, 1682 ; 
died March 13, 1719. He began his career as 
an apothecary in Berlin but soon gave his atten¬ 
tion to his chief object of discovering how to 
make gold. After spending much time and 
making many experiments, he originated the 
celebrated Meissen porcelain. In his efforts he 
had the support of the King of Saxony, who 
afterward established a porcelain manufactory 
and placed Bottger in charge of it. 

BOTTICELLI (bot-te-chel'le), Alessandro 
Filipepi, painter, born in Florence, Italy, in 
1447; died in 1510. His name originally was 
Alessandro Filipepi, but he took the name San¬ 
dro Botticelli from his first master, a goldsmith. 
Subsequently he studied painting under Fra 
Lippo Lippi, a Carmelite monk, and from him 
acquired an early style much admired. In 1480 
he finished his “Birth of Venus,” now in Flor¬ 
ence, and subsequently produced many pictures 
represented in the leading galleries of Europe. 
He became a disciple of Savonarola, and later 
in life studied theology with greater zeal than 
characterized his efforts in painting. His chief 
works include “Adoration of the Three Kings,” 
“The Triumph of Spring,” “The Nativity,” and 
“Virgin with the Child and Saint John.” 

BOTTLE, a vessel with a small neck, usually 
made of glass, and used to contain liquids. In 
ancient times bottles were made of leather, 
especially by the Egyptians and Greeks, and 
bottles of this class are still used in Spain, 


BOUCICAULT 


349 


BOULOGNE-SUR-SEINE 


Sicily, Africa, and the East. Glass bottles have 
been found in the ruins of Pompeii similar to 
those in common use at present. They are 
manufactured by a process of glass molding. 
The small bottles are made of flint glass and 
the large ones of a cheaper grade of glass. In 
manufacturing a blowtube is used, and the 
molten material is placed in an iron mold. 

BOUCICAULT (boo-se-ko'), Dion, author 
and actor, born in Dublin, Ireland, Dec. 26, 
1822; died Sept. 18, 1890. He studied at Uni¬ 
versity College, London, and took up the work 
of an architect, but soon gave it up for dramatic 
work. In 1841 he completed his “London Assur¬ 
ance,” written in conjunction with John 
Brougham, and it was dramatized and acted 
successfully at Covent Garden. He became an 
actor in 1852, and the following year toured 
America, remaining until 1860, when he re¬ 
turned to London. He opened a theater in 
London in 1862, but the venture did not prove 
successful, and after 1876 he resided in New 
York City. As a playwright he was very pro¬ 
lific and produced about 300 pieces of different 
kinds, mostly dramatic. Among his best works 
are “Louis XI.,” “Old Heads and Young 
Hearts,” “Corsican Brothers,” “The Streets of 
London,” “The Irish Heiress,” “Flying Scud,” 
and “The Shaughraun.” 

BOUGAINVILLE (boo-gan-vel'), Louis 
Antoine, navigator, born in Paris, France, in 
1729; died there Aug. 31, 1814. After taking 
a course of instruction in law, he entered the 
army, and in 1756 was dispatched to Canada as 
aid-de-camp to General Montcalm. In 1761-63 
he served in the Seven Years’ War, and then 
commanded an expedition to the Falkland 
Islands with the view of effecting colonization. 
In 1766 he set sail on a tour to circumnavigate 
the globe, by which he materially enriched geog¬ 
raphy, and returned to Nantes in 1769. Na¬ 
poleon I. conferred upon him the badge of the 
Legion of Honor, and made him a senator and 
count of the empire. 

BOULANGER (boolan-zha ), Georges 
Ernest Jean Marie, general and statesman, 
born at Rennes, France, April 29, 1837; died 
by suicide Sept. 30, 1891, upon the grave of 
Mme. de Bonnemain, who was his mistress. 
His education was secured at Saint Cyr. He 
became a lieutenant in the army, in which capac¬ 
ity he served in Italy, Algeria, and Cochin 
China. In the War of 1870-71 with Germany he 
served at Metz with Bazaine, but escaped to 
Paris, and became lieutenant colonel under the 
government of national defense. He was the 
head of a delegation of French officers in 1876, 
on the occasion of the centenary celebration of 
the American independence. He commanded 
the army in Tunis in 1885, was war commis¬ 
sioner in 1887, and was elected member of the 
chamber of deputies in 1888. He was charged 
with misappropriation of public funds and fled 
to England for safety. His subsequent trial 


resulted in his formal exile. He ranked as a 
man of remarkable energy and personality, and 
was estimated highly in French politics, where 
he occupied a conspicuous place in public esteem 
even after he was exiled. 

BOULDER (bol'der), a city in Colorado, 
county seat of Boulder County, on Boulder 
Creek, 5,835 feet above the level of the sea. It 
is situated twenty-five miles northwest of Den¬ 
ver, on the Union Pacific, the Colorado and 
Southern, and other railroads. The surround¬ 
ing country is fertile, yielding considerable 
quantities of cereals, vegetables, fruits, and live 
stock. There are vast mining interests, 
especially those devoted to the production of 
gold and silver. Its manufacturing establish¬ 
ments include iron foundries, flouring mills, and 
smelting works. The climate is pleasant and 
healthful. It is a favorite resort for tourists 
and invalids, who come here on account of 
numerous thermal and mineral springs. Among 
its public institutions are a large sanitarium, 
the county courthouse, and the University of 
Colorado. It was incorporated in 1871. Popu¬ 
lation, 1900, 6,150; in 1920, 10,989. 

BOULDER, a large rock found at a distance 
from the formation to which it belongs. The 
term erratic boulder is generally applied to 
rocks found lying detached ,on the surface, and 
boulder clay is used to describe the glacial drift, 
usually a compact blue or red clay, in which 
the boulders are found. These formations be¬ 
long to the early quaternary times and are 
widely distributed. Boulder clay has been 
traced over vast regions of British America and 
the northern part of the United States. In 
Scotland it is known as till. Boulders belong¬ 
ing to the rocks of the Scandinavian peninsula 
are scattered over the plains of Denmark and 
northern Germany. Rocks of this class are 
abundant in the central section of North and 
South Dakota. It is thought that they were 
deposited from icebergs and glaciers. 

BOULOGNE - SUR - MER (boo-lon'sur- 
mar'), a seaport city of France, at the mouth 
of the Lianne River, on the Strait of Dover, 
about twenty miles southwest of Calais. The 
city is divided into the older and the newer 
parts, or the old and new districts, and has a 
castle which dates from 1231. It has vast com¬ 
mercial interests, owing to its fine harbor, ex¬ 
tensive wharves, and excellent steamboat and 
railroad facilities. The manufactures include 
linen and woolen goods, machinery, earthen¬ 
ware, soap, clothing, and canned fish. It has 
a large export trade in coal, wine, dairy prod¬ 
ucts, fish, corn, and various manufactured arti¬ 
cles. Municipal facilities include waterworks, 
electric lighting, and a system of electric rail¬ 
ways. Population, 1921, 51,201. 

BOULOGNE-SUR-SEINE (-san), a town 
of France, in the department of Seine, five miles 
west of Paris. It is on the Seine River, a sub¬ 
urb of Paris, with which it is connected by a 


BOUNTY 


350 


BOURGES 


fine stone bridge. The celebrated park and 
promenade in Paris, Bois de Boulogne, was 
named from this town. Population, 1916, 
49,969. 

BOUNTY (boun'ti), in economics, a pre¬ 
mium paid by the government to the producers, 
exporters, or importers of certain articles. This 
is done to aid in fostering a new enterprise 
during its infancy, or protecting one long estab¬ 
lished, owing to its special benefit to the coun¬ 
try. In 1890 the Congress of the United States 
authorized the payment of a premium to pro¬ 
ducers of sorghum, cane, and beet sugar by 
way of a bounty. This was done with the view 
of eventually increasing the production of 
sugar to equal the annual consumption. By 
reason of this encouragement large invest¬ 
ments were made in sugar-producing interests 
and the production has been correspondingly 
increased. The term is applied to a govern¬ 
ment grant made to induce enlistments in the 
army, as at the time of the American Civil 
War, when from $50 to $900 was paid as an 
inducement for men to enter the service. Men 
serving in the British army in India receive 
a bounty as an inducement to extend the time 
of service. 

BOUNTY JUMPERS, a term applied dur¬ 
ing the Civil War to persons who volunteered 
to secure a bounty and then deserted to enlist 
again in some other locality, under a different 
name, in order to secure another bounty. The 
government applied a severe penalty, but a 
number of persons took great risks, owing to 
the bounty being quite large. 

BOURBON (boor'bun), a highly celebrated 
French family which has furnished a large 
number of celebrated kings, statesmen, and 
warriors. It dates back to the 10th century, 
and Still has descendants who are important in 
several states of Europe. From it descended 
the Bourbons of France, Spain, and Naples. 
It derived its name from the Bourbon, a castle 
and state of central France, now the depart¬ 
ment of Allier. The family was first known 
in history through Adhemar, who was lord of 
the state, and whose family increased in power 
and territorial possessions until, in 1272, 
Beatrix, a daughter of John of Burgundy and 
Agnes of Bourbon, married Robert, a son of 
Louis IX. of France, and thus connected the 
Bourbons with the Capets. The first king of 
France of the Bourbon family was the famous 
Henry of Navarre, who became Henry IV. in 
1589. His descendants reigned continuously 
until 1792, and again after the fall of Napoleon, 
from 1815 to 1848. The kings of the French 
royal line of the house of Bourbon are in this 
order: Henry IV., Louis XIII., XIV., XV., 
XVI., XVIII., and Charles X. The house of 
Orleans, a branch of this family through Philip 
of Orleans, brother of Louis XIV., was raised 
to the throne of France by the revolution of 
1830, but lost it by the revolution of 1848. The 


present head of the French house of Bourbon 
is the Count of Paris, an Orleanist. 

The Spanish-Bourbon branch of the house 
of Bourbon originated in 1700, when Louis 
XIV. placed the Duke of Anjou, who was his 
grandson Philip, on the Spanish throne as 
Philip V. of Spain. This dynasty reigned con¬ 
secutively until 1868, when Queen Isabella was 
dethroned, but regained the crown in 1874. The 
present occupant of the Spanish throne, 
Alfonso XIII., born in 1886, is a descendant of 
Philip V. The Neapolitan branch of the Bour¬ 
bon family was founded through the Duke of 
Anjou, and ruled in Naples until that state 
became a part of Italy in 1860. Another branch 
ruled in Parma and Piacenza the greater part 
of the time from 1748 until the two states be¬ 
came annexed to the kingdom of Italy. 

BOURBON (boor-bon'), Charles, Duke of 
Bourbonnais, styled Constable de Bourbon, 
born Feb. 17, 1489; died May 5, 1527. He 
was the only heir of the Count of Montpensier. 
By marriage with the only daughter of the 
Duke of Bourbon, he united the vast estates 
of the two branches of the Bourbon family. 
His high rank in birth and wealth, his bril¬ 
liancy in arms, and rigid morals soon caused 
him to hold a high position in the government 
of France. At the age of twenty-six years he 
was given the constable’s sword by Francis I., 
and was appointed to lead an army into Italy. 
He disciplined the army, crossed the Alps in 
1515, and won a decisive battle at Marignano. 
By his successes he soon gained the reputation 
of being the greatest general of his time, and 
was made governor of Milan. Owing to com¬ 
plications with Maria Louise, mother of the 
king, his estates were seized. Accordingly, he 
renounced the interests of France and formed 
an alliance with Charles V. of Spain and 
Henry VII. of England. He gathered an army 
of 6,000 German lancers and united them with 
Spanish troops, and fought in the Battle of 
Pavia, Feb. 24, 1525, in which the French army 
was defeated and Francis I. taken prisoner. 
He now became Duke of Milan and com¬ 
mander of a Spanish army in Italy. In 1527 
he attempted to seize Rome, but was killed 
by a bullet fired at him by Benvenuto Cellini, 
the Italian artist. He was highly respected by 
his soldiers, who carefully carried his body to 
Gaeta and erected a monument to his memory. 

BOURGES (boorzh), a city of France, cap¬ 
ital of the department of Cher, 135 miles south 
of Paris. It is located at the junction of the 
Auron and Yevre rivers, and is the focus of 
important railroad lines. In the old part the 
streets are crooked and poorly improved, but 
the newer section has many fine public and 
residential buildings. It is the seat of a col¬ 
lege, a public library, a normal school, and a 
magnificent Gothic cathedral, known as the 
Cathedral of Saint Etienne. The trade is 
chiefly in wine, cereals, and live stock. Among 


BOURGET 


351 


BOWDOIN COLLEGE 


the manufactures are clothing, leather, wine, 
and machinery. Julius Caesar captured it in 
52 b. c., when it was known as Avaricum. 
Charles VII. of England made it his capital 
when Orleans was in the hands of the English. 
Population, 1921, 44,133. 

BOURGET (boor-zha'), Paul, novelist and 
essayist, born in Amiens, France, Sept. 2, 1852. 
His father was a Russian who had settled in 
France as professor of mathematics at the 
Lyceum of Clermont-Ferrand, where he studied 
for some time and afterward attended the 
College of Sainte Barbe. In 1873 he began to 
devote his time to literary work, though his 
active career as a writer began about ten years 
later. With unusual devotion to the study of 
literature, he rapidly gained a reputation as 
writer and critic, and carried realistic observa¬ 
tion into his work. In 1895 he was admitted 
to the French Academy, and he may be classed 
m the front rank of novelists and essayists. 
His chief publications include “Cosmopolis,” 
“Le Disciple,” “Outre-Mer,” and “Mensonges.” 

BOURINOT (boo-ri-no'), John George, 
historian, born in Sydney, Nova Scotia, Oct. 
24, 1837; died Oct. 13, 1902. He attended pub¬ 
lic schools and Trinity College, Toronto, and 
for many years edited the Halifax Reporter. 
In 1880 he was chosen chief clerk of the House 
of Commons of the Dominion, and two years 
later became an official in the Royal Society 
of Canada. Besides contributing numerous arti¬ 
cles to magazines in Canada and England, he 
published many works relating to government 
and constitutional law. His publications in¬ 
clude “Manual of Constitutional History,” 
“Canada Under British Rule,” “Parliamentary 
Government in Canada,” “Parliamentary Pro¬ 
cedure and Practice,” “Canada’s Intellectual 
Strength and Universities,” and “Captain Bre¬ 
ton and his Memorials to the French Regime.” 

BOUTELLE (boo-tel'), Charles Addison, 
journalist and politician, born in Damariscotta, 
Maine, Feb. 9, 1839; died May 21, 1901. After 
attending the public schools and at Yarmouth 
Academy, he entered the merchant marine, in 
1862, enlisted in the United States navy for 
service in the South Atlantic, and participated 
in the capture of Mobile. In 1866 he was hon¬ 
orably discharged, being then in command of 
the naval forces in the Mississippi Sound, and 
soon after engaged as publisher of the Bangor 
Whig and Courier. He was a delegate to the 
Republican national convention of 1876 and to 
three succeeding national conventions, and in 
1880 was elected to Congress as representative 
at large and was reelected eight times. As a 
member of Congress he served on many im¬ 
portant committees, and did much to promote 
the enlargement of the United States navy. 

BOUTWELL (bout'wel), George Sewell, 
statesman, born in Brookline, Mass., Jan. 28, 
1818; died Feb. 27, 1905. He became a mer¬ 
chant at Groton, in which occupation he re¬ 


mained until 1855. During convenient times he 
read law and entered politics in 1840. He was 
elected seven times to the Legislature as a 
Democrat, and was Governor in 1851-52. When 
the Republican party was organized, he w r ent 
over to that organization, and was twice 
elected to Congress on the Republican ticket. 
In 1869 he was made Secretary of the Treas¬ 
ury by President Grant, but resigned that posi¬ 
tion in 1873 to enter the United States Senate. 
He was for six years overseer of Harvard Col¬ 
lege, and wrote many able articles on taxation, 
finance, and educational topics. 

BOW (bo). See Violin. 

BOW, a weapon used in the chase and in 
war from remote antiquity, and still employed 
by savages in warfare and in many countries 
as a means of amusement. Two forms of the 
bow are in use, the longboiv and the crossbow. 
The former is the earlier kind and the more 
celebrated, having been used as the weapon of 
archers in the Middle Ages. It passed out of 
use as a military weapon with the improve¬ 
ment of firearms. The crossbow is now used 
in some field sports. It is made by attaching 
a bow to a stock resembling a musket, and 
discharges a short and stout arrow called a 
quarrel. The longbow is about five'feet long, 
and discharges an arrow three feet long, fur¬ 
nished with a steel head. Wood is used most 
generally, such as yew, elm, and wych-hazel, 
though steel and other elastic materials make 
good bows. The savages usually poison the 
end of the arrows used in war. 

BOWDOIN (bo'd’n), James, statesman and 
author, born in Boston, Mass., Aug. 8, 1727; 
died Nov. 6, 1790. He was a graduate of Har¬ 
vard and a man of profound learning. In a 
correspondence he suggested that the phosphor¬ 
escence of the sea is due to the presence of 
minute animaculae, a theory now generally ac¬ 
cepted. He carried on a correspondence with 
Benjamin Franklin, who read many of his let¬ 
ters before the Royal Society of London, under 
whose direction they were published. He was 
president of the Massachusetts Constitutional 
Convention, and was elected Governor of the 
State in 1785. Bowdoin College was named in 
in his honor. His son, James Bowdoin, Jr., 
born in Massachusetts, Sept. 22, 1752, died Oct. 
11, 1811, was educated at Harvard and Oxford, 
England, and became a noted writer and public 
man. He was sent as minister to Spain in 
1804 and served in other official capacities. 

BOWDOIN COLLEGE, the oldest seat of 
learning in Maine, and one of the earliest edu¬ 
cational institutions established in the United 
States. It was incorporated at Brunswick by 
the General Court of Massachusetts on June 
24, 1794, and received an endowment of six 
townships of wild lands in the then District 
of Maine. It bears the name of Governor 
James Bowdoin, a friend of Washington and 
Franklin, and who was eminent in the councils 


BOWELL 


352 


BOWLING 


of his native State. His son, Hon. James Bow- 
doin, United States minister to France and 
Spain, was its earliest individual benefactor. 
His paintings, drawings, and private library 
were donated to the institution, and the last 
mentioned is now in Hubbard Hall, a fire proof 
building erected at a cost of $300,000. 

Upon the foundation of the traditional four 
years of classical and disciplinary studies, there 
have been added the numerous elective courses 
in history, modern languages, and the social 
sciences, so arranged that the well prepared 
student of more than average ability can com¬ 
plete the requirements for the degree of A. B. 
in three years. Special facilities for the study 
of natural sciences are afforded by the lab¬ 
oratories of the Searles Science Building. 
Throughout the curriculum all the teaching is 
done by professors in distinction from tempo¬ 
rary instruction. The present endowment is 
about a million dollars and its plant is esti¬ 
mated at as much more. In 1820 the Medical 
School of Maine was established under the con¬ 
trol of the president and trustees of Bowdoin 
College and its graduates now number several 
thousand. The first two years of the course 
are pursued at Brunswick and the last two at 
Portland, ’on account of clinical advantages 
from the hospitals. Bowdoin is remarkable in 
the number of its alumni, who have won na¬ 
tional prominence. They include Chief Justice 
Fuller, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Henry W. Long¬ 
fellow, and Thomas B. Reed. The average 
attendance is about 400 students. 

BOWELL (bou'el), Sir Mackenzie, states¬ 
man, born in Suffolkshire, England, Dec. 15, 
1823. He came to Canada at the age of ten 
years and settled at Belleville, Ontario, where he 
became editor and proprietor of The Intelli¬ 
gencer. This newspaper exercised a wide in¬ 
fluence politically as a conservative organ. In 
1867 he was elected to the Parliament of Can¬ 
ada and became minister of customs in 1878, 
serving until 1891, when he was made minister 
of defense. In 1892-94 he was minister of trade 
and commerce, and subsequently was president 
of the Privy Council. He was chosen premier 
in 1896, and was long a leader of the Conserva¬ 
tive opposition. He died Dec. 10, 1917. 

BOWEN (bo'en), Francis, author and lec¬ 
turer, born at Charlestown, Mass., Sept. 8, 1811; 
died Jan. 21, 1890. He studied at Harvard 
University, where he graduated in 1833, and 
was editor of the North American Review in 
1843-54. In the latter year he became profes¬ 
sor of natural religion, moral philosophy, and 
civil polity at Harvard. He opposed the free 
trade views of Adam Smith and the philosophi¬ 
cal systems of Kant, Fichte, and John Stuart 
Mills. His writings embrace ‘‘Gleanings from 
Literary Life,” “Resources and Institutions of 
the American People,” “Treatise on Logic,” 
“Principles of Political Economy,” and “Criti¬ 
cal Essays on Speculative Philosophy.” 


BOWER BIRD (bou'er), the name of cer¬ 
tain birds belonging to the bird of paradise 
family, native to Australia and New Guinea. 
They were so named from the remarkable 
bowers or galleries which they construct. In 
size the different species vary somewhat, but 
the representative class is about the size of a 
jackdaw, and the plumage in the males and 
females is dissimilar, being a satin black in the 
former and a grayish-green in the latter. The 
bowers, built of twigs and leaves, are decorated 
with shells, flowers, bones, feathers, and other 
conspicuous objects. They are not nests, but 
places of amusement, and in them the male 
performs queer antics to attract its mate. Both 



SATIN BOWER BIRD. 


in architecture and ornamentation, these birds 
show remarkable skill and taste. 

BOWLES (bolz), William Lisle, clergy¬ 
man and poet, born at King’s Sutton, England, 
Sept. 24, 1762; died April 7, 1850. He studied 
at Trinity College, Oxford, and became a vicar 
in Wiltshire. Subsequently he was made preb¬ 
endary of Salisbury Cathedral, where he spent 
the remainder of his life. He possessed great 
personal attainments. In 1807 he edited the 
works of Pope and attacked this writer in a 
biography, by which he became involved in a 
controversy with Byron on the question whether 
Pope was a poet. His chief poetic works are 
“Fourteen Sonnets” and “The Spirit of Dis¬ 
covery.” 

BOWLING (boring), an athletic game and 
popular amusement originated in England by 
the Anglo-Saxons. It is played chiefly indoors, 
though formerly it was an outdoor amusement 
and was played on a level piece of greensward. 















BOWLING GREEN 


353 


BOYDELL 


No game is more popular now at the practice 
rooms of athletic societies and in the gymnasi¬ 
ums of social and commercial clubs. In many 
cities the game is played in halls built especially 
for the purpose, and in which it is the only 
form of amusement. Each hall has one or 
more platforms called alleys. The alleys are 
carefully fitted with a hard floor, slightly convex 
in the center, and on each side is a gutter to 
catch the ball if it is not accurately rolled. At 
the further extremity ten pins are set up by an 
attendant, usually a boy. The pins are in most 
cases of ash wood, about a foot in height and 
about two pounds in weight, and are arranged 
in the form of a pyramid, with the apex toward 
the bowler. A slanting roadway at one side of 
the alley serves to return the balls to the player. 
Each player may roll two balls, which are about 
twenty inches in circumference and sixteen 
pounds in weight. The balls are provided with 
thumb holes to enable the player to secure a firm 
hold. A strike is made when all the pins are 
knocked down with a single ball, and a spare, 
when all are knocked down with the two balls. 
Ten innings or frames make the game, and 
the one who knocks down the largest number 
of pins is che winner. The sizes of the pins 
and of the balls vary somewhat, and various 
games or matches are played, but these are too 
complicated to admit of full description except 
in a book of rules. 

BOWLING GREEN, the county seat of 
Warren County, Kentucky, on Barren River, 
about seventy miles north of Nashville. It is on 
the Louisville and Nashville Railroad. The city 
has electric lights, waterworks, a fine court¬ 
house, and two parks. It is the seat of numer¬ 
ous factories, including iron foundries, saw 
mills, flouring mills, and distilleries. The sur¬ 
rounding region is agricultural and has natural 
gas deposits. Besides having good schools, it 
is the seat of a Catholic academy and of Ogden 
College. It was incorporated in 1812. Popula¬ 
tion, 1900, 8,226; in 1920, 9,638. 

BOWLING GREEN, a city in Ohio, county 
seat of Wood County, twenty miles south of 
Toledo, on the Toledo and Ohio Central and 
the Cincinnati, Hamilton and Dayton railroads. 
The chief buildings include the city hall, the 
county courthouse, and the central high school. 
It has manufactures of cut glass, canned fruits, 
ironware, and machinery. The municipal im¬ 
provements include waterworks, gas and electric 
lighting, and a central heating system. It has a 
large trade in grain and farm produce. Bowl¬ 
ing Green was settled in 1832 and was incor¬ 
porated in 1854. Population, 1920, 5,788. 

BOX-ELDER, or Ash-Leaved Maple, a 
small tree of North America, widely distributed 
in Canada and the United States. It is planted 
very extensively as a shade tree and for wind¬ 
breaks, because of its ability to withstand almost 
any extremes in climate. It grows rapidly and 
begins to bear seed in four or five years. The 

23 


wood is of little value, but is used as fuel 
where timber is scarce. 

BOXING, a match between two persons who 
strike each other with the fists. Formerly this 
art of amusement or exercise was an exhibition 
of pugilistic skill, in which the participants 
sought to punish each other, but modern boxing 
has partaken form among the athletic exercises. 
When conducted under recognized rules, such 
as the Queensberry Rules, the elements that 
enter into a prize fight are eliminated and it is 
placed among the more meritorious amusements. 
The participants are classified according to their 
weights in six divisions, known as bantam, 
feather, light, welter, middle, and heavy. The 
maximum weights in each class are: Bantam, 
105 pounds; feather, 115 pounds; light, 135 
pounds; welter, 145 pounds; middle, 158 
pounds; heavy, over 158 pounds. Boxers wear, 
as a means of preventing injury, thickly padded 
gloves, made of soft and pliable leather, to cover 
the back of the hand, the fingers, and the thumb. 
The rules are very numerous and provide regu¬ 
lations for matches of different kinds. In 1866 
th c Amateur Athletic Club was founded in 
England, and later the Amateur Athletic Union 
was organized in the United States. Contests 
for championships have been numerous, and the 
art of boxing will likely be maintained as an 
active and healthful exercise, but pugilistic con¬ 
tests in the nature of prize-fights are prohibited 
by law in most countries. 

BOX TREE, an evergreen tree, from 12 to 
15 feet high, native to Europe and Asia. It 
was cultivated by the ancient Greeks and 
Romans as an ornamental shrub in their gar¬ 
dens, and the wood was used for making boxes 
and ornaments. It is native to England and 
thrives in the countries bordering on the Med¬ 
iterranean. The wood is hard, heavy, and yel¬ 
lowish in color, and takes a high polish. Most 
of the boxwood of commerce comes from the 
regions adjoining the Caspian and Mediter¬ 
ranean seas, where it is cultivated. 

BOYCOTTING (boi'kot-ing), the name 
generally applied to a system under which a 
society or class decline to buy or sell to some 
individual or class of individuals. The name 
came from Captain James Boycott, who was 
the land agent at Mayo, Ireland, for Lord Erne, 
an Irish nobleman. On account of gross of¬ 
fenses to the people no one would assist in 
gathering his crops. The case was publicly 
reported and resulted in a Boycott Relief Expe¬ 
dition by which the crops were secured and 
the owner protected. Boycotts are prohibited 
by law in many states of the Union and have 
been a subject for legislation in most countries. 

BOYDELL (boi'del), John, engraver, born 
in Dorrington, England, Jan. 19, 1719; died Dec. 
1, 1804. He studied engraving in London and 
promoted the art by patronizing native paint¬ 
ers an d engravers. These included Reynolds, 
West, and Opie, and from their pictures were 



BOYESEN 


354 


BRABANT 


made illustrations for the works of Shakes¬ 
peare. His engravings were combined in one 
work under the title of “Shakespeare Gallery.” 
In 1790 he was Lord Mayor of London. 

BOYESEN (boi'e-sen), Hjalmar Jhorth, 
educator and novelist, born in Frideriksvarn, 
Norway, Sept. 23, 1848; died Oct. 4, 1895. He 
graduated at the University of Norway in 1868, 
and subsequently studied at Leipzig, Germany. 
Later he came to the United States and was 
editor of Frcdmad, a Scandinavian journal pub¬ 
lished in Chicago. In 1874-80 he was professor 
of German at Cornell, and in the latter year be¬ 
came professor in Columbia University, New 
York, where he labored until his death. His 
writings are in the English, German, and Nor¬ 
wegian languages. They include “Tales from 
Two Hemispheres,” “Essays on Scandinavian 
Literature,” “Gunnar: A Norse Romance,” 
“Essays on German Literature,” “Queen Ti- 
tania,” and “Idyls of Norway.” 

BOYLE (boil), Robert, celebrated natural 
philosopher, born at Lismore Castle, Ireland, 
Jan. 25, 1627; died Dec. 30, 1691. He was the 
seventh son of fourteen children of Richard 
Boyle, Earl of Cork. He became one of tne 
first members of the Royal Society, which v as 
organized in 1663. At Oxford he demonstrated 
the elasticity of air by means of an air pump. 
Boyle’s Law, according to which the volume of 
a gas varies in proportion to the pressuie to 
which it is subjected, was discovered by him. 
He instituted the Boyle Lectures, a series of 
lectures to be delivered perpetually for proving 
the Christian religion against unbelievers. 
These he endowed by bequeathing his property 
for that purpose. They have been continuous 
since 1691, and are delivered by persons selected 
for that purpose, no one being allowed to serve 
more than three years as lecturer. 

BOYNE (boin), a river in Ireland, rises in 
the Bog of Allen, and flows into the Irish Sea, 
after a course of about sixty miles. The ad¬ 
herents of James II. and William III. fought a 
battle on its banks in 1690, in which the former 
were utterly routed and compelled to flee in dis¬ 
order. The anniversary of this victory, July 12, 
is still celebrated by Irish Protestants. On the 
battle-field is a monument 150 feet high. 

BOYNE CITY, a city of Michigan, in 
Charlevoix County, on Pine Lake and on the 
Boyne City, Gaylord and Alpena Railroad. 
Among the noteworthy buildings are the high 
school, city hall, public library, and a fine hotel. 
The industries include lumber mills, chemical 
factory, and tanneries. It was settled in 1880. 
Population, 1920, 4,284. 

BOZEMAN (boz'man), a city of Montana, 
county seat of Gallatin County, 95 miles south¬ 
east-of Helena. It is located on the Gallatin 
River and the Northern Pacific Railroad, and 
has a large trade in agricultural products, 
merchandise, and live stock. The surrounding 
country has gold, silver, coal, and iron ore 


deposits, and large interests in farming and 
stock raising. Among its industries are flour¬ 
ing mills, brickyards, stone quarries, and ma¬ 
chine shops. It is the seat of the State College 
of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts. Among 
the public buildings are a library, the county 
and municipal buildings, and several schools 
and churches. Population, 1920, 6,183. 

BOZZARIS (bot'sa-res), Marco, Greek hero 
and patriot, born at Suli, in the mountains of 
Epirus, in 1788; slain in battle Aug. 20, 1823. 
His life was one of military excitement and 
combat for liberty. He retired to the Ionian 
Islands after the fall of Suli, in 1803, and 
joined other refugees in a struggle to deliver 
his native country from the Turks. In 1820 
he united with Ali Pasha and rendered valua¬ 
ble services. After the death of Ali Pasha, he 
continued his opposition to the Turks, and later 
united his forces with the Greek army, in 
which he became general. He was com¬ 
mander in chief of the Greek forces at Misso- 
longhi in 1823. On Aug. 20 he led his army 
upon a daring night attack to the camp of the 
enemy, near Carpenisi, and routed the opposing 
forces with great slaughter. The Turkish 
army numbered about 13,000, and Bozzaris led 
1,200 against the vanguard of 4,000 warriors. 
His successful exploits were attended with great 
skill and personal bravery, but he was slain 
while leading to the final attack. The Greeks 
still celebrate his deeds in popular songs. His 
heroic bravery is recounted in a poem by Fitz- 
Greene Halleck, entitled “Marco Bozzaris/’ 

BRABANT (bra'bant), a district in the cen¬ 
tral lowlands of Holland and Belgium. It for¬ 
merly constituted an independent duchy, but 
has had many rulers and alliances in the past 
four centuries. In 1648 it was incorporated 
with the United Provinces, after the famous 
revolt of the Netherlands against King Philip. 
It was divided by the Peace of Utrecht in 1714, 
when a portion passed to the Spanish crown. 
It became a part of the Netherlands in 1814, 
and was again divided in 1830 into the provinces 
of Antwerp, North Brabant, and South Bra¬ 
bant. In the same year Antwerp and South 
Brabant were made a part of Belgium. North 
Brabant has an area of 1,980 square miles and 
a population of 628,089, and belongs to Hol¬ 
land. The province of Antwerp has an area 
of 1,093 and a population of 875,682; and South 
Brabant, an area of 1,268 square miles, and a 
population of 1,475,490. The southern portions 
are inhabited by Walloons, the central by 
Flemish, and the northern by Dutch. South of 
Brussels the language is chiefly French, and 
in the northern part it is Flemish, Dutch, and 
German. The subdivisions are all densely 
populated. The soil is fertile, producing 
cereals, sugar beets, vegetables, and grasses, 
and large interests are vested in manufactur¬ 
ing. Among the large cities included are Ant¬ 
werp and Brussels. 


BRACE 


355 


BRADSHAW 


BRACE (bras), Charles Loring, author and 
humanist, born at Litchfield, Conn., June 19, 
182G; died at Campfer, Switzerland, Aug. 11, 
1890. He graduated from Yale in 1846, and 
continued his studies at Union Theological 
Seminary. In 1850 he made an extended tour 
through England, Ireland, Germany, Belgium, 
and Italy. He lectured extensively, and estab¬ 
lished several institutions for the care of poor 
children and the poorer classes. His writings 
include “Walks and Talks of an American 
Farmer in England,” “Home Life in Germany,” 
“Dangerous Classes of New York,” “Hungary 
in 1851,” and “Short Sermons to Newsboys.” 

BRADDOCK (brad'duk), a borough in 
Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, on the Mo- 
nongahela River, ten miles southeast of Pitts¬ 
burg. It is on the Pennsylvania, the Baltimore 
and Ohio, and other railroads. Among the 
chief buildings are the public hall, several 
schools, and the Carnegie Library. The manu¬ 
factures include ironware, cement, plaster, boil¬ 
ers, steel rails, and railway cars. It has water¬ 
works, street pavements, and electric street rail¬ 
ways. It is noted as the scene of the Battle of 
Braddock’s Field, in 1755. The first settlement 
was made in 1795 and it was incorporated in 
1867. Population, 1900,15,654; in 1920,20,879. 

BRADDOCK, Edward, soldier, born in 
Perthshire, Scotland, in 1695; killed in battle 
July 13, 1755. He came to America soon after 
the opening of the French and Indian War. 
In 1755 he led an expedition against Fort Du- 
Quesne, near Pittsburg, Penn. With a force 
of 2,200 men, accompanied by George Washing¬ 
ton, he moved upon his expedition. On the 
morning of July 9 an ambuscading party of 
900 left the fort. The British were advanc¬ 
ing through thick woods when they were as¬ 
sailed from all sides by French and Indians. 
For the first time many of the British heard 
the war whoop and were confused by the pe¬ 
culiar attack from behind rocks and trees. 
Braddock displayed great bravery, but was 
mortally wounded after five horses had been 
killed under him. Washington distinguished 
himself and successfully covered the retreat. 
Out of 1,373 British troops only 459 came off 
unharmed. 

BRADDON (brad'dun), Mary Elizabeth. 
See Maxwell, Mrs. John. 

BRADFORD (brad'ferd), a city in McKean 
County, Pennsylvania, sixty-three miles south¬ 
east of Dunkirk, N. Y., on the Erie, the Penn¬ 
sylvania, and other railroads. It is located in 
a productive oil field, and is surrounded by 
a rich agricultural district. The city has large 
petroleum works, railroad machine shops, plan¬ 
ing mills, glass works, brickyards, and nitro¬ 
glycerin and torpedo works. There are street 
railways, electric lights, waterworks, a public 
park, and several fine schools. It has a fine 
public library and many schools and churches. 
The first settlement was made in 1823 and it 


was incorporated in 1879. Population, 1900, 
15,029; in 1920, 15,525. 

BRADFORD, a manufacturing city of 
Yorkshire, England, about twenty-eight miles 
southwest of York. It is noted for its manu¬ 
facture of yarn and woolens; not less than 350 
mills are in operation. It is beautified by sev¬ 
eral fine public parks, and has many charitable 
and educational institutions. The chief build¬ 
ings include the town hall, the public library, 
the commercial exchange, the United Yorkshire 
Independent College, and the Art Museum. 
Several Protestant demoninations have colleges 
in or near the city. The transportation facili¬ 
ties include the Bradford Canal, electric rail¬ 
ways, and four lines of railroads. Among the 
manufactures are cotton and woolen goods, 
clothing, soap, ironware, boilers, and spirituous 
liquors. It has public waterworks, slaughter¬ 
houses, electric and gas lighting, and stone and 
asphalt paving. The growth of the city in 
wealth and population has been very rapid the 
past decade. It was incorporated as a city in 
1897. Population, 1921, 288,505. 

BRADFORD, William, one of the Pilgrim 
Fathers, born in Austerfield, England, in 1590; 
died in Plymouth, Mass., May 9, 1657. He 
went to Holland in search of religious liberty 
and joined the English congregation at Leyden. 
Pie came to America in the Mayflower in 1620. 
The following year he was elected governor of 
the Plymouth colony, which position he held 
thirty-one years. He was one of the most use¬ 
ful men to the early colonists of America. He 
wrote a history that contains the important 
events of the colony from 1620 to 1647. 

BRADLEY (brad'll), Joseph Philo, jurist, 
born in Berne, N. Y., March 14, 1813; died in 
Washington, D. C., Jan. 25, 1892. He gradu¬ 
ated at Rutgers College in 1837, and was ad¬ 
mitted to the bar three years later. His prac¬ 
tice began at Newark, N. J., where he became 
distinguished on account of success in impor¬ 
tant law cases and for effective oratory. Presi¬ 
dent Grant appointed him as a justice of the 
circuit court/for the southern circuit, and later 
for the circuit comprising Pennsylvania, New 
Jersey, and Delaware. In his official career 
many important maritime and Civil War cases 
were adjudicated. He served on the famous 
Hayes-Tilden electoral commission, his vote 
awarding the election to R. B. Hayes. 

BRADSHAW (brad'sha), John, jurist, born 
in Cheshire, England, in 1602; died Oct. 31, 
1659. He studied law and became chief justice 
of Chester in 1847, and in 1649 was president 
of the high court which tried and condemned 
Charles I. After the death of the king, he 
became president of the council of state, but 
opposed Cromwell and the protectorate, which 
caused him to lose influence. Milton eulogized 
him as a great jurist and statesman. After 
the restoration of the monarchy, his body was 
taken from the grave with those of Cromwell 


» 


BRADSTREET 


356 


BRAHE 


and Ireton and exposed on a gibbet in West¬ 
minster Hall. 

BRADSTREET (brad'stret), Anne, poet, 
born in Northampton, England, in 1612; died 
Sept. 16, 1672. She was a daughter of Thomas 
Dudley and married Governor Bradstreet, and 
in 1630 went with him to New England. Her 
poems, though widely read, lack originality and 
poetic power. She has the distinction of being 
one of the first writers in America, and for 
this reason has a permanent place in the history 
of New England culture. She published a col¬ 
lection of her poems, in 1650, under the title 
“The Tenth Muse Lately Sprung Up in Amer¬ 
ica.” 

BRADSTREET, Simon, colonial governor 
of Massachusetts, born at Iiorbling, England, 
in March, 1603; died at Salem, Mass., March 
27, 1697. His education was obtained by study¬ 
ing at Emmanuel College, Cambridge, and for 
some time he was the steward to the Countess 
of Warwick. He was sent to America in 1630 
to serve as assistant judge of the court of Mas¬ 
sachusetts. He held public positions for more 
than sixty years, and established the reputation 
of being an able and trustworthy public servant. 
In 1660 he was sent to England to congratulate 
Charles II. on his restoration to the imperial 
throne. He was one of the founders of Cam¬ 
bridge, Mass., and was prominent as an oppo¬ 
nent to the famous witchcraft delusion of 1692, 
at Salem. 

BRADY (bra'di), Cyrus Townsend, clergy¬ 
man and author, born in Allegheny, Pa., Dec. 
20, 1861. Pie graduated at the United States 
Naval Academy, but resigned from service and 
was connected for two years with railroads in 
the Mississippi Valley. In 1890 he was ordained 
priest of the Protestant Episcopal Church and 
served as rector of churches in Missouri and 
Colorado, and for a time was archdeacon of 
Kansas. He was made archdeacon of Penn¬ 
sylvania in 1895, serving until 1899, when he 
became rector of Saint Paul’s Church at Over¬ 
brook, Philadelphia, Pa. He was chaplain in 
a regiment during the Spanish-American War. 
His writings are very numerous and include 
historical essays and several volumes of fiction. 
Among them are “Commodore Paul Jones,” 
“The Grip of Honor,” “Border Fights and 
Fighters,” “The Doctor of Philosophy,” “A 
Midshipman in the Pacific,” “Life of Stephen 
Decatur,” and “Recollections of a Missionary 
in the Great West.” He died Jan. 24, 1920. 

BRAGANZA (bra-gan'za), House of, the 
name of the present ruling dynasty of Portu¬ 
gal, and by which the once imperial family of 
Brazil was known. It was named from the 
town of Braganga, Portugal. The first mem¬ 
ber of the family was John IV., Duke of Bra- 
ganza, who ascended the throne in 1640, after 
throwing off the yoke of Spain. The oldest 
son of John VI. became first emperor of Bra¬ 
zil with the title of Dom Pedro I. in 1822. 


Dom Pedro II., his son, succeeded him, but 
was forced to abdicate in 1889. 

BRAGG (brag), Baxton, soldier, born in 
Warren County, North Carolina, March 22, 
1817; died, at Galveston, Tex., Sept. 27, 1876. 
After graduating at West Point in 1837, he en¬ 
listed for service in the Seminole War, and later 
distinguished himself at the battle of Buena 
Vista, in the Mexican War, on account of 
which he was made lieutenant -colonel. In 
1856 he engaged in agriculture in Louisiana, 
but when the Civil War commenced he entered 
the Confederate army, and was placed in com¬ 
mand of the forces at Pensacola, Fla. He 
served at Shiloh, and, after the death of Gen. 
A. S. Johnston, was commander of the entire 
Southern forces. Pie invaded Kentucky in 
1862 with 45,000 men, and was defeated at 
Perryville and again at Murfreesboro, but 
gained the battle of Chickamauga in 1863. Gen. 
Grant defeated him at Chattanooga the same 
year, when he was relieved of his command and 
became the military adviser of Jefferson Davis. 
In 1864 he led a force against Gen. Sherman 
while on his march to the sea, but was unsuc¬ 
cessful in checking the advance of the Union 
army. After the war he held several official 
positions in Alabama. His brother, Thomas 
Bragg (1810-1872), was Governor of North 
Carolina four years, beginning in 1854; United 
States Senator in 1859, and attorney general 
of the Confederac- two years, beginning in 
1861. 

BRAGG, Edward Stuyvesant, soldier and 
legislator, born in Unadilla, N. Y., Feb. 20, 
1827. He studied at Geneva College, was ad¬ 
mitted to the New York bar, and in 1849 
removed to Fond du Lac, Wis., where he built 
up a successful practice. In 1854 he became 
district attorney, and at the beginning of the 
Civil War entered the Union service. He 
was with the Army of the Potomac, com¬ 
manded the famous Iron Brigade, and was 
mustered out as brigadier general. In 1877 
he was elected to the Wisconsin Legislature, 
and the following year was sent to Congress 
as a Democrat, and was reelected several times. 
He was minister to Mexico in 1888, and in 
1902, became consul general to Havana, but 
the same year was sent as consul general to 
Hongkong. He died June 20, 1912. 

BRAHE (bra), Tycho, celebrated astrono¬ 
mer, born in Knudstrop, Denmark, Dec. 4, 
1546; died at Prague, Austria, Oct. 24, 1601. 
He descended from a noble Swedish family 
which had resided in Denmark for some years. 
Pie studied philosophy and rhetoric at Copen¬ 
hagen, and after the great eclipse of the sun 
on Aug. 21, 1560, which occurred at precisely 
the time foretold by the astronomers, he began 
to study astronomy, regarding it as something 
divine. His uncle sent him to Leipsig to 
study law, but he continued studying astronomy 
with profound interest. He constructed vari- 


BRAHMA 


857 


BRAHMS 


ous apparatus with which to gain knowledge 
of the heavenly bodies, and in 1571 was fav¬ 
ored by an uncle with aid to secure material 
and appliances to carry ,on his investigations. 
Frederick II., King of Denmark, bestowed 
upon him the island of Huen, in the Sound, 
on which to erect an observatory and labora- 
tory, together with a pension of two thousand 
crowns out of the public treasury. Fitted up 
in this way, he built a castle which he named 
Uranienburg. With the death of the king his 
pension was discontinued, and he was compelled 
to leave the country, owing to poverty and 
the general opposition of his countrymen, and 
he spent the remainder of his life in Germany. 
Rudolph II., King of Germany, showed him 
many marks of respect and granted him a pen¬ 
sion of three thousand florins. The great as¬ 
tronomer, Kepler, was with him as a student. 
After his death Kepler made use of his dis¬ 
coveries and apparatus, which he used effec¬ 
tively in his own astronomical researches. 

BRAHMA (bra'ma), the first person in the 
Hindu trinity, which consists of Brahma, 
Vishnu, and Siva. Brahma is worshiped as 
the universal power or basis of all existence, 
by certain castes of India. The three taken 
separately represent the creator, the preserver, 
and the destroyer. Brahma, the creator, as a 
personal god, is represented as a personage 
of a red color, with four heads and four arms. 
In one of the hands he holds a portion of the 
Vedas, in one a lustral vessel, in one a rosary, 
and in one a sacrificial spoon. As a person he 
represents merely the agent of Brahma, the 
universal power, and is the god of the fates 
and master of life and death. His worship is 
common among the Brahmans. 

BRAHMANISM (bra'man-iz’m), the reli¬ 
gious and social system developed and ex¬ 
pounded by the Brahmans, a religious caste 
among the Hindus. The ancient religious 
writings called the Vedas, the basis of the sys¬ 
tem, are held sacred and inspired. It is thought 
that the oldest of the writings were composed 
and uttered from 2400 to 2000 b. c. Max Mul¬ 
ler, the German antiquarian, translated the Rig- 
Veda and regarded the whole as dating from 
about the 15th century b. c. However, its ori¬ 
gin dates from no particular century, but 
seems to have been added to at many different 
periods as the priestly caste increased in num¬ 
ber and power. In time the system became 
complex, and at least three other great castes 
originated. 

The four early castes were the Brahmans, 
Kshatriyas, Vaisyas, and Sudras. The first 
are the philosophers, scholars, statesmen, and 
administrators of the Aryan people of India. 
To them the Sanskrit language and literature 
owes its origin. The second class consists of the 
warriors, the third class is constituted of the 
merchants, and the fourth class comprises the 
laborers. The Brahmans now represent about 


one-tenth part of those who hold the Vedas 
sacred. They are the most intellectual of all 
the classes and possess admirable ability for 
mathematical reasoning and metaphysical spec¬ 
ulation. It is probable that the castes previously 
represented different races. The great diver¬ 
sity of modern industry and various intermar¬ 
riages have given rise to innumerable distinc¬ 
tions. There are at least several hundred 
castes among the Brahmans alone, and quite a 
large number belong distinctively to each of the 
other three principal divisions. Many of the 
castes cannot partake of food prepared by 
others and are not allowed to intermarry. 

From the 5th to the 1st century b. c. Brah¬ 
manism implied the worship of the one god, 
Brahma, with the three personages, or trinity, 
Brahma, Vishnu, and Siva. The idea of a one 
god and the belief in the first person, Brahma, 
were too abstract to endure for a long period 
of time. This led to a general worship of 
Vishnu, the preserver, and Siva, the destroyer, 
and the worshipers of these two deities now 
constitute the two great religious sects of 
India. The higher classes choose which of the 
two they prefer and hold the worship only as 
a means to reach the one first cause, or Brah¬ 
ma. The worship of Vishnu is conducted under 
the forms known as Krishna and Rama, and 
that of Siva under the form called Lingam, 
with the power of Sukti—the power and energy 
of the divine nature in action. Hindu reform¬ 
ers are falling back to the teaching of the 
Vedas, that is, Brahma, with the triad Brahma, 
Vishnu, and Siva, being regarded the one god. 

BRAHMAPUTRA (bra'ma-pdo-tra), mean¬ 
ing ‘‘son of Brahma,” one of the great rivers 
of India. It rises in the plateau of Tibet and 
has a length of 1,800 miles. In the upper part 
of its course, where it is known as the Sanpo, 
it flows southeast along the northern slope of 
the Himalayas, and as it turns southward 
through the mountains it assumes the name of 
Dihong. In Assam it receives the inflow from 
a number of tributaries and is generally known 
as the Brahmaputra, a name applied by some 
writers to its entire course. It joins the Gan¬ 
ges about ninety miles from the Bay of Ben¬ 
gal, where they discharge after forming a com¬ 
mon delta. The stream overflows in the rainy 
season and when the mountain snow melts, 
usually in June and July, and floods vast 
plains, rendering them fertile for the produc¬ 
tion of great quantities of cereals. More than 
800 miles are navigable for commercial traffic, 
while the several channels of the delta furnish 
excellent inland connection. The river was 
first explored by Europeans in 1765. 

BRAHMS (brams), Johannes, composer of 
music, born in Hamburg, Germany, May 7, 1833: 
died April 3, 1897. He received a musical edu¬ 
cation under the direction of his father, who 
was noted as a double-base player, and after¬ 
ward was instructed by Edward Marxsen at 


t 


BRAIN 


358 


BRAIN 


Altona. As early as 1847 he played success¬ 
fully in Hamburg, and in 1853 he met Schu¬ 
mann, who was so favorably impressed with 
the young musician that he expressed the view 
that Brahms would make a high reputation in 
promoting the development of modern music. 
In writing of the musician, Schumann said 
among other things: “Many new and remarka¬ 
ble geniuses have made their appearance. I 
thought to follow with interest the pathways 
of these elect. There would, there must, after 
such promise, suddenly appear one who should 
utter the highest ideal expression of the times, 
who should claim the mastership by no gradual 
development, but burst upon us fully equipped 
as Minerva sprang from the head of Jupiter. 
And he is come, this chosen youth over whose 
cradle graces and heroes scent to have kept 
watch.” 

Brahms was a careful student of Wagner’s 
scores, and as a composer is remarkable for 
having withdrawn largely from society and 
devoted himself to his chosen art. He was 
made conductor for the Prince of Lippe-Det- 
rnold in 1854, and subsequently studied and con¬ 
ducted in Switzerland, Austria, and in several 
cities of Germany. His reputation was* estab¬ 
lished in 1868, when his “German Requiem” 
was rendered at Bremen, and subsequently he 
produced many symphonies and songs, a total 
of nearly two hundred. He had aversion to 
marriage and the opera, enjoyed rugged health 
most of his life, and was a master and leader 
in musical art. His chief productions include 
“Funeral Hymns,” “Serious Songs,” “How Are 
You, My Queen,” and the “Fourth Symphony.” 

BRAIN, that part of the central nervous 
system of animals that is found within the 
skull. It is held to be the seat of intellectual 



b—CEREBELLUM. d— CEREBRUM. 


and mental power in man. The shape, when 
viewed from above, is somewhat like that of 
an egg. In composition it is soft and yielding, 
closely filling the cavity of the skull. It is in¬ 
closed in a double membrane called the arach¬ 
noid, which is as delicate as the web of a 
spider, and which forms a close sack filled with 
a liquid resembling water. Within this and 
within the spaces of the brain is a fine tissue. 


The tissue, called pia mater, is penetrated by 
many blood vessels, which pass through the 
hollows. The flow of blood to the brain is so 
copious that about one-fifth of the entire cir¬ 
culation of the body is used. The dura mater 
is a tough membrane which lines the bony 
cavity of the skull and incloses the entire 
brain mass, and separates the various parts of 
the organ by strong partitions. 

The brain consists of three main parts called 
the cerebrum, the cerebellum, and the medulla 
oblongata. The cerebrum consists of two lat¬ 
eral hemispheres united by a thick, strong band 
of white tissue, and comprises about seven- 
eighths of the weight of the entire brain. In 
the lowest animals the cerebrum is wanting. It 
makes its appearance as the scale of animals 
rises to higher forms. This part of the brain 
occupies the front and upper part of the skull. 
The bulk is composed of white nerve fibers. 
The fibers intimately connect with the fibers 
of the gray layer of nervous matter, which is 
found at the surface. The surface is wrinkled 
and folded, which gives ample surface for the 
gray matter, in some individuals as much as 
675 square inches. The cerebrum is the center 
of thought and intelligence. The cerebellum is 
located in the back of the head, below the cere¬ 
brum. It is smaller than the cerebrum, but in 
construction is quite similar, except that it has 
parallel ridges instead of convolutions. This 
enables the gray matter of the cerebellum to lie 
in the white matter within. The cerebellum is 
the center for the control of the voluntary 
muscles, particularly those of motion. The 
various movements of the body, such as grasp¬ 
ing, balancing, and walking, arise in the cerebel¬ 
lum, while the nerve-cells of convolution in the 
cerebrum are the seat of volition, consciousness, 
and educational intelligence, and of the faculty 
of language. 

The medulla oblongata is the upper enlarged 
part of the spinal cord. It extends from the 
upper border of the first vertebra to the pons, 
which are connected at each side with the cere¬ 
brum above and the cerebellum behind. It is 
divided by tissue into a right and left portion, 
and the latter is separated by grooves into four 
columns. When the cerebrum is injured by dis¬ 
ease or otherwise, persons become unable to 
converse intelligently, both from inability to 
remember words and a loss of power to articu¬ 
late them. In an idiot this portion of the brain 
is not well developed. In persons having an 
injured or diseased cerebellum there is a tend¬ 
ency to totter and walk with uncertain move¬ 
ments as if intoxicated; all their movements 
and work are irregular and uncontrollable. 

Man possesses a large cerebrum in proportion 
to the weight of the brain, while in lower ani¬ 
mals the cerebellum is larger than the cere¬ 
brum. The cerebrum seems to be large in order 
to provide for an emergency in case of injury. 
Small parts of the human brain have been 





BRAINERD 


359 


BRANDENBURG 


lost by accident and in war, and, after recovery 
from the wounds, men suffered little or no im¬ 
pairment of their mental faculties. This is 
somewhat analogous to an instance in which a 
person has lost the use of one eye, the other eye 
supplying him with the sense of sight. Brain 
force is developed by activity and grows by ex¬ 
ercise. 

The average weight of the human brain is 
about forty-five ounces in females and fifty 
ounces in males. In some notable instances it 
attained a weight of seventy-five ounces. The 
brain of an idiotic boy weighed eight ounces, 
and a female idiot had a brain weighing ten 
ounces. The brain of Agassiz weighed 54.4 
ounces, that of Byron 63.7; Cuvier, 64.5; and* 
Turgeneff, 74.8. The ability of a man does not 
depend upon the size of the brain so much as 
upon its quality, but it is known that men of 
great ability possess large brains, and that the 
brains of cultured races are much larger than 
those of savages. The brain being a delicate 
organ, it is influenced largely by the condition 
of the body, requires food adapted to its growth 
and sustenance, and needs the recuperation 
which results from healthful rest. It is subject 
to many diseases, which usually prove either 
decidedly harmful or fatal. They include brain 
fever, tumors, and inflammation of the brain. 

BRAINERD. (bran'erd), county seat of 
Crow Wing County, Minnesota, about 115 miles 
southwest of Duluth, on the Northern Pacific 
and the Minnesota and International railroads. 
It is surrounded by a rich agricultural country, 
is a grain and jobbing center, and has modern 
municipal facilities. The manufactures include 
flour, machinery, clothing, cigars, and earthen¬ 
ware. It has flouring mills and extensive rail¬ 
road shops. The school system is well estab¬ 
lished and carries an excellent course of study. 
It has electric lights, pavements, waterworks, 
and a fine courthouse. In 1883 it received its 
charter as a city. Population, 1920, 9,591. 

BRAINERD, David, Indian missionary, 
born at Haddam, Conn., in 1718;.died Oct. 9, 
1747. His work was among the Indians of New 
Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Massachusetts. He 
died at the home of Jonathan Edwards, who 
wrote his biography. 

BRAINTREE (bran'tre), a town of Massa¬ 
chusetts, in Norfolk County, ten miles south of 
Boston, on the New York, New Haven and 
Hartford Railroad. It is the seat of Thayer 
Academy and the Thayer Public Library. The 
manufactures include cotton goods, boots and 
shoes, hardware, paper, and machinery.. Large 
granite deposits are worked in the vicinity. The 
first permanent settlement was made on its site 
in 1634, and the town was incorporated in 
1640. Population, 1905, 6,879; in 1920, 10,580. 

BRAKE, a device for retarding or arresting 
motion by means of friction. In railroad cars 
and machinery it usually consists of a simple or 
compound lever, connected with a shoe or 


band, which is forcibly pressed on the periph¬ 
ery of the wheel that is to be stopped or 
reduced in its speed. The problem of supplying 
suitable brakes for railroad and street cars has 
engaged the attention of inventors for several 
decades. Hand brakes are now used largely for 
retarding motion in small machines, while air 
and electric brakes are common on street and 
railway cars and in large machinery. In an 
air brake either the compression or vacuum may 
be used. In the former the* air is compressed 
by a pump attached to the engine and is con¬ 
veyed to cylinders under the cars by means of 
pipes, where it acts on the brake-levers. The 
vacuum method is the reverse; the air is 
exhausted from the device beneath the car, and 
the brake-levers are acted on by atmospheric 
pressure. The electric brake is used largely on 
electric railways. It is constructed so the car- 
motor will become a dynamo as soon as it is 
disconnected from the trolley wire, and as such 
it generates a force sufficient to act upor <:he 
brake-levers. 

BRAKE, or Bracken, a class of ferns found 
in many parts of America and other continents. 
It is large and coarse and has a creeping root- 
stalk, from which naked stalks about fifteen 
inches high grow up. It grows in rocky regions 
and on hillsides. The early frosts kill the 
annual growth, and in the spring new shoots 
come up from the rootstalk or rhizome, which 
has a bitter taste and is used to a limited extent 
as a substitute for hops. 

BRAMBLE (bram'b’l), the name of a kind 
of blackberry native to Great Britain. This 
plant is not cultivated for its fruit, which is of 
a fair quality, because it spreads rapidly and in 
this respect resembles an obnoxious weed. The 
word bramble is used in America to describe 
collectively such plants as the blackberry, rasp¬ 
berry, and blueberrv. 

BRANDENBURG (bran'den-boorg), a 
province and city of Prussia, in the German 
Empire. The province has an area of 15,383 
square miles. It is fertile and farming is con¬ 
ducted with much care. Rye and barley are 
the chief cereals, and tobacco, fruit, and vege¬ 
tables are grown. Brown coal is mined exten¬ 
sively, but manufacturing is the leading indus¬ 
try. The chief towns are Konigsberg, Pots¬ 
dam, and Frankfort-on-the-Oder. In 1910 the 
population was 4,093,007, nearly all of whom 
were German Protestants. The present ruling 
family of Germany, the Hohenzollerns, came 
into the possession of Brandenburg in the 15th 
century; in 1711 they ascended to the kingly line 
of Prussia; and in 1871 became the imperial 
family of Germany. The city of Brandenburg 
is on the Havel River, thirty-five miles south¬ 
west of Berlin. It has extensive factories pro¬ 
ducing woolens, leather, silk, pottery, machinery, 
chemicals, and clothing. It is the seat of excel¬ 
lent schools, churches, and higher institutions of 
learning. The city is a focus of important rail- 




BRANDES 


360 


BRANT 


roads, has electric lights and street railways, 
several parks, and a large trade in merchandise. 
Population, 1905, 51,239; in 1920, 53,595. 

BRANDES (bran'des), Georg Morris Co¬ 
hen, critic and historian, born in Copenhagen, 
Denmark, Feb. 4, 1842. He descended from a 
Jewish family. In 1864 he graduated at the 
University of Copenhagen and soon took up lit¬ 
erary work. He settled in Berlin, Germany, but 
returned to his native country in 1883, and there 
gave his time principally to writing and lec¬ 
turing on belles-lettres. His works greatly in¬ 
fluenced the ideals and tendencies of Danish 
literature and gave to it a cosmopolitan aspect. 
He achieved success as a critic of literary 
works, and his writings partake of a realistic 
tendency. His “Main Currents” is in six vol¬ 
umes and comprises a review of the literature 
of France, England, and Germany. Other works 
include “French Aesthetics,” “Criticisms and 
Portraits,” “Berlin as an Imperial Court,” “Im¬ 
pressions of Russia,” and “Aesthetic Studies.” 
Several of his writings were in German, and 
these include “Lord Beaconsfield” and “Ferdi¬ 
nand and Lassalle.” 

BRANDON (bran'dun), a city of Canada, 
in Manitoba, 132 miles west of Winnipeg. It 
is pleasantly situated on the Assiniboine River, 
on an elevated site, and on the Canadian Pacific 
and the Canadian Northern railways. It has a 
large trade in grain and live stock. The chief 
buildings include a courthouse, a convent, and a 
collegiate institute. The manufactures consist 
of machinery, flour and oatmeal, ale and por¬ 
ter, earthenware, pumps, and clothing. Near 



the city is an experimental farm that is con¬ 
ducted by the government. Brandon was 
founded in 1881 and has had a rapid growth, 
owing to its car shops and its location in a 
fertile farming country. Population, 1901, 
5,620; in 1919, 14,421; 1921, 15,397. 

BRANDY (bran'dy), a liquid secured by 
distilling grape wine, manufactured chiefly in 
France. Both red and white wines are used. 
The brandy known as Cognac manufactured in 
the department of Charente is considered the 
best grade, and is transported to America in 
large quantities. Catawba brandy is made in 
Ohio from the Catawba grapes, while high 


grades of other varieties are made on the 
Pacific Coast, where the vine attains a prolific 
growth. Brandy is used in medicines, for stim¬ 
ulants and restoratives, and as a beverage. The 
amount of alcohol contained in brandy depends 
upon the wine from which it is distilled. Some 
of the higher classes contain a larger per cent, 
of alcohol and are expensive; as much as twenty 
dollars per gallon is paid for genuine cognac. 
The product now made in California is con¬ 
sidered equal to the French varieties. The pure 
quality consists almost entirely of alcohol and 
water, and is wholly colorless until it is put in 
kegs, when it takes on the color of wood. 
Apple-jack, a kind of brandy, is made from 
apple cider, while another variety is made from 
peach wine. 

BRANDYWINE, a small stream in Penn¬ 
sylvania, passing into the State of Delaware, 
and flowing into the Christiana Creek at the 
city of Wilmington. The stream became his¬ 
toric on account of the Battle of Brandywine, 
which was fought on its banks Sept. 11, 1777, 
between the British and Americans, in which 
the latter were defeated. The American forces 
consisted of 13,000 men under General Wash¬ 
ington, and the British of 18,000 under Lord 
Howe. 

BRANT (brant), Joseph, an Indian chief, 
born in Ohio, in 1742; died near Lake Ontario, 
Nov. 24, 1807. He accompanied his two elder 
brothers in a campaign with Sir William John¬ 
son against the French on Lake George. Later 
he attended the Indian school at Lebanon, Conn., 
and became skilled as an interpreter. In the 
Revolutionary War he fought with the British 
and engaged in many bloody raids against the 
colonists. In 1777 he took part in the battle of 
Oriskany, and later raided the Mohawk Valley 
with 300 Indians and tories. After the war a 
tract of land was granted to the Indians at his 
request on the north side of Lake Erie. He 
became converted to the Christian cause while 
on a visit to Europe, and raised funds to build 
a church in Canada, the first Episcopal church 
erected in the Dominion. He translated a num¬ 
ber of works, including the English prayer 
book and the gospel of Mark, into the Mohawk 
language. A statue was built in his honor at 
Brantford, in Ontario. His youngest son, John, 
was an active participant in the War of 1812. 

BRANT (brant), or Brandt, Sebastian, poet 
and humanist, born in Strassburg, Germany, in 
1458; died May 10, 1521. He studied at the 
University of Basel, where he became professor 
of philosophy and jurisprudence, and later was 
appointed an imperial councilor by Emperor 
Maximilian. His “The Ship of Fools,” in which 
he ridiculed the vices and follies of his time, 
was translated into Latin and made him famous 
among the scholars of Europe. An English 
translation was made by Alexander Barclay in 
1509. Brant ranks as an important forerunner 
of the literature of the Reformation. 






BRANTFORD 


361 


BRAZIL 


BRANTFORD (brant'ferd), a city of On¬ 
tario, in Brant County, seventy miles east of 
London, on the Grand Trunk Railway. It is 
nicely situated on the Grand River, which is 
navigable within two miles of the town, and 
from that point it is connected by canal with 
Lake Erie. It has manufactures of stoneware, 
machinery, engines, clothing, and flour, and has 
a brisk trade in farm produce and merchan¬ 
dise. Many of the buildings are of pressed 
brick and stone, and modern utilities, such as 
gas and electric lighting, are well patronized. 
The public buildings include a number of fine 
schools, and it is the seat of the Ontario Insti¬ 
tution for the Education of the Blind and of 
Wickliffe Hall. A fine monument of Brant, 
the famous Mohawk chief, stands in Victoria 
Square. Population, 1901, 16,619; in 1921, 29,440. 

BRASS (bras), an important alloy of zinc 
and copper. It is hard, ductile, and malleable, 
and the color is a bright yellow. Formerly it 
was made from calamine mixed with copper 
and charcoal. This process is easier than the 
fusion of copper and zinc. The proportion of 
copper and zinc varies, but ordinarily from 
twenty-eight to hirty-four per cent, of zinc 
is used. It is harder and yet more easily fusible 
than copper, and is more sonorous. Brass 
resists the influence of the atmosphere better 
than copper, but requires a varnish or lacquer 
to prevent tarnishing, and is readily turned on 
a lathe, rolled, and stamped. 

Brass was used in very ancient times, and 
is mentioned in the cuneiform writings of the 
Chaldeans and the Assyrians. In the Middle 
Ages it was made chiefly in the form of sheets, 
and was used for household utensils and for a 
number of purposes in churches. The ancient 
method of making brass was by heating copper 
with calamine, a native ore of zinc, and char¬ 
coal James Emmerson patented a process for 
the direct production of brass from copper and 
zinc in 1781, and this has superseded the older 
methods. It consists of first melting the cop¬ 
per in a crucible, then adding small quantities 
af the zinc, and when the two metals are thor¬ 
oughly mixed, which is brought about by stir¬ 
ring, the molten brass is cast into molds made 
of sand or iron. Owing to the volatility of the 
zinc, considerable of this metal is lost during 
the operation unless much care is exercised. 

One part of zinc and two parts of copper, by 
weight, is a good working basis in making brass 
If the proportion of zinc is increased, the com¬ 
pound loses in tenacity, while an increase of 
copper adds to its strength and tenacity. When 
the proportion is one part of zinc to ten of cop¬ 
per, the result is a reddish-yellow brass. If a 
small per cent, of lead is added to the alloy it 
diminishes its ductility. The addition of tin in¬ 
creases the hardness of brass. Tombac and 
pinchbeck contain eighty parts or more of copper 
to twenty or less of zinc. Bristol brass, similor, 
Mannheim gold, and prince's metal are names 


used to describe brass made by using different 
proportions of zinc and copper. In the arts, 
brass is of importance next to iron and steel. It 
is used largely in making buttons, pipes of or¬ 
gans, household utensils, and many parts of ma¬ 
chinery. 

BRASSEY (bras'!), Thomas, contractor 
and surveyor, born near Chester, England, Oct. 

7, 1805; died Dec. 8, 1870. He became a sur¬ 
veyor and railroad contractor. His first con¬ 
tract was made with George Stephenson for 
a viaduct between Stafford and Wolverhamp¬ 
ton. In 1840 he built a railroad from Rouen 
to Paris, France, and subsequently had large 
contracts in Australia, America, and Asia. His 
largest contract was for the construction of the 
Grand Trunk Railway in Canada, of which fine 
he built 1,100 miles, and constructed the great 
bridge at Montreal over the Saint Lawrence. 
He received many decorations, including the 
cross of the Legion of Honor from France and 
the Iron Cross from Austria. 

BRATTLEBORO (brat't’l-bur-ro), a town 
in Wyndham County, Vermont, on the Connec¬ 
ticut River, about eighty miles southeast of 
Rutland. It is located on the Vermont Central 
and the Boston and Maine railroads. The man¬ 
ufactures include furniture, carriages, organs, 
and machinery. It is the seat of the Vermont 
Asylum for the Insane and has fine churches 
and schools. The famous writer, Rudyard Kip¬ 
ling, made Brattleboro his home for some time. 
Brattleboro was chartered in 1753 and named 
from William Brattleboro, one of the original 
grantees. Population, 1920, 7,324. 

BRAZIL (bra-zil'), county seat of Clay 
County, Indiana, about fifteen miles east of 
Terre Haute, on the Chicago and Eastern Illi¬ 
nois and other railroads. It is located in a rich 
farming country, and near it are productive 
coal fields. The manufactures include pig iron, 
terra cotta, boilers, machinery, and pottery. 
It has a good jobbing trade, a public library, 
waterworks, and a courthouse and other public 
buildings. The region was settled in 1856 and 
it was incorporated in 1873. Population, 1900, 
7,786; in 1920, 9,293. 

BRAZIL, United States of, the largest 
country of South America, occupying the east¬ 
ern and central part of that grand division. 
It extends from north latitude 5° to south lati¬ 
tude 34°, and from west longitude 35° to 
74°. Its extreme length from north to south is 
2,665 miles, extreme breadth, 2,688 miles. In 
extent of territory it is one of the largest polit¬ 
ical subdivisions, exceeds in area the Common¬ 
wealth of Australia, and is somewhat smaller 
than the United States exclusive of Alaska and 
the insular possessions. It is bounded on the 
north and east by Colombia, Venezuela, Guiana, 
and the Atlantic; while its southern and western 
boundaries are formed by the Atlantic, Uru¬ 
guay, Argentina, Paraguay, Bolivia, Peru, and 
Ecuador. It lies entirely east of the great." 




BRAZIL 


362 


BRAZIL 


Andean system, and touches every South 
American country except Chile. Area, 3,218,991 
square miles. 

Surface. The surface consists of two great 
sections, the lowlands known as the Amazon 
basin and the elevated plateaus of the central 
and eastern parts. The lowlands comprise the 
basins of the Amazon and other great rivers, 
extending from the Tocantins to the Guiana 
Plateau, which rises gradually toward the north 
and forms the larger part of the northern 
boundary, culminating in the Tumuc-Humac 
Mountains, between Brazil and Guiana, and the 
Parima Mountains, which lie on the boundary 
line of Venezuela. The elevated plateaus of 
the central and western parts are made up 
largely of the Plighlands of Brazil, which have 
an elevation of from 2,000 to 10,000 feet above 
the sea, culminating in Mount Itatiaia, west of 
Rio de Janeiro. These highlands are made up 
of many ranges, one of which separates the 
basin of the Parana from that of the Paraguay, 
and trends northward between the Tocantins 
and the Sao Francisco. The highest of these 
ranges trends parallel to the coast, which is 
known as the Serra do Mar south of Rio de 
Janeiro, and as Serra do Espinhaco north of 
that city. Brazil has a coast line of about 4,000 
miles. The coast south of Cape Saint Roque is 
more or less broken and furnishes good har¬ 
bors, while north of that point it is compara¬ 
tively low with an extensive c >ast plain. The 
surface contains more fertile land than is found 
in any other country, most of which is in the 
basin of the Parana and the Amazon. Marshes 
and swamps characterize different sections of 
the country, especially the valley of the Para¬ 
guay and of the regions in the lower valley 
of the Amazon. 

Drainage. The Amazon and the Tocantins 
drain more than two-thirds of Brazil. About 
one-fourth of the drainage is by the Parana, 
the Paraguay, and the Rio de la Plata, and the 
remainder is carried by the Sfio Francisco and 
smaller streams. The Amazon, which is formed 
by the union of streams that rise in the Andean 
Mountains, has a general easterly course toward 
the Atlantic, and receives a large number of 
important tributaries. These include, besides 
the Tocantins, which joins it in one branch of 
the delta, the Purus, Javari, Jurua, Madeira, 
Tapajos, and Xingu from the south, and the 
Iga, Yupura, and Negro from the north. This 
river system has a length of about 19,000 miles, 
and the navigable distance is placed at 13,000 
miles. Near the delta the basin is narrow, not 
more than about 150 miles wide, but it expands 
inland and occupies all of the northeastern part 
of Brazil. The Sao Francisco and a number of 
smaller streams drain the eastern section, and 
the southern part is drained by the Paraguay, 
Parana, Iguassti, and Uruguay rivers. These 
rivers are of more than passing importance in 
the commerce of the country, chiefly for the 


reason that they furnish the only means of 
transportation in the vast interior. 

Climate. The tropic of Capricorn passes on 
a line drawn a short distance south of Rio de 
Janiero, hence Brazil lies almost entirely within 
the tropics. Rainfall is abundant in all parts of 
the country, ranging from seventy to one hun¬ 
dred inches annually. It is distributed quite 
uniformly in all sections, but is greatest i*~ the 
valley of the Amazon. Two seasons, the wet 
and the dry, alternate each other, the greatest 
amount of precipitation extending between Jan¬ 
uary and June. The seasons are influenced by 
the movement of the trade winds, which follow 
the sun from north to south, and depend some¬ 
what upon the character and elevation of the sur¬ 
face. Near the mouth of the Amazon, particu¬ 
larly towar 1 the south, and in some parts of the 
plateau region, the rainfall is limited, especially 
between the Parana and the Sao Francisco. 
The climate is quite even throughout the year. 
The maximum temperature is 95°, and in most 
places does not fall below 70°, except in the 
higher altitudes, where it ranges from 30° to 90°. 

Minerals. All the important minerals are 
found in Brazil, and it is probably the richest 
country in this respect. The gold deposits are 
chiefly in Bahia and Minas Gcracs, and these 
two states have the largest interests in mining 
this mineral and :n the output of diamonds. 
Iron ore is found in many sections of the Bra¬ 
zilian Highlands and in the mountains of the 
Guiana Plateau, but little progress has been 
made in mining this ore on account of a scarcity 
of cheap fuel and labor. Santa Catherina and 
Rio Grande do Sul have extensive deposits of 
bituminous coal and a good grade of lignite is 
found in many sections, but mining has not been 
developed to any considerable extent. Other 
deposits include silver, copper, zinc, rock salt, 
and kaolin. Many mineral springs and deposits 
of gas and petroleum abound. 

Manufacturing. Brazil has not taken a 
foremost position among the nations in the out¬ 
put of its manufacturing enterprises, chiefly for 
the reason that it is not densely populated and 
consequently lacks both in labor and capital. 
However, the vast natural resources and a 
steady growth in agriculture are rapidly direct¬ 
ing attention to this enterprise. The textile 
industry is the most important, and includes 
the spinning and weaving of cotton and wool. 
The cotton and woolen mills are located chiefly 
in the states of Minas Geraes, Rio de Janeiro, 
and Sao Paulo. Next in importance is sugar 
refining, which is developed to the greatest ex¬ 
tent in the states of Bahia and Pernambuco. 
Shipbuilding is an important enterprise at Rio 
de Janeiro and a number of other seaports. 
Cigar making and the manufacture of rum and 
other spirituous liquors are important industries. 
Leather is made in large quantities. Other 
manufactures include matches, soap, clothing, 
machinery, and straw hats. 


BRAZIL 


3G3 


BRAZIL 


Agriculture. The valley of the Amazon is 
the most fertile region and contains the largest 
forests in the world, but many parts of it are 
covered with dense tropical vegetation. This 
accounts largely for the section not being de¬ 
veloped for farming. However, it is important 
for its timber, which yields vast quantities of 
dyewood, rubber, nuts, and lumber. 

Farming is developed most extensively in the 
southeastern part, in the states of Sao Paulo, 
Bahia, Minas Geraes, and Rio de Janeiro. In 
this section are large coffee plantations, and in 
the production of coffee Brazil takes first rank. 
Sugar cane is cultivated profitably in these 
states and in Pernambuco, and cotton is grown 
in all of the Atlantic states. Tobacco is grown 
largely, especially in Bahia, and rice and maize 
are cultivated extensively in Sao Paulo and 
Minas Geraes. The smaller cereals are not 
cultivated extensively in this section, but ex¬ 
periments made in the higher altitudes have 
demonstrated that they may be grown profit¬ 
ably. Other products include potatoes, beans, 
yams, vegetables, and Paraguay tea. All the 
domestic animals reared in North America 
thrive, but attention is given chiefly to the rear¬ 
ing of cattle and breeding of horses. 

Flora and Fauna. The flora is tropical and 
may be classified according to three zones, that 
of the southeastern plateau, that of the lower 
Amazon basin, and that of the west central sec¬ 
tion. The plants in the southeastern part, near 
the tropic of Capricorn, are numerous and lux¬ 
uriant, but somewhat fartner northwest the 
rainfall diminishes and the region is diversified 
by open country and small forests. In the lower 
Amazon basin the vegetation is most luxuriant, 
and includes a large variety of grasses, vines, 
and forest trees. Here thrive the mangoes, 
mangroves, palms, silk-cotton tree, rosewood, 
cinnamon, Brazil nut tree, and the seringa or 
rubber tree. The eucalyptus, which has been in¬ 
troduced from Australia, thrives in this section. 
Vegetation in the southwestern part is smaller 
and the number of plants are fewer, owing to a 
somewhat scant rainfall, but the prairies are 
covered with nutritious grasses and contain 
scattered groves of trees. 

Many animals abound in the forests and on 
the plains. The larger animals include the 
puma, ocelot, jaguar, and tapir. Monkeys are 
very abundant in the selvas, and deer abound 
in the southwestern region. Ant-eaters, arma¬ 
dillos, sloths, opossums, and peccaries are plen¬ 
tiful. The boa, jararaca, and rattlesnake are 
among the reptiles. The Atlantic coast and the 
larger streams are rich in fish, and the varieties 
exceed those of any other country. Birds of 
plumage and song abound in all sections, but 
they are especially numerous in the forests. 

Transportation. The railroads are regulated 
by law and about two-thirds are owned by the 
government. They include lines that aggregate 
15,000 miles and many lines have been projected. 


Nearly all of the railroads are near the Atlantic 
coast, in the southeastern part, and the vast 
interior is entirely destitute of railways. How¬ 
ever, shipping is facilitated by navigation on 
its extensive systems of rivers, a number of 
which have been improved by constructing 
canals and removing obstructions. The govern¬ 
ment has encouraged shipbuilding by appropria¬ 
tions, hence an excellent merchant marine has 
been built up, but the vessels take care of do¬ 
mestic commerce rather than foreign trade, 
which is carried largely by the vessels of other 
countries. Telegraph and telephone lines con¬ 
nect the larger cities, but these facilities are 
practically unknown in the remote interior. 

The exports greatly exceed the imports, and 
the total foreign trade annually has a value of 
$390,500,000. Great Britain has the largest share 
of the trade. Next are Germany, France, and 
the United States, in the order named. Coffee 
is the most important article of commerce and 
constitutes about sixty per cent, of the total 
exports. About two-thirds of it is exported to 
the United States and the balance to Europe. 
Sugar ranks next to coffee in value as an 
article of export. Other exports include rubber, 
cotton, tobacco, hides, lumber, drugs, dyewoods, 
and minerals. The imports consist chiefly of 
machinery, cotton and woolen fabrics, flour, 
breadstuff's, wine, corn, and chemicals. 

Education. Public education is regarded 
with deep concern by the people, but is still in 
a very primitive state, and about seventy-five 
per cent, are unable to read and write. The 
school system includes three classes: the pri¬ 
mary, secondary, and superior. Higher educa¬ 
tion is controlled by the state and general gov¬ 
ernments, while the other institutions of learn¬ 
ing are under local control and supervision. 
The higher schools include colleges and uni¬ 
versities devoted to medicine and law, and to 
the industrial, naval, and military arts. Sev¬ 
eral normal schools are maintained for the 
training of teachers in the fundamental ele¬ 
ments of their profession. Some of the states 
have compulsory attendance laws, but they arc 
not enforced, while in others attendance is vol¬ 
untary. The language of the country and that 
taught in the schools is the Portuguese. 

Government. Brazil is a republic and for 
the purpose of government is divided into 
twenty states and a federal district. The con¬ 
stitution vests the chief executive authority in 
a president, who is elected for a term of four 
years by popular vote. Fie is assisted by a 
cabinet of six ministers, who preside over the 
departments of war; finance; industry, rail¬ 
roads and public works; navy; interior and 
justice; and foreign affairs. The legislative 
power is in a congress composed of a senate 
and a chamber of deputies. Each state has 
three senators, making a total of sixty members, 
who are elected by direct vote for nine years, 
one-third being elected every three years. 


I 





BRAZIL 


364 


BRAZIL WOOD 


Representation in the chamber of deputies is 
based upon the population of the several states, 
and the members are chosen by popular vote 
for four years. The system of courts culmi¬ 
nates in the national supreme court, which is 
the highest judicial authority. Each state 
maintains its own executive, legislative, and 
judicial authority, and for the purpose of local 
government is divided into municipalities and 
districts. 

Inhabitants. The population of Brazil is 
greater than that of any country in America 
except the United States, but the average den¬ 
sity is only 4.5 persons to the square mile. 
About one-half of the people are whites, one- 
third half-breeds, and the balance Negroes and 
Indians. Immigration has been encouraged by 
the government, which sold the land at prices 
ranging from $1.00 to $2.00 per acre, payment 
to be made in about seven years. The largest 
number of immigrants come from Germany 
and Italy, and it is due to this influx of 
Europeans that Brazil is gaining in national 
strength. About ninety per cent, of the people 
are Roman Catholics, but the church and state 
are entirely separated and all faiths are toler¬ 
ated. Rio de Janeiro, the capital, is the most 
important financial and commercial center. 
Other cities of importance are Bahia, Sao Paulo, 
Santos, Pernambuco, Para, Campos, Belem, 
Maranhao, Ceara, and Pelotas. The total popu¬ 
lation of Brazil in 1921 was 30,524,204. 

History. Brazil was discovered in 1500 by 
Vicente Yanez and Pinzon, who landed at Cape 
Saint Augustine and explored the coast north 
to the Orinoco River. Two Portuguese expedi¬ 
tions were sent to explore the coast and plant 
colonies as early as 1501 and 1503. However, 
the settlement of Brazil was not decided upon 
until 1530, when grants were given to individu¬ 
als who received power to establish colonies 
and develop trade. Many of the early attempts 
failed on account of contact with the Indian 
natives, who were decidedly unfriendly to the 
settlements of the whites. A colony was estab¬ 
lished on the Bay of Rio de Janeiro in 1567. 
The royal family of Portugal, the house of 
Braganza, was expelled from Portugal by the 
French in 1808 and took refuge in Brazil, under 
whose guidance the country enjoyed marked 
prosperity in commerce and internal improve¬ 
ments. The eldest son of the king declared 
Brazil independent of Portugal and was 
crowned emperor as Dom Pedro I. in 1822. 

The discovery of gold and diamonds early in 
the 18th century led to a number of settle¬ 
ments and these minerals soon became a source 
of profit. This proved an effective incentive 
to immigration from Europe, especially from 
Portugal and Spain, and the government began 
to develop greater stability. Not long after 
the adoption of a constitution in 1824, serious 
international complications arose, but Portugal, 
although losing its largest and most productive 


colonial possession, formerly recognized the 
independence of Brazil. Later opposition arose 
to the reign of Dom Pedro I., and he volun¬ 
tarily abdicated in 1831 in favor of his eldest 
son and returned to Portugal. The govern¬ 
ment was administered by regencies for the 
next nine years, when a popular agitation led 
to the declaration of the young prince’s major¬ 
ity, then fifteen years of age, and his corona¬ 
tion as Dom Pedro II. He reigned success¬ 
fully for forty-eight years, when a revolution 
broke out and he was dethroned on Nov. 15, 
1889, when the country became a republic. It 
declared war against Germany in 1917. 

BRAZIL NUT, or Cream-Nut, the seed of 
the Bertholletia excclsa, a beautiful tree native 
to the northern part of South America. The 
tree grows to a height of 120 feet and is valu¬ 
able both for its seeds and the wood it yields, 
which is known as brazil wood. The seeds 
grow within a woody pericarp, or seed vessel, 
and vary in number from fifteen to twenty. 
They are popularly called nuts and are sold on 
the market by the popular name of Nigger- 
toes. The nuts are triangular in form, and 
within the hard shell is a white kernel, which 
is very agreeable to the taste. It yields a large 
per cent, of oil, which is used for burning in 
lamps by the natives. Large quantities of Brazil 
nuts are exported from Para and French 
Guiana to the markets of Europe and America. 



BRAZIL NUT. 


BRAZIL WOOD, a kind of wood derived 
from several trees native to the tropical regions 
of the Western Hemisphere, and exported 
largely from Brazil and the West Indies. A 
number of grades are known in commerce, such 
as Lima wood, Pernambuco, Santa Martha, 
Sapan, and All Saints , the names indicating 
products of different value. Brazil wood is 
yellow when newly cut, but when exposed to 
■air it becomes red, and as a dyestuff is ex¬ 
ported after being ground down to the size of 


i 













BRAZOS 


365 


BREAD 


sawdust. It is a heavy, hard wood, and is used 
in cabinet making. The coloring matter is ob¬ 
tained by weathering the ground wood, then 
boiling it in water or alcohol, when it yields 
its coloring matter known as brazilin. It is 
used in making red ink and in calico printing. 

BRAZOS (bra'zos), the largest river located 
wholly in Texas. It rises in the northwestern 
part, has a southeasterly direction, and flows 
into the Gulf of Mexico. It is 940 miles in 
length, of which over 200 miles are navigable in 
the rainy season, from February till May. 

BRAZZA (briit'sa), an island in the Adriatic 
Sea, belonging to Austria-Hungary. It has 
an area of 150 square miles and is diversified 
by mountains and valleys. The soil is generally 
fertile and produces grain and fruit. Marble 
quarries are worked profitably. For the pur¬ 
pose of government it is annexed to Dalmatia. 
San Pietro, the chief town, has 3,500 inhabit¬ 
ants. The island has a population of 24,465. 

BRAZZA, Pierre Savorgnan de, explorer, 
born in Rome, Italy, Jan. 26, 1852; died Sept. 
14, 1905. He came from a noble family of 
Italy, but received his education in the schools 
of France. In 1875 he entered the French navy 
and the following year went on an expedition 
of discovery to Africa. He explored the 
Ogowe River and several streams flowing into 
the Congo, and in 1879 reached Brazzaville on 
Stanley Pool before Stanley visited that sec¬ 
tion. In 1882 he returned to Europe, but soon 
went back to Africa as lieutenant commander, 
and in 1885 was made governor of the entire 
French Congo. He was reappointed governor 
in 1891. To him France owes her possessions 
in West Central Africa. 

BREAD, an article of food made of the 
flour or meal of grain, especially wheat and 
rye. The flour is mixed with water or milk 
and salt so as to form a consistent paste known 
as dough, and it is then baked in an oven. 
Bread is either leavened or unleavened , de¬ 
pending upon the ingredients used. Leavened 
bread is made by mixing the dough with yeast 



OVEN FOR BAKING. 

A , receptacle for loaves; B, fire-box. 

or baking powder to produce fermentation and 
rising, or lightness, and the mixture is kneaded 
twice, once at the time of mixing and a second 
time after the first rising, and it is then made 
into the form of biscuits or loaves, which are 
given a brief time to rise before baking. Un¬ 


leavened bread is heavy and compact, since it 
is made by using only flour and water, but it 
has the advantage of keeping longer, therefore 
is used more generally by those who cannot 
secure leavened bread regularly. However, 
leavened bread is used generally. 

A light and porous unleavened bread is made 
by using an acid and a carbonate of ammonia, or 
a carbonate of soda. The carbonate is driven 
off by the heat in the process of baking. This 
is known generally as aerated bread and is used 
extensively in London and other cities of 
England. Whole-wheat bread is made by using 
unsifted ground wheat. It is the true Graham 
bread is more nutritious than white bread, as it 
contains about fourteen per cent, of nitroge¬ 
nous matter, while white bread contains only 
about seven per cent. An excellent bread is 
made of rye, and this kind is a popular food 
in many countries of Europe, while in others 
rice, corn meal, potatoes, and beans are utilized 
in the production of bread. It may be said 
that the temperature of a country is an im¬ 
portant factor in determining the kind of bread 
eaten. Barley, rye, and oats are used most 
extensively in the colder regions, wheat and 
maize in the temperate portions, and rice and 
millet in the hotter countries. The principal 
adulterations of bread are made by the addi¬ 
tion of a cheaper flour, such as adding that of 
rice and beans to the flour of wheat. They 
are harmless, but add weight and diminish the 
cost of production. 



BREADFRUIT. 


Grinding grain and baking bread, both leav¬ 
ened and unleavened, have come down to us 
from remote antiquity. The ancient Egyptians 
and Assyrians were skilled in these arts. It is 
thought that the Greeks and Jews learned how 
to make leavened bread from the Egyptians, 
and after the rise of Rome this knowledge was 
carried to the nations of Central and Western 
Europe. The yeast now used is constituted 















































































BREADFRUIT 


3G6 


BRECKENRIDGE 


mainly of the minute cells of a fungous plant 
and multiplies by budding. It was used in mak¬ 
ing beer before, it became known as a valuable 
requisite in making bread. When brought in 
contact with water and flour, it develops alco; 
hoi and carbon dioxide, and the former passes 
off in the process of baking, while the latter 
is retained in the dough. Bread becomes light 
and porous from the amount of gas which acts 
to distend it, and when the dough is sticky and 
does not allow the gas to escape the bread be¬ 
comes heavy. Since 1858 machinery has been 
used extensively in bread making, and in the 
course of time caused it to develop into one 
of the most important enterprises. Most of 
the bread now consumed in large cities is made 
in bakeries, and is delivered direct to the cus¬ 
tomers, while the people in the country bake 
their own supply, which consists largely of 
leavened bread and light biscuits. 

BREADFRUIT, the large fruit of the 
breadfruit tree. It attains a globular form, 
about the size of a child’s head, and is used 
largely for food. It is baked, stewed, roasted, 
or fried in palm oil. The eatable part lies 
between the hard outer skin and the core. 
When baked, it is white and about the same 
consistency as wheat bread. The tree is culti¬ 
vated in the West Indies and the South Sea 
Islands. It attains a height of forty feet. The 
wood is valuable for building and the bark 
yields material for cloth. 

BREADNUT, the fruit of a tree closely 
allied to the breadfruit, native of Jamaica. It 
has evergreen leaves and yields a gummy milk. 
The fruit is a one-seeded drupe, which is edi¬ 
ble, and forms an agreeable article of food 
after being boiled or roasted. It has the taste 
of hazelnuts and is eaten as bread. The wood 
of the tree is used in veneering. 

BREAKWATER (brak'wa-ter), a wall, 
mole, pier, or some similar structure placed at 
the entrance of a harbor with a view of dead¬ 
ening the force of the waves which roll in 
from the ocean. Breakwaters are variously 
constructed of floating bridges, made of wood, 
brick, stone, and iron, or suspended from 
chains, and of solid walls or mounds built up 
from the bottom of the water, with stone in¬ 
closing large blocks of concrete. Among the 
notable breakwaters in the Great Lakes is the 
one at Chicago, protecting the harbor of the 
city against the waves of Lake Michigan. It is 
built on a solid stone basis and incased with 
wooden beams. Another solid structure is at 
Buffalo, on Lake Erie, another at Cleveland, 
and a third in Delaware Bay. Among the most 
noteworthy in Europe are those at Cherbourg, 
France, and Plymouth, England. The one at 
Cherbourg was proposed by M. de Cessart to 
the French government, and is the largest and 
most expensive ever constructed. It was com¬ 
pleted by Napoleon III. at a cost of nearly 
$3,000,000. The ancient Romans constructed 


several breakwaters at Italian ports, and other 
similar structures were made very early in 
history. In some places they serve for fortifi¬ 
cations and residences. In most cases they are 
constructed from one to five miles from the 
shore, this depending upon the depth of the 
water and the conditions, surrounding the city 
or harbor to be protected. 

B RECHE-DE-ROLAND (brash'de-ro- 
lan'), a pass in the Pyrenees, between Spain 
and France, located a short distance west of 
Mont Perdu. It was so named from Roland, 
who, according to a legend, opened the rock 
with his sword Durandal so the army of 
Charlemagne could pass through. The defile 
is about 200 feet wide and is bordered by 
rocks that rise almost perpendicularly on both 
sides. 

BRECKENRIDGE (brek'en-rij), John 
Cabell, statesman and soldier, born near Lex¬ 
ington, Ky., Jan. 21, 1821; died May 17, 1875. 
He was educated at Cen¬ 
ter College, Danville, and 
at the Transylvania In¬ 
stitute, and entered upon 
the practice of law at 
Lexington. He served 
in the war with Mexico, 
and was sent to the 
State Legislature and to 
Congress after its close. 

In 1854 he was elected 
Vice President with 
Buchanan, and at the 
close of the administra¬ 
tion was a prominent 
candidate of the Demo¬ 
cratic party for Presi¬ 
dent. The party being 
divided, he was nominated by the southern 
Democrats and received seventy-two votes in 
the electoral college. He entered the United 
States Senate in 1861 and defended the Con¬ 
federate cause in that body. He joined the 
Confederate army and took part in the battles 
of Shiloh, Baton Rouge, Murfreesboro, Chick- 
amauga, Chattanooga, and Cold Harbor, and 
rose to the rank of major general. In 1865 he 
became secretary of war for the Confederacy. 
At the time of his election to the Vice Presi¬ 
dency he was thirty-five years old, the young¬ 
est official ever elected to that office. The 
Breckenridge family is one of the most his¬ 
torical in America, and includes, among other 
prominent members, Clifton R. Breckenridge 
(born 1846), statesman," John Breckenridge 
(1797-1841), clergyman; Robert Jefferson Breck¬ 
enridge (1800-71), clergyman, and William 
C. P. Breckenridge (q. v.). 

BRECKENRIDGE, William Campbell 
Preston, statesman and orator, born at Balti¬ 
more, Md., Aug. 28, 1837; died Nov. 19, 1904. 
He studied at Center College, Danville, Ky., 
where he graduated in 1855, and subsequently 



JOHN CABELL BRECKEN¬ 
RIDGE. 



BREDA 


BREMER 


367 


took a course in law at the University of Louis¬ 
ville. He was professor of equity jurisprudence 
in Cumberland University, Lebanon, Tenn., and 
served efficiently in the Confederate army dur¬ 
ing the Civil War. In 1884 he was elected to 
Congress as a Democrat and served consecu¬ 
tively until 1895, when he was defeated for 
reflection. 

BREDA (bra-da'), a city of Holland, in the 
province of North Brabant, at the confluence 
of the Aa and Mark rivers. It has railroad 
facilities and an important trade. Among the 
manufactures are cigars, clothing, carpets, and 
machinery. Formerly it was strongly forti¬ 
fied, but the fortifications were dismantled sev¬ 
eral centuries ago. In 1566 it was the meet¬ 
ing place of the Dutch nobles, who drew up 
the “Compromise of Breda,” which was pre¬ 
sented to the King of Spain. Population, 1906, 
27,644; in 1919,27,976. 

BREECH-LOADING GUNS (brech'-lod'- 
mg), a term applied to firearms in which the 
charge is introduced at the rear end of the 
barrel instead of the muzzle. The mechanism 
is so constructed that the breech can be opened 
and closed for the purpose of receiving the 
charge. This gives a decided advantage in small 
arms for cleaning and rapid firing. While the 
use of this class of guns dates back to the 16th 
century, the general introduction of them is 
quite recent. The efficiency of these firearms 
for military use was demonstrated in 1864 and 
1866 in the Prussian campaigns against Den¬ 
mark and Austria, and they contributed largely 
to the victories of the German army in 1870-71. 
The Prussian gun (Ziindnadelgewehr) has been 
superseded by the Mauser, a needle gun with 
metallic cartridges on much the same principle. 
There are now many kinds of breech-loading 
guns, both for the purpose of hunting and for 
military use. Germany and most of the nations 
use the Mauser; England, the Lee-Metford; 
Austria and Brazil the Mannlicher; and the 
United States, the Krag-Jorgensen. 

BREEDING, the art <of continuing or im¬ 
proving breeds of domestic animals by contin¬ 
uous care in feeding and pairing. All animals 
and plants are susceptible to modification under 
systematic cultivation. This fact has been 
turned to advantage by combining in individual 
specimens a number of good qualities found in 
several different kinds of original stock. The 
principles taken advantage of are those of 
heredity, variability, selection, and crossing. 
The germs of all that is desired must be found 
in the specimen to be improved, and the process 
must be by slow development during long peri¬ 
ods of time, else an essential loss will occur 
in some line at the expense of the higher qual¬ 
ities desired. Breeding for the improvement of 
all kinds of domestic animals has shown excel¬ 
lent results since the beginning of the last cen¬ 
tury, although considerable attention was paid 
to horse breeding from remote periods. The 


production of increased yields in quantity and 
fineness of wool in sheep, and beef and milk in 
cattle, is especially marked, while breeding in 
swine has largely increased the annual returns 
to farmers. One important principle to be ob¬ 
served is that the best results are produced 
between animals comparably similar, changing 
the breed gradually to the higher quality. 

BREMEN (brem'en), an important free city 
in Germany, on the Wcser River, about fifty 
miles from its mouth. The free district has an 
area of ninety-nine square miles, and, besides 
the city, includes Bremerhavcn, a port on the 
estuary of the Weser. The port has wet and 
dry docks, an excellent harbor, and a hospitium 
for emigrants; population, 23,991. Bremen is 
one of the most important and historic cities 
of Europe. It was made a bishopric in the year 
788 by Charlemagne, and was for some time a 
member of the Hanseatic league of cities. The 
government is by a senate and a council, under 
a constitution which is republican in form. 
Bremen is the principal seat of the German 
export and import trade, and the most im¬ 
portant port for emigrants. Its foreign com¬ 
merce extends to all the countries of the world, 
including a large trade with the United States. 
The imports aggregate about $95,500,000 worth 
of commodities, while its exports are corre¬ 
spondingly large. The manufactures include 
sugar, tobacco products, ironware, machinery, 
pottery, fabrics, chemicals, cordage, steamboats, 
and engines. Among the chief buildings are a 
Gothic council house, the town hall, the mer¬ 
chants’ house, the exchange buildings, and a 
cathedral founded in 1050. The school system 
is open to free admission and the attendance 
is compulsory. The public schools carry courses 
which range from the kindergarten to the high 
school, and the instruction is closely articulated 
with that given in the gymnasiums and trade 
schools. It has a large public library, many 
well kept promenades, two extensive parks, and 
modern harbor and wharf improvements. The 
city is a focus of many railroads and canals. 
Telephone and telegraph lines connect it ex¬ 
tensively, and it is finely paved and beautified 
by statuary, electric lighting, and equestrian 
fountains. Intercommunication is by a system 
of electric railways, with branches to Bremen¬ 
haven and many inland points. Population, 
1920, (city) 246,827; (state) 298,736. 

BREMER (bre'mer), Fredrika, Swedish 
novelist, born near Abo, Finland, Aug. 17, 1801; 
died Dec. 31, 1865. When a child of eight years, 
she began to write verses and study the poetic 
works of Schiller. Her reputation rests on 
* novels that were translated into German, French, 
and English. The most important include “The 
Neighbors,” “The President’s Daughter,” 
“Brothers and Sisters,” “The Midnight Sun,” 
and “Homes in the New World.” Several of 
her works were translated by Mary Howitt. 
Her novels appeared under the general title 


BRENHAM 


368 


BREWER 


“Teckningar ur Hvardagslifvet.” A collected 
edition of her works in thirty volumes was pub¬ 
lished in the German in 1864. 

BRENHAM (bren'am), county seat of 
Washington County, Texas, in the south cen¬ 
tral part of the State, on the Houston and 
Texas Central and the Gulf, Colorado and Santa 
Fe railroads. It is surrounded by a fertile grain 
and cotton country, and is an important busi¬ 
ness and shipping center. The chief buildings 
include the courthouse, the public library, the 
Blim Memorial College, and the Evangelical 
College. Among the manufactures are car¬ 
riages, ironware, machinery, and furniture. 
It was first settled in 1844, and was incorporated 
in 1866. Population, 1900, 5,968; in 1920, 5,066. 

BRESCIA (bra'she-a), a city in northern 
Italy, capital of a province of the same name, 
about 150 miles from Turin, with which it is 
connected by railroads. The manufactures in¬ 
clude silk and linen textiles, machinery, pottery, 
and firearms. The surrounding country pro¬ 
duces considerable quantities of raw silk, fruits, 
and cereals. Brescia is noted for its fine 
churches and cathedral, and contains several 
botanical gardens, hospitals, museum of antiqui¬ 
ties, a theater, and an extensive public library. 
It is mentioned in history as early as 15 b. c., 
when it became a Roman colony. Charlemagne 
captured it in 774, and it was long a possession 
of Germany. In 1859 it was ceded to Sardinia 
and the following year was united with Italy. 
Population, 1921, 70,614. 

BRESLAU (bres'lou), a city in Germany, 
capital of Prussian Silesia, at the junction of 
the Ohlau and the Oder rivers. It is one of the 
largest cities in the German Empire, containing 
a growing population and varied industries. A 
number of handsome bridges across the Oder 
connect the two parts of the city. It is joined 
to the marts of trade by several canals and rail¬ 
roads, and has an extensive urban and inter- 
urban system of electric railways. The munici¬ 
pal facilities include a public library, water¬ 
works, stone and asphalt paving, and systems 
of gas and electric lighting. 

Breslau is the seat of a university founded by 
Leopold I. in 1702, which is attended by 1,750 
students. The institution has a library of 350,- 
000 volumes, and carries courses of study in all 
the higher branches, which are taken advantage 
of by students from remote countries. It has 
a large number of magnificent churches, among 
them the Protestant church dedicated to Saint 
Elizabeth, with a steeple 364 feet high and a 
splendid organ. While the city contains a num¬ 
ber of old parts, it has been largely affected by 
modern trade, and has responded liberally to 
the demands of modern culture and architec¬ 
ture. It has manufactures of woolen, silk, linen, 
and cotton goods, jewelry, machinery, lace, • 
earthenware, soap, firearms, and various other 
staple products. Its commerce in flax, timber, 
hemp, metals, corn, and coal is very extensive. 


While the city is German in language and gov¬ 
ernment, it is of Polish origin and was long 
occupied by Poles and Bohemians. It after¬ 
wards passed to Austria, and was conquered by 
Frederick II. of Prussia in 1741. It has been 
frequently besieged and was the scene of many 
fierce battles. At present it ranks as one of the 
most important cities of Europe from the stand¬ 
point of manufacture and commerce, as well as 
for educational advancement. Population, 1905, 
470,904; in 1920, 511,891. 

BREST (brest), a seaport city of France, in 
the department of Finistere, 385 miles west of 
Paris. It occupies a fine site on the Bay of 
Brest, at the mouth of the Penfeld River, and 
is connected by railways with the leading cities 
of the country. Its harbor is one of the best in 
France and it is an important marine station. 
It has large manufacturing and trading inter¬ 
ests. In 1914 and subsequently it became im¬ 
portant as a depot for supplies and a landing 
place for soldiers from America. A cable line 
connects it with America, near Duxbury, Mass. 
Population, 1921, 91,450. 

BREST-LITOVSK (brest-le-tofsk'), a city 
of Russia, in the government of Grodno, at the 
junction of the Bug and the Mukhavetz rivers. 
It is a first-class fortress and has a large trade. 
In 1795 it was transferred from Poland to Rus¬ 
sia. The inhabitants are largely Poles, Russians 
and Germans. The Germans captured it in 1915, 
and it was made the seat of the peace confer¬ 
ences between the Central Powers and Russia in 
1917. Population, 1917, 52,580. 

BRETON (bra-ton'), Jules Adolphe, 
painter, born in Courrieres, France, May 1, 1827. 
He was educated at Saint Omer and at Douai, 
and instructed in art at Ghent and Paris. His 
paintings are devoted mostly to peasant life, 
and are seen in many galleries of Europe and 
America. Among the most popular are “Re¬ 
turn of the Harvesters,” “The Gleaners,” “Bless¬ 
ings of the Harvest,” “Recall of the Gleaners,” 
“Evening in a Hamlet of Finisterre,” and “The 
Communicants.” He died July 5, 1906. 

BREVIARY (bre'vi-a-ry), the book which 
contains the ordinary and daily services of the 
Roman Catholic Church. The contents of the 
Breviary include all of the service except those 
for funerals, baptisms, and other special occa¬ 
sions, which are in the Ritual or Pontifical, and 
those used in the celebration of the Eucharist, 
which are in the Missal. The clergy and relig¬ 
ious are obliged to recite the service for the 
canonical hours every day. It is divided into 
two parts, one containing the morning and the 
other the evening service. 

BREWER (bru'er), David Josiah, Ameri¬ 
can jurist, born in Asia Minor, June 20, 1837. 
His father was an American missionary and 
sent him to Yale, where he graduated in 1856. 
Two years later he graduated from the Albany 
Law School, and entered the law practice at 
Leavenworth, Kan., where he was elected pro- 


BREWING 


369 


BRICK 


bate judge in 1862, and two years later district 
judge. In 1870 he was elected to the supreme 
bench of Kansas, and was reelected in 1876 and 
1882. He resigned in 1884 to become a United 
States circuit judge, and in 1889 was appointed 
by President Harrison to the Supreme Court 
of the United States as successor to Stanley 
Matthews. He died Mar. 28, 1910. 

BREWING (bru'ing), the art of making 
malt liquor. The term is applied to the extract¬ 
ing of wort or any saccharine substance from 
grain. In making beer, three raw materials are 
used, that is, hops, barley, and water. The first 
process is known as malting, which consists of 
causing the grain to germinate so the starch 
is changed into sugar. It consists of steeping 
the barley three or four days, during which 
time it absorbs some of the water and begins 
to swell and soften. It is then spread to a depth 
of about one foot in the malthouse, where it 
germinates and throws out sprouts. After about 
ten or twelve days it is taken to the dry kiln, 
where it is heated to a temperature of 90° to 
150°, depending upon the kind of liquor desired, 
pale beer requiring the minimum and brown 
beer the maximum temperature. When the 
malted grain is fully dried and crisp, it is in a 
condition for brewing. 

The next step is to pass the malted grain 
between two rollers so as to bruise or crush it, 
when it is known as grist. In this form it is 
put in the malt tub and mixed with water heated 
to 170°. It is constantly stirred with mechanical 
mixers and in this stage is known as mash. It 
requires three or four hours to complete the 
process, after which the liquid, now known as 
wort , is drained off and run into vats containing 
the 3 r east, in which fermentation (q. v.) takes 
place. 

In the United States the brewing business was 
one of the chief sources of revenue, paying as 
an internal tax $35,500,000 to the general gov¬ 
ernment. Its sale was also taxed by many of the 
states and cities. Over 60,000 men were employed 
directly as laborers in brewing, and many thou¬ 
sands were engaged in the wholesale and retail 
trade. There has been a contention for many 
years regarding the liquor question. In some 
states it was long the principal political issue 
between the parties. With the adoption of im¬ 
provements in manufacture, as the use of steri¬ 
lized water, filtered air, and artificial refrigera¬ 
tion, beer is made free from bacteria and injuri¬ 
ous organisms, and is greatly less perishable. 
Pasteur made several discoveries in scientific 
brewing. He was among the first to announce 
why beer, like the lip that quaffs it, is subject 
to disease. See Beer; Bacteriology. 

BREWSTER (brod'ster), Sir David, noted 
physicist, born at Jedburgh, Scotland, Dec. 11, 
1781; died Feb. 10, 1868. He was first attracted 
to the study of physics by the lectures of Play¬ 
fair and Robson. In 1807 he was granted a 
degree at Cambridge and later at Aberdeen, and 

24 


was made a member of the Royal Society of 
Edinburgh. He became the editor of the Edin¬ 
burgh Magazine in 1808 and the founder of 
several scientific journals. He was one of the 
founders of the British Association, becaVne its 
president in 1857, and was connected with many 
scientific societies. In 1859 he became principal 
of the Edinburgh University. His name is con¬ 
nected with the study of optics and improve¬ 
ments in the stereoscope. He invented the 
kaleidoscope, improved the telescope, and made 
several new discoveries in relation to lighthouse 
illumination. Among his principal books are 
“Letters on Natural Magic,” “More Worlds 
than One,” “Treatise on the Kaleidoscope,” 
“Life of Newton,” and “Martyrs of Science.” 

BREWSTER, William, pioneer, born at 
Scroovy, England, in 1560; died April 10, 1644. 
He studied at Cambridge University and en¬ 
tered the public service. For a time he was 
Secretary of State to Queen Elizabeth, with 
whom he visited in Holland. On returning to 
England he left the established church, was im¬ 
prisoned in 1607, and subsequently opened a 
school at Leyden, Holland. He came to America 
on the first voyage made by the Mayflower, in 
1620, and for many years was the spiritual ad¬ 
viser of the colonists at Plymouth, Mass., but 
never administered the sacraments. His de¬ 
scendants include many esteemed families of 
New England. 

BRIBERY (brlb'er-y), a reward or valuable 
consideration given or accepted by any one with 
a view of unlawfully influencing judgment or 
conduct in a public office or some other capacity. 
This definition is the one usually applied at 
present, and includes alike the giver and the 
receiver, both being considered equally guilty on 
conviction. The charge of bribery is sometimes 
alleged against candidates for office, voters, and 
members of legislative bodies. Legislation with 
suitable penalties has been directed against it. 
It is a crime even if the party accepting the 
bribe does not pursue the course agreed upon. 
Officers of the general government may be re¬ 
moved from office on conviction of bribery. 

BRICE (bris), Calvin Steward, statesman, 
born at Denmark, Ohio, Sept. 14, 1845; died 
Dec. 15, 1898. In 1857 he entered Miami Uni¬ 
versity and graduated in 1863, after serving in 
the Civil War. He reentered the army as cap¬ 
tain in the Ohio volunteer corps and remained 
in active service until 1865. He studied law at 
the University of Michigan, and was admitted 
to practice in the United States court in Cin¬ 
cinnati in 1866. In 1888 he was prominent as 
chairman of the national Democratic commit¬ 
tee, a position he filled creditably, and was 
elected to the United States Senate the follow¬ 
ing year. 

BRICK, a molded and burned block of clay, 
forming a species of artificial stone. The name 
is also applied to the unfinished product when 
in a molded plastic state, or when it has been 


BRICK 


370 


BRIDEWELL 


dried and repressed, before being burned. 
Brick were made at remote periods of antiquity 
by the Egyptians, Babylonians, Assyrians, and 
other people of ancient history. They mixed 
sand and straw with the clay and baked the 
brick in the sun. When made in this way they 
are known as adobe brick. In cold countries 
freezing would soon dissolve these brick, but 
they are valuable in warm and dry climates, and 
some of them have been preserved for more 
than three thousand years. Many contain writ¬ 
ten characters, especially those of Babylon, to 
indicate the name of the reigning king, and are 
of priceless value in conveying historic facts to 
the present age. Brickmaking was introduced 
in Western Europe by the Romans in the year 
44 a. n., and in England by the Anglo-Saxons 
under King Alfred, in 88G. In the tipie of 
Henry VIII. and Queen Elizabeth the manu¬ 
facture became vastly important, the product 
entering largely into the construction of forts 
and public edifices. Kiln-baked brick are found 
in the larger ruins of ancient Babylon, where 
they were used to face or bind together walls 
of sun-dressed brick in a manner quite similar to 
the plan of constructing buildings with hard 
and soft brick at the present time. However, 
it appears that the kiln was not used much 
before the time of the higher Babylonian civi¬ 
lization. The people of Holland have long 
ranked as skilled manufacturers of brick. In 
the early history of New York they brought 
large quantities of their product to America, 
many of which may still be found in the older 
part of New York City. 

Various clays are used in brickmaking. They 
consist chiefly of silicates, the simplest, and are 
known as fire clays, of which fire brick are 
made. Clays that contain iron burn red, while 
those containing no iron appear white, although 
the brick commonly manufactured vary greatly 
in color. Fire brick are made from clay that 
contains little material which burns easily. The 
size of brick varies on account of the different 
clays used and the amount of heat applied in 
burning; those subjected to intense heat shrink 
somewhat. The usual size employed in build¬ 
ing is about eight inches long, four inches 
wide, and two and one-half inches thick, while 
sidewalk brick are sometimes made eight inches 
square and two and one-half inches thick. 

In making brick it is best to dig the clay in 
autumn and expose it to the influence of the 
rain and frost in order to break it up easily. 
It should be worked over a number of times 
and the brick may be molded and burned the 
following spring. On a small scale brick are 
made by hand, but for larger productions large 
machinery is used. The clay is mixed with sand 
and thoroughly worked in a pug mill, after 
which the material is put into molds and placed 
in a drying shed or in the sun. They are taken 
to the kiln to be burned when dry, which usu¬ 
ally takes place in from eight to ten days. The 


kilns have flues or cavities for the insertion of 
fuel, and spaces for the passage of the fire and 
hot air to penetrate the brick stacked in regular 
order within. The burning is done by gas, wood, 
or coal, and varies from a few days to two 
weeks according to the method employed. 

In recent years many improvements have 
been made in the manufacture of brick, partic¬ 
ularly in 1893, when the dry-press system came 
into use. By means of this system the'days are 
subjected to a pressure of about six hundred 
tons, in the dust form, and molded ready to 
put into the kiln The number of brick burned 
in a single kiln varies from a few thousand to 
a million. The dry-press machine has been 
brought to a high point of perfection and by it 
from 7,000 to 20,000 brick may be prepared for 
the kiln in a single day. The pressed brick 
are the most expensive and are used mostly in 
the construction of the medium-sized business 
buildings and in residences. Those used in 
sidewalks, chimneys, and outside walls are 
burned harder than those that enter into the 
inside walls, because of the greater wear when 
exposed to the weather. Machine-made brick 
are more durable and heavier than those made 
by hand because of the greater pressure applied 
in manufacture. 

Pavements are constructed to a large extent 
of paving brick, which are made of a clay that 
contains a considerable amount of lime. The 
lime fuses in burning and causes the finished 
product to become very hard. In the market 
they are frequently called vitrified brick. The 
larger use of steel frames in constructing the 
tall buildings of modern times has caused brick 
to be employed extensively for filling the 
interior walls, though in some instances they 
have been replaced by cement. In many build¬ 
ings, especially in the larger fireproof structures, 
hollow tiles are used for th(? inside walls. 

BRICKLAYING, the art of building with 
brick. The principal implements of a brick¬ 
layer are a troivel, for spreading mortar; a 
hammer, for dividing and driving brick; a 
plumb line, for carrying the wall up perpendicu¬ 
larly ; a compass, for maintaining longitudinal 
levels; a rod five or ten feet long, for taking 
measurements; and a hod, for carrying brick 
or mortar to the workmen. In small buildings 
brick and mortar are borne on the shoulders 
of laborers, but in large ones elevators are used. 
The mortar is made of lime and sand. The 
foundation of a brick building is an essential 
part, as buildings crack by settling unequally, 
if the basis is defective or the foundation is 
not based on a solid bottom. Bricklaying has 
been greatly lessened in larger cities by the 
newer process of constructing large buildings 
with steel framework and the use of stone. 

BRIDEWELL (brid'wel), a well in London, 
between Fleet and Thames streets, from which 
the name was given to a palace, parish, reforma¬ 
tory, hospital, and industrial school. It is now 


BRIDGE 


3?1 


BRIDGE 


l 


quite generally applied to a police station or a 
house of correction. 

BRIDGE, a structure for carrying a highway 
over a stream, river, valley, or other impedi¬ 
ment to its course. Bridges are constructed of 
stone, brick, wood, and iron, and seem to have 
existed from a period of considerable antiquity. 
The Chinese built them for many ages, perhaps 
the earliest among the ancients. The first 
bridges or passages made over streams or 
ravines were no doubt of trees. Bridges for 
military purposes were devised long before 
permanent structures for the convenience of the 
inhabitants were erected. These bridges were 
often of boats made to float on the water, with 
connections for the safe passage of armies. 
Some bridges were constructed by Cyrus about 
53C b. c.; Darius, about 490; and Xerxes, about 
480. The Romans seem to have been the first 
to use stone or brick. They carried the art of 
bridge building to Greece, after their conquest 
of that country. The first Roman bridge was 
built across the Tiber under Ancus Martius. 
Permanent bridges are now constructed in all 
civilized countries, though in some countries 


length of the arch is called a span, the perpen¬ 
dicular supports are the piers, and the portion 
that receives the thrust or lateral pressure of 
the arch is called the abutment. The height of 
the pier depends entirely upon the land adjacent 
to the stream and the depth of the basin, usu¬ 
ally from fifty to one hundred feet high, and the 
length of the span also varies greatly. The 
girder and truss bridges, especially those using 
the tubular girder, have largely superseded the 
arch. Other forms are the steel arch and the 
cantilever (q. v.) bridges. 

The small bridges of one span have no piers 
and are supported entirely by the abutments. 
It often adds strength to have the abutments 
solidified so a single span will answer the pur¬ 
pose, thus avoiding the necessity of a pier in the 
strong current. In some cases two or more 
piers may be distributed so as to occupy posi¬ 
tions which are not in the main channel. 
Arched bridges proceed from the sides of the 
space which they span and are keyed by a key¬ 
stone, sometimes a number of arches constitut¬ 
ing the groundwork of a single bridge. SuV 1 -’ 
pension bridges span the entire stream, the 



EADSES BRIDGE, SAINT LOUIS, MO. 


they are few and imperfect. In India few were 
erected before the British occupancy of the 
country. 

Bridge building became very common in Europe 
with the extension of the military influence of 
Charlemagne, and he also established ferries 
for the safe and permanent crossing of streams. 
Societies were organized in France and Ger¬ 
many in 1720 to promote the construction of 
bridges in all parts of those countries. It is 
thought that the first stone bridge in England 
was built in 1087 near Stratford, and the second 
in London in 1186, which was not finished until 
1209. Many of the early bridges were erected 
by companies as business investments and tolls 
were charged for crossing them. Others were 
erected by the general government and paid for 
by tolling. The largest bridges of the world 
were not built until after steam machinery was 
invented, which caused a demand for immense 
iron structures for the passage of railroad trains 
across streams and canons. 

The construction of bridges varies greatly 
with the time they are to be used and the pur¬ 
pose they are to serve. Stone bridges usually 
consist of an arch or series of arches. The 


weight resting entirely upon the piers at the two 
ends. A number of different methods of con¬ 
struction are employed, but usually the roadway 
is suspended by chains or wire ropes anchored 
securely to the masonry or iron at the ends of 
the bridge. Swinging bridges are common in 
large cities where traffic is carried by boats 
on canals, or across rivers navigable by large 
vessels. These bridges are so constructed that 
they may be turned or swung on a center so as 
to provide an opening for the passage of ves¬ 
sels, and, when closed, furnish safe passage for 
street cars, railway trains, and pedestrians. 
Many such bridges cross the Chicago Drainage 
Canal, some having as high as eight railroad 
tracks, weighing over 7,000,000 pounds, capable 
of supporting about 9,000,000 pounds, and cost¬ 
ing nearly a million dollars. Bridges that may 
be opened and closed are collectively termed 
drawbridges. They include a class known as 
lift bridges, the ends of which are anchored to 
framework towers so the span may be raised 
by means of winding drums. 

Below is given a list of the notable bridges of 
the world : 

The new London Bridge is constructed of 



















































BRIDGE 


372 


BRIDGETOWN 


granite, designed by John L. Rennie. It was 
commenced in 1824 and completed in about 
seven years, costing $7,290,000. 

The Bridge of the Holy Trinity at Flor¬ 
ence, Italy, was built in 1569. It is almost 
entirely of white marble, 322 feet long, and 
stands unrivaled as a work of art. 

The first large suspension bridge in the world 
was built across the East River in New York, 
called the Brooklyn Bridge. It was commenced 
under the direction of J. Roebling, in 1870, and 
completed in about thirteen years. It is 135 
feet high, 5,989 feet long, and cost nearly $15,- 
000,000. About two miles north of. the Brook¬ 
lyn Bridge is the East River or Williamsburg 
Bridge, on which work was commenced in 1898. 
It connects Brooklyn with Manhattan Island, is 
118 feet wide, and its longest suspension spar 
is 1,600 feet. Its entire length is 7,200 feet 
Midway between the two is the newer East 
River Bridge, on which work was commenced 
in 1907. 

The Cantilever Bridge over the Niagara is 
built almost entirely of steel. Its total weight 
is 3,000 tons, length 810 feet, and cost about 


America. It has twenty-seven spans, and is 
5,310 feet long. 

The Omaha Bridge, across the Missouri 
River, has eleven spans of 250 feet each, and a 
total length of 2,800 feet. It is the longest 
swinging bridge ever constructed, having a 
swinging span of 520 feet. 

The largest bridge ever built was the Tay 
Bridge near Dundee, Scotland. It was com¬ 
pleted in 1877, and destroyed by a gale in 1879. 
This bridge had eighty-five spans, ,was 10,612 
feet long, and cost $10,750,000. 

BRIDGEPORT (brij'port), a seaport in 
Connecticut, county seat of Fairfield County, at 
the mouth of the Pequonnoc River, fifty-eight 
miles northeast of New York. It is on the New 
York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad, 
has a good harbor on Long Island Sound, 
and carries an extensive navigation and railroad 
trade. The large sewing machine factories of 
Wheeler, Wilson & Co. and Elias Howe made 
the city famous. Besides sewing machines, it 
manufactures clothing, saddlery, carriages, 
cigars, machinery, and cartridges. Among the 
chief buildings are the public library, the county 



WILLIAMSBURG BRIDGE, NEW YORK CITY. 


$900,000. A similar cantilever bridge spans the 
Saint John River, in New Brunswick, which 
has a length of 813 feet. The Poughkeepsie 
Bridge, across the Hudson River, was built in 
1889 and has a length of 6,767 feet. It has five 
spans, but only three are cantilever spans. 

The bridge over the Firth of the Forth, near 
Edinburgh, Scotland, is 7,295 feet long. It has 
two spans of 1,710 feet each. It is about 370 
feet high, contains 51,000 tons of steel, has 
twenty-five acres of surface to paint, and cost 
about $15,000,000. It was commenced in 1883 
and completed in seven years. 

The Victoria Bridge across the Saint Law¬ 
rence River at Montreal, Canada, is tubular and 
nearly two miles long. It was completed in 1860 
at a cost of $6,300,000. 

The Eads’s Bridge across the Mississippi River 
from Saint Louis, Mo., to East Saint Louis, 
111., was designed by James Eads, begun in 1869, 
and completed in five years. It is regarded one 
of the most wonderful engineering products in 
America. The Quebec Cantilever Bridge, part of 
which fell into the river in 1916, has the longest 
span in the world, 1,800 feet. 

The bridge across the Ohio River at Louis¬ 
ville, Ky., is one of the largest iron bridges in 


courthouse, the post office, and the customhouse. 
It is noted for its fine schools and numerous 
institutions of learning, which include the Bar- 
num Memorial Institute. The city has exten¬ 
sive systems of waterworks, sewerage, and elec¬ 
tric street railways. It was chartered as a city 
in 1836. Population, 1920, 343,152. 

BRIDGETON (brij'tun), county seat of 
Cumberland County, New Jersey, on Cohansev 
Creek, thirty-eight miles south of Philadelphia. 
It is conveniently located on the West Jersey 
and Seashore and the New Jersey Central rail¬ 
roads, and is a thriving business center. Its 
manufactories produce clothing, nails, glass, car¬ 
riages, and woolen goods, and include rolling 
mills and tanneries. There are numerous beau¬ 
tiful churches and educational institutions, in¬ 
cluding the West Jersey Academy, South Jer¬ 
sey Institute, and Tvy Hall Seminary. The city 
has rapid transit, pavements, waterworks, and 
several libraries. It was settled before the Rev¬ 
olution and was incorporated in 1864. Popula 
tion, 1905, 13,624; in 1920, 14,323. 

BRIDGETOWN, a city of the West Indies, 
capital of the island of Barbados. It is located 
on the western coast, along Carlisle Bay, and is 
the terminus of a railroad. The chief build- 






























BRIDGEWATER 


373 


BRIGHT 


ings include a hospital, the town hall, and the 
government building. It has several fine 
churches, including the Church of Saint Mary 
and the Church of Saint Michael, and in Tra¬ 
falgar Square is a statue of Lord Nelson. It is 
fortified, having a well-equipped garrison. 
Bridgetown was originally called Indian Bridge. 
It was partly destroyed by fire in 1845 and has 
been visited by several hurricanes. Population, 
1921, 31,500. 

BRIDGEWATER (brij'wa-ter), a town of 
Massachusetts, in Plymouth County, twenty-six 
miles south of Boston, on the New York, New 
Haven and Hartford Railroad. It has modern 
municipal facilities, including waterworks and 
electric lights. Among the chief industries are 
brickyards, a shoe factory, and machine shops. 
It is the seat of a State normal school, a State 
workhouse, and has several fine school build¬ 
ings. The first settlement was made on its site 
in 1645, when it was known as Nuncketest, and 
in 1656 it was incorporated as Bridgewater. 
Population, 1905, 6,754; in 1920, 8,438. 

BRIDGEWATER, a town of Nova Scotia, 
in Lunenburg County, twelve miles west of 
Lunenburg. It is located at the head of the La 
Have Estuary, and has the main offices of the 
Nova Scotia Central Railway. Its buildings in¬ 
clude several schools and churches, and it has a 
good trade in merchandise. In 1899 it was partly 
destroyed by a fire. Population, 1921, 3,147. 

BRIDGMAN (Drij'man), Laura Dewey, 
famous blind deaf-mute, born in Hanover, 
N. H., Dec. 21, 1829; died in Boston, Mass., May 
24, 1889. At the age of two years she became 
very sick and lost the senses of sight, hearing, 
and smell, and her sense of taste was impaired 
to some extent. Her education was intrusted 
to Dr. Samuel G. Howe, at Perkins Institute for 
the Blind, in which she afterward became a 
teacher. She was taught by developing the 
sense of touch and acquired the use of the 
alphabet by raised letters, after which she 
learned to use a lead pencil. She studied arith¬ 
metic by handling objects, and geography by 
using relief maps, and became skillful in doing 
sewing and housework. After learning of the 
existence and character of God, she found much 
delight in reading her Bible. Sound vibrations 
were not susceptible by her ear, but her sense 
of touch was so delicate that she could perceive 
them; a strong beam of light made a slight im¬ 
pression on her right eye. She seemed to enjoy 
life, was cheerful and of a sociable disposition, 
and attained some success in teaching others 
who were blind and deaf. 

BRIGANDAGE (brig'and-aj), the name ap¬ 
plied to the system of robbery organized by 
gangs of highwaymen, who make their home in 
secluded places in the forests or among the 
mountains. Brigandage was at its height in the 
period of barbarism, when might was recog¬ 
nized as the only right, and those engaged in 
it practiced robbery upon wayfarers or held 


them for ransom. It is older than human his¬ 
tory, dating back to times before civilization 
had its rise. The history of Greece accounts 
that heroes distinguished themselves by sup¬ 
pressing it, and Hercules rid the country of 
robbers who infested the caverns. In Germany 
the so-called robber barons practiced brigand¬ 
age, and we have examples of it in British his¬ 
tory in Robin Hood and Dick Turpin. In 
France the name brigands was first applied to 
the mercenaries who occupied Paris in 1358, 
when King John was imprisoned. 

Brigandage is still practiced in semicivilized 
countries, or where the government does not 
exercise a vigorous policy in protecting the life 
and property of its citizens or those who may 
sojourn in the country. Regions not densely 
populated, even in highly civilized countries, 
are sometimes infested with brigands. We 
have examples of brigandage as late as 1901. 
when Ellen Stone was kidnapped in Macedonia 
and held for a ransom. She and her compan¬ 
ion, Madame Tsilka, were detained about five 
months, until Feb. 6, 1902, when they were 
released at Strumitza, Turkey, on payment of a 
ransom of $72,000. Several other noted cases 
of brigandage took place recently in Morocco 
and other countries bordering on the Mediter¬ 
ranean. Jesse James (q. v.) and other brigands 
committed train and bank robberies in the 
western section of the United States. These 
crimes were committed usually in small towns 
or in regions not densely populated, and to 
escape arrest the robbers destroyed telegraph 
connection. 

BRIGGS (brigz), Charles Augustus, cler¬ 
gyman, born in New York City, Jan. 15, 1841. 
He studied in the University of Virginia and in 
Union Theological Seminary, and took a three 
years’ course at the University of Berlin, Ger¬ 
many. On returning to America, he was called 
as pastor to the Presbyterian Church at Roselle, 
N. J., and subsequently was made professor of 
Hebrew in Union Theological Seminary. He 
became celebrated partly on account of his 
teachings regarding scriptural doctrines at vari¬ 
ance with his denomination, and was declared 
guilty of propagating views contrary to the 
standards of the Presbyterian Church and the 
Scriptures by a general assembly of the Presby¬ 
terian Church of North America, while in ses¬ 
sion at Washington, D. C., in 1893. He is the 
author of a number of publications, among them 
“The Bible, the Church, and the Reason,” “The 
Higher Criticism of the Hexateuch,” “American 
Presbyterianism,” “Messianic Prophecies,” “The 
Messiah of the Gospels,” and “Ethical Teachings 
of Jesus.” He died June 8, 1913. 

BRIGHT (brit), John, English statesman, 
born at Greenbank, England, Nov. 16, 1811; died 
March 27, 1889. He was the son of Jacob 
Bright, a Quaker, and became employed in cot¬ 
ton spinning. In 1835 he made a tour through 
foreign countries, and cn his return to England 


BRIGHTON 


374 


BRISTOL 


lectured extensively on commerce and econom¬ 
ics. He was an ardent supporter of free trade, 
and became a member of Parliament for Dur¬ 
ham in 1845, for Manchester in 1847, and for 
Birmingham in 1857. He was a friend of the 
Union during the Civil War in America. Subse¬ 
quently he held a number of public positions, but 
resigned from the ministry in 1882 on account 
of his opposition to the government in its Home 
Rule and Egyptian policies. In 1885 he was 
reelected to Parliament, though opposed by 
Lord Randolph Churchill. He ranks in Eng¬ 
lish history as a man of much talent, enlighten¬ 
ment, and skill in public discussion. 

BRIGHTON (bri'tun), a seaport on the 
English Channel, in Sussex County, England, 
fifty miles south of London. It was made the 
summer residence of George IV., then prince 
of Wales, in 1782, and has since been popular 
as a fashionable resort in the summer season, 
when about 30,000 visitors are here constantly. 
It is located on elevated cliffs and has many 
mineral springs. A promenade and drive over 
three miles long stretches between the city and 
the coast, one of the finest in Europe. It has 
beautiful edifices, fine gardens, and several col¬ 
leges and institutions devoted to learning. The 
aquarium contains a fine collection of marine 
life. Although Brighton has some trade and 
manufactures, it is noted particularly as a center 
of art and education and as a seaside resort. 
Population, 1921, 131,250. 

BRIGHT’S DISEASE, a granular disease 
of the kidneys, so named because Robert Bright 
(1789-1858), an English physician, first made a 
diagnostic description of it. Its early symptoms 
consist of the secretion of urine containing a 
large amount of albumen and less specific grav¬ 
ity than natural, attended by pain in the loins, 
frequent urination, indigestion, and finally 
dropsy. It is a fatal disease, remedies having 
only a palliative effect. It is sometimes induced 
and always greatly aggravated by the use of 
alcoholic drinks. The most skillful treatment 
should be obtained on the appearance of the 
first symptoms. 

BRIMSTONE. See Sulphur. 

BRINDISI (bren'de-ze), a seaport city of 
Italy, in the province of Lecce, forty-five miles 
northeast of Taranto. It is situated on a bay 
of the Adriatic Sea, on a small promontory, 
and has railroad conveniences and a consider¬ 
able trade in produce and merchandise. The 
chief buildings include an ancient castle, a cathe¬ 
dral, and several schools and monasteries. The 
harbor was dredged by the government in 18G0, 
and it is now entered by the largest sea-going 
vessels. Anciently it was important as a com¬ 
mercial center, but it declined until the opening 
of the Suez Canal, when it began to gain in 
foreign trade. Vergil died at Brindisi in 19 
b. c., and at the time of the Crusades it was 
important as their chief port for embarking to 
the Holy Land. Population, 1910, 26,347. 


BRINTON (brm'tun), Daniel Garrison, 

ethnologist, born in Thornbury, Pa., May 13, 
1837; died July 31, 1899. He studied at Jeffer¬ 
son Medical College and in Heidelberg, Ger¬ 
many, and was a surgeon in the Union army 
during the Civil War. In 1867 he became editor 
of the Medical and Surgical Reporter, and for 
some years was professor of ethnology at the 
Philadelphia Academy of Natural Sciences. In 
1886 he was professor of linguistics and archae¬ 
ology in the University of Pennsylvania. He 
published “American Hero Myths,” “The 
Myths of the New World,” “Religions of Prim¬ 
itive Peoples,” and “Library of Aboriginal 
American Literature.” 

BRISBANE (briz'ban), the capital of 
Queensland, Australia, on the Brisbane River, 
about twenty-five miles from its mouth. It oc¬ 
cupies a fine site, has an extensive harbor, and 
is the terminus of several railways and electric 
railroad lines. The river divides the city into 
two parts, known as North and South Brisbane, 
which are connected by the Victoria iron bridge. 
Among the chief buildings are the post office, 
two cathedrals, a university, and the State cap- 
itol, which was erected at a cost of about one 
million dollars. Brisbane has four parks and 
many large stone business buildings. It has 
waterworks, sewerage, stone and asphalt paving, 
and gas and electric lighting. The city was 
founded in 1825 as a penal colony by Sir 
Thomas Brisbane. When Queensland wa's set 
off as a separate colony in 1859, it became the 
capital, and has since made rapid progress in 
commerce and wealth. Population, 1921, 179,480. 

BRISTLES (bris's’ls), the coarse hairs of 
the hog and some other animals. They are 
glossy and stiff, and are largest on the back, 
especially in the wild boar. Bristles are used 
for various purposes in manufacturing, in mak¬ 
ing brushes and saddlery, and to some extent by 
shoemakers. The best grade is obtained from 
swine grown in cold countries, where the bris¬ 
tles are longer and stiffen Large quantities are 
secured from slaughterhouses in the United 
States and Canada, where they are a by-product. 
The best grades are imported from Russia and 
Germany. 

BRISTOL (bris'tul), a borough of Connec¬ 
ticut, in Hartford County, twenty miles south¬ 
west of Iiartford, on the New York, New 
Haven and Hartford Railroad. It has a public 
library, a fine high school, and well-paved 
streets. The manufactures consist largely of 
machinery, clocks, ironware, and woolen and 
cotton goods. Among the municipal facilities 
are electric street railways, waterworks, and a 
system of sewerage. It was incorporated as a 
borough in 1893. Population, 1920, 20,620. 

BRISTOL, a borough of Pennsylvania, in 
Bucks County, twenty-two miles northeast of 
Philadelphia, opposite Burlington, N. J. It is 
on the Delaware River and on the Pennsylvania 
Railroad. Fine mineral springs abound in the 


BRISTOL 


375 


BRITISH CENTRAL AFRICA 


vicinity. The manufactures include leather, 
yarn, woolen and cotton goods, machinery, iron 
tools, and farm implements. It was settled as 
early as 1681, when it was called Buckingham, 
but was incorporated as Bristol in 1720. " Pop¬ 
ulation, 1900, 7,104; in 1920, 10,273. 

BRISTOL, a port city of Rhode Island, 
county seat of Bristol County, fifteen miles 
southeast of Providence, on the New York, New 
Haven and Hartford Railroad. It is situated on 
Narragansett Bay, which affords anchorage for 
large vessels, and has a lively trade in mer¬ 
chandise and manufactures. The harbor is safe 
and commodious, and it is the seat of shipbuild¬ 
ing yards. The manufactures include cotton, 
rubber, and woolen goods. A library and sev¬ 
eral schools and churches are among the public 
buildings. It is supposed that the Northmen 
built dwellings in the vicinity in 1000. The first 
settlement was made on its site in 1675, and it 
was incorporated in 1746. Population, 1905, 
7,512; in 1920, 11,375. 

BRISTOL, a city of Tennessee, in Sullivan 
County, 128 miles northeast of Knoxville, on the 
Norfolk and Western and the Southern rail¬ 
roads. It has a growing trade in merchandise 
and farm produce. Among the manufactures 
are flour, cigars, cotton goods, ironware, and 
machinery. Besides having several fine public 
schools, it contains Kings College, Southwest 
Virginia Institute, and Sullins College. It has 
a public library, waterworks, and electric street 
railways. Opposite the State line, in Virginia, 
is the town of Bristol, with a population of 
4,579. Bristol, in Tennessee, in 1900, had a 
population of 5,271; in 1920, 14,776. 

BRISTOL, an important city between 
Gloucestershire and Somersetshire, England, but 
forming a county in itself. The city is prom¬ 
inent partly because of its mercantile business 
and partly on account of its early history. It 
was made a county by itself in 1373 by Edward 
III. Henry VIII. made it the seat of a bishop¬ 
ric in 1542. It is the seat of many notable 
buildings, among them a cathedral founded in 
1142 and Saint Mary Redcliff Church, founded 
in 1293. The newer buildings include the public 
library, the University College, the Queen Eliz¬ 
abeth Hospital, an observatory, and the Clifton 
College. Large coal mines are operated in the 
vicinity. The city has chemical works, sugar 
refineries, soap works, glass works, potteries, 
tanneries, ship yards, and machine factories. 
It carries an important jobbing business and a 
large export and import trade. It is built on 
both sides of the Avon River, which is crossed 
by the famous Bristol suspension bridge, 705 
feet long and 245 feet above high-water mark. 
Extensive docks are maintained on the Avon 
and at Avonmouth and Portishead. The Great 
Western, one of the first steamers to cross the 
Atlantic, was built in Bristol in 1838. The 
noted philanthropist Colston founded a number 
of charities in the city, and a holiday is 


set apart to his honor. It has gas and electric 
lighting, stone and asphalt pavements, water¬ 
works, a system of sewerage, and many hos¬ 
pitals and charitable institutions. Bristol was 
known as Bricgstow to the Saxons. Popula¬ 
tion, 1921, 357,059. 

BRISTOL CHANNEL, the largest inlet of 
Great Britain, extending from the Atlantic 
Ocean, between the southern peninsula of Eng¬ 
land and the southern shores of Wales, and 
forming the estuary of the Severn. It is about 
eighty-five miles long, from five to forty-five 
miles wide, and has a coast of about 225 miles. 
It is remarkable for its high tides, or bores, 
which roll up the channel at a height of from 
six to forty feet. Among the rivers that flow 
into it are the Severn, Avon, Wye, Axe, and 
Torridge. Lundy Island is near the entrance. 

BRITISH AMERICA, the possessions of 
Great Britain in North America, located north 
of the United States, and including the Do¬ 
minion of Canada and Newfoundland. Its area 
is 3,677,500 square miles and population 5,987,- 
698. See Canada and Newfoundland. 

BRISTOW (bris'to), Benjamin Helm, 
statesman, born in Elkton, Ky., June 20, 1832; 
died June 22, 1896. He attended Jefferson Col¬ 
lege, Pennsylvania, and practiced law in Ken¬ 
tucky. He served throughout the Civil War in 
the Union army and was mustered out as 
colonel. Later he was a member of the Ken¬ 
tucky State Legislature, and in 1872 became 
solicitor general for the United States. In 
1874 he was made Secretary of the Treasury, 
in the administration of President Grant, and 
while in this office prosecuted the Whisky Ring. 
He was a candidate for the nomination for 
Presidcnt in 1876, but was defeated by Hayes, 
and subsequently practiced law in New York 
City. 

BRITISH ASSOCIATION for the Ad¬ 
vancement of Science, an important society 
of Great Britain, whose object is to bring to¬ 
gether eminent men to promote discovery and 
to diffuse the results of scientific research. This 
association was organized in 1831 under the 
leadership of David Brewster, and its first 
meeting was held on Sept. 26 of that year at 
York. The second meeting was held at Oxford 
in 1832, and since then the meetings have been 
regular each year, usually the latter part of 
August. Two meetings were held in Canada, 
one at Montreal in 1884 and the other at To¬ 
ronto in 1897. The membership of the society is 
about 5,500. It is supported by fees and annual 
dues. The income is larger than needed for 
actual support, and the surplus is used to pro¬ 
mote investigations and scientific researches. 
The general meeting is presided over by the 
president, who delivers an annual address, after 
which meetings are held by the ten sections, 
each having its own committee and presiding 
officer. 

BRITISH CENTRAL AFRICA, or Nyas- 


BRITISH COLUMBIA 


376 


BRITISH COLUMBIA 


saland, a colonial possession of Great Britain 
in the east central part of Africa. It is bounded 
by Lake Nyassa, Portuguese East Africa, Ger¬ 
man East Africa, and the Congo Free State. 
Southeast of it is Rhodesia, of which it is an 
extension. The area is 41,800 square miles. 
The surface is an elevated plateau, and the 
drainage is chiefly by the Shire River. It has 
an abundant rainfall, but the climate is not as 
healthful as that of the country lying toward 
the south. Coffee, ivory, tobacco, and rubber 
are exported, and the chief imports are machin¬ 
ery and clothing. Blantyre, the largest town, 
has a population of 7,500, including about one 
hundred Europeans. The protectorate was or¬ 
ganized in 1891, and since then mining and 



farming have been introduced. Zomba, in the 
Shire region, is the seat of government. Pop¬ 
ulation, 1917, 928,451. 

BRITISH COLUMBIA, the most westerly 
Province of the Dominion of Canada, located 
between north latitudes 49° and 60°. It is 
bounded on the north by Yukon and Mackenzie, 
east by Alberta, south by the United States, and 
west by Alaska and the Pacific Ocean. From 
north to south it has a length of 740 miles; 
breadth from east to west, 620 miles; and area, 
312,630 square miles. The coast line, including 
indentations, is about 12,000 miles. 

Description. The surface is mountainous, ex¬ 
cept in the northeastern part, which lies in the 


basin of the Mackenzie River. The mountains 
are outer fringes of the Cordilleras of North 
America, and the chains extend from southeast 
toward the northwest. Ranges of the Cascade 
Mountains, which attain elevations ranging be¬ 
tween 7,000 and 8,000 feet, trend through the 
western part, and between them and the coast 
is the comparatively low Coast Range. In the 
southeastern part, extending almost parallel to 
the principal chain of the Rocky Mountains on 
the line of Alberta, are the Gold Range and Sel¬ 
kirk Range. These mountains are the highest 
of those in the southern part, and their loftiest 
peaks, including Victoria, Leroy, and Dawson, 
have a height of from 9,000 to 11,600 feet. 
However, the highest summits are near the 
boundary of Alaska, where peaks of the Rocky 
Mountains rise to elevations which approxi¬ 
mate 16,000 feet. These include Mount Colum¬ 
bia, 14,000 feet; Robson Peak, 13,700 feet; and 
Mount Fairweather, 15,340 feet. Kicking Horse 
Pass, where the Canadian Pacific Railroad 
crosses the continental watershed, is 5,300 feet, 
and north Kootenay Pass is 6,550 feet above the 
sea, while the mountains in the vicinity rise 
about 10,000 feet and are covered with snow 
the entire year. 

The Columbia drains the southeastern portion 
and crosses into the United States, discharging 
into the Pacific. Through the south central 
part flows the Fraser, which rises near the line 
of Alberta, has a course toward the northwest, J 
and then turns and flows almost due south to a 
point near the southern boundary, when it turns 
toward the west and discharges into the Strait, 
of Georgia. In the northern part are the Taku, 
Stikine, Nass, and Skeena, which flow into the 
Pacific, the Liard, a tributary of the Mackenzie, 
and the Peace, which joins the Athabasca in Al¬ 
berta. A number of lakes are distributed 
through the central part, all of them quite long 
and narrow. They include lakes Kootenay, 
Okanagan, Upper and Lower Arrow, Tacla, Ba- 
bine, and Stuart. The sea coast is serrated 
and characterized by rugged cliffs and fiordlike 
estuaries. Near the mainland are a large num¬ 
ber of islands, but all are small, except Van¬ 
couver and the Queen Charlotte Islands. 

Climate and Soil. The climate is warmer 
than that of any other province in Canada, on 
account of the warm winds from the Pacific, 
and differs greatly from that of the cold region 
of the Atlantic coast. These winds modify the 
temperature noticeably in most of the province, 
but much of their moisture is given up when 
they come in contact with the higher altitudes 
of the Coast Range; hence the climate is less 
uniform in the eastern part and the rainfall is 
less copious. At Victoria, on Vancouver Island, 
the average temperature for January is 37° and 
for July 60°, and flowers bloom in the garden 
the entire year. The climate at Vancouver is 
practically the same, but in the interior the 
temperature varies from 40° below zero in win- 





SI WASH ROCK, NEAR THE ENTRANCE TO VANCOUVER HARBOR 
Travelers arriving by vessel at Vancouver observe , on entering the harbor , Siivash 
Rock rising from the water like a massive tower. This great rock is 07 ie of the 
most picturesque features in the rugged scenery that characterizes much of the 
channel that forms the pathway between the city and the open sea. 

Opp. 376) 

































































BRITISH COLUMBIA 


377 


BRITISH COLUMBIA 


ter to 100 above in midsummer. Rainfall is 
most abundant along the coast, ranging from 40 
inches at Victoria to about 100 inches in the 
northern part, and diminishing toward the east¬ 
ern part, where some localities do not have suffi¬ 
cient to farm without irrigation. The rains and 
snows are heaviest on the western slopes, and 
the passes of the Gold Range and Selkirks have 
glaciers and snowfall to the depth of thirty 
feet. The Chinook winds make the Peace River 
valley pleasant and agriculture profitable in 
that section. 

Flora and Fauna. The forest resources pos¬ 
sess much value, and the trees are of a northern 
type. Dense forests are particularly abundant 
on the western slopes of the coast ranges, and a 
heavy growth of timber covers the eastern 
slopes, but the high plateau of the interior is 
almost treeless. The white cedar is found in 
large quantities widely distributed, but the yel¬ 
low cedar is confined to the northern region. 
Forests of spruce and hemlock abound. Other 
trees of commercial value are the oak, cherry, 
fir, yellow pine, yew, white maple, cottonwood, 
and arbor vitae. Fish are abundant in all the 
streams and off the coast, particularly the sal¬ 
mon, which is caught in large quantities at the 
mouth of the Fraser and other rivers. The wild 
animals include the moose, caribou, deer, big 
horn, bear, puma, and wild cat. 

Minerals. Many valuable minerals are found 
in British Columbia. Gold was discovered in 
1851 in the gravel along the rivers, from which 
it was obtained in paying quantities, but placer 
mining is not carried on to a great extent at 
present. The Kootenay district has been the 
chief source of gold, but mining has been de¬ 
veloped in the mountains farther north. A fine 
grade of bituminous coal is obtained on Van¬ 
couver Island and in the Rocky Mountains. 
Copper is mined in the southeastern portion. 
Other minerals include silver, lead, and plati¬ 
num. 

Industries. Agriculture is growing steadily, 
both in the production of cereals and in rearing 
live stock. Many of the valleys are remarkable 
for their fertility, such as that of the lower 
Fraser, where farming has reached a high de¬ 
gree of development. The cereals grown in¬ 
clude wheat, oats, barley, rye, and millet. Fruit 
is cultivated successfully, including interests in 
most of the varieties common to the temperate 
latitudes. Irrigation has been introduced in the 
arid regions of the interior, but most of the 
farming is done where the rainfall is abundant, 
including some sections of the Peace River val¬ 
ley. 

The salmon fishing and canning industry is an 
important enterprise. Many canneries are lo¬ 
cated on the coast and along the rivers, espe¬ 
cially on the Nass, Skeena, and Fraser. The 
canneries of the Fraser River produce about 
one-half of the salmon packed in British Co¬ 
lumbia, and those of the Skeena are second in 


importance. Fur sealing is an important enter¬ 
prise. Other fisheries which are prolific as a 
source of wealth include those of the cod, her¬ 
ring, halibut, and sturgeon. 

While mining and the fisheries have ranked 
as the two leading industries, there has been 
much development in lumbering. The Douglas 
fir, or Oregon pine, yields vast quantities of 
choice building material. Many specimens of 
this tree have a diameter ranging from ten to 
eighteen feet and a height of three hundred 
feet. It is exceeded in size by the cedars, whose 
diameters reach twenty feet in some individual 
specimens. However, both furnish a valuable 
grade of lumber. Other varieties used in lum¬ 
bering include the cypress, hemlock, yew, and 
yellow pine. Vast quantities of timber are ex¬ 
ported to Europe, Africa, and South America. 

Many ot the rivers are navigable and furnish 
important transportation facilities to carry trade 
with interior points. Some of the lakes, though 
not connected with the ocean by navigable 
streams, are used in transporting locally by 
steamboat. The Canadian Pacific Railway has 
a transcontinental line through the southern 
portion with the terminus at Vancouver, whence 
traffic is carried by steamer to Victoria, which 
has railroad facilities by lines on Vancouver 
Island. The line of the Grand Trunk Railway 
passes through the central part, with the ter¬ 
minus at Prince Rupert, near the mouth of the 
Skeena River. Vancouver, Victoria, New West¬ 
minster, Prince Rupert, and Ladysmith are 
among the ports. 

Government. The executive branch of gov¬ 
ernment is vested in a lieutenant governor, ap¬ 
pointed by the Governor General of the Do¬ 
minion, and he is assisted by an executive 
council of five members. The legislative author¬ 
ity is vested in a single chamber of thirty-three, 
members elected by the people. A system of 
public schools is supported by taxation, and 
includes common, graded, and high schools, all 
of which are free and undenominational. Many 
private schools and colleges are maintained, 
including denominational colleges at New West¬ 
minster and Vancouver. The people are very 
largely Protestants, including Anglicans, Pres¬ 
byterians, Methodists, Baptists, and Lutherans. 
In 1911 the Catholics numbered 34,227 and the 
Buddhists, mostly Japanese, numbered 10,027. 

Inhabitants. The population is made up 
largely of Canadians and Europeans, including 
English, Irish, and German. The Indian popu¬ 
lation is about 25,000, and the Chinese and 
Japanese together number 20,000. Victoria, the 
capital, is located on Vancouver Island. Other 
important cities include Vancouver, Nanaimo, 
Nelson, Rossland, Ladysmith, and New West¬ 
minster. The population of the province, in 
1921, 524,582. 

History. Captain Cook explored a part of 
the coast of British Columbia in 1787, and a 
settlement was made by the English ten years 


BRITISH EAST AFRICA 


378 


BRITISH MUSEUM 


later at Nootka. However, the settlement was 
broken up by the Spanish, who claimed the 
coast as far north as latitude Cl°, where the ter¬ 
ritory of Russia was supposed to end. In 184G 
the question of possession was settled by diplo¬ 
macy, when the United States relinquished its 
claim and the territory now in British Colum¬ 
bia became a possession of the British crown. 
The claims of the United States were based on 
the Louisiana Purchase and explorations made 
by Lewis and Clarke, out of which grew the 
campaign cry of “54-40 or fight,” at the time 
Polk was elected President of the United 
States. Vancouver Island was organized as a 
crown colony as early as 1849, but little progress 
was made in developing the country until the 
discovery of gold in 1858, when settlers began 
to pour into British Columbia, and it was made 
a crown colony the same year. The two colo¬ 
nies were united in 18GG as a political entity 
under the name of British Columbia. In 1873 
a dispute in regard to the boundary was sub¬ 
mitted to the Emperor of Germany, who 
awarded San Juan Island to the United States. 
The colony entered the Dominion in 1871, under 
an agreement that the federal government 
should provide railway connection with the At¬ 
lantic coast, and this was accomplished in 1887, 
when the Canadian Pacific Railway was 
opened for traffic. 

BRITISH EAST AFRICA, a large terri¬ 
tory within the British sphere of influence, lo¬ 
cated between Abyssinia and German East 
Africa, and extending from the Indian Ocean 
to the Congo Free State. The boundaries are 
not well defined, since there has been no def¬ 
inite agreement in regard to the boundary be¬ 
tween it and Abyssinia. It includes the islands 
of Pemba and Zanzibar, and has an area of 
about 1,000,000 square miles. For the purpose 
of government, it is divided into the three pro¬ 
tectorates known as Uganda, British East 
Africa, and Zanzibar. The former two are ad¬ 
ministered by British commissioners located at 
Entebbe and Mombasa, and the last mentioned 
is under a native sultan, who is advised by a 
British agent. 

The region is rich in minerals, especially iron 
and copper. Fruit, palms, and spices are abun¬ 
dant on the coastal plain. The interior is not 
rich in vegetation, especially in the arid high¬ 
lands, where large tracts have a scanty growth 
of small grasses. Forests of evergreen trees 
abound in many parts, and in the jungles are 
vast growths of bamboo. The large mammals 
of Africa are numerous, including the hippopot¬ 
amus, elephant, rhinoceros, giraffe, and ante¬ 
lope; the reptiles include the python, cobra, and 
crocodile; and the birds are especially numer¬ 
ous, among them being the pelican, flamingo, 
weaver bird, and sunbird. 

A railroad extends from Mombasa, on the 
Atlantic;, to Lake Victoria Nyanza, a distance 
pf 584 miles, and will be connected with the 


Cape-to-Cairo line. Rubber, ivory, hide, grain, 
copra, and live stock are exported. The inhab¬ 
itants are chiefly Arabs and Negroes. Most of 
the trade is in the hands of the Arabs at Zanzi¬ 
bar and near the coast, and the farming and 
pastoral regions of the interior are occupied by 
the Bantu and Nilotic Negro races. Population, 
5,150,000. 

BRITISH GUIANA. See Guiana. 

BRITISH HONDURAS (hon-doo ras), or 
Belize, a colony in Central America, belonging 
to the crown of Great Britain. It is situated 
east of Guatemala and southeast of Mexico, and 
has an extensive coast line on the Caribbean 
Sea. Its area is 7,5G2 square miles. The coast 
is quite low and swampy and the western part 
is diversified by hills and valleys. Among the 
chief products are fruit, mahogany, logwood, 
coffee, sugar, rubber, and five stock. This col¬ 
ony is still unprofitable, since the revenues sel¬ 
dom equal the expenditures, and it is necessary 
for the home government to grant aid. At pres¬ 
ent the indebtedness is placed at 170,000. Be¬ 
lize, population 9,113, is the capital and chief 
commercial city. 

The inhabitants consist p incipally of Ne¬ 
groes and Indians, including only about 400 
whites. A large number of elementary and 
three secondary schools are maintained. The 
language is a mixture of native tongues with 
English and Spanish. Numerous attempts have 
been made to throw off British rule, but English 
sovereignty has been recognized since 1783. 
Since 1884 it has been a separate colony. Pop¬ 
ulation, 1921, 41,007. 

BRITISH ISLES, an archipelago of Europe, 

located off the western coast of that continent. 
It is bounded on the north and west by the At¬ 
lantic Ocean, east by the North Sea, and south 
by the English Channel and the Strait of Dover. 
Great Britain and Ireland are the chief islands, 
besides which are included the Shetland Islands, 
the Hebrides, the Orkneys, and the Channel 
Islands. 

BRITISH MUSEUM (mu-ze'um), the 
largest national institution of Great Britain, 
located on Great Russel Street, London. It was 
founded in 1753, when Sir Hans Sloane donated 
his library collection of about 50,000 books and 
manuscripts on condition that $100,000 be paid 
to his heirs, which was much less than half the 
cost. The Montague House was purchased and 
opened as a scat for the library in 1759. A new 
building was erected in 1823, and the present 
large structure was completed in 1857, but ex¬ 
tensive additions were made in 1882 and since. 
The main structure is 375 feet long. About 
200,000 persons use the reading rooms each 
year, and it is visited by about 700,000 persons 
annually. The printed books include a total of 
about 2,000,000 volumes, being exceeded in 
number only by the Bibliotheque Nationale of 
France.. In addition to this collection of books, 
it contains many pamphlets and manuscripts. 


BRITISH NEW GUINEA 


379 


BROCKVILLE 


The museum is open and free to the public. 
It is lighted with electric lights and has every 
convenience of modern invention. Priceless 
rarities of every age and every country are on 
the shelves, constituting one of the most valu¬ 
able collections in the world. There are a 
number of departments, each of which is located 
in a suitable part of the buildings, and the whole 
is under the direction of forty-eight trustees, of 
whom the chief officers are the Archbishop of 
Canterbury, the Lord Chancellor, and the 
Speaker of the blouse of Commons. The most 
important departments include those of Printed 
Books, Maps, Manuscripts, British and Medi¬ 
aeval Antiquities, Egyptian and Assyrian An¬ 
tiquities, Greek and Roman Antiquities, Coins 
and Medals, and Prints and Drawings. The 
collections represent every noted personage and 
all industries, sciences, arts, and discoveries of 
ancient and modern research. It has been fit¬ 
tingly said that the museum is a “perpetual mon¬ 
ument of the munificence, judgment, and liberal 
taste of its royal founder, a splendid ornament to 
the throne and a perpetual benefit to learning.” 

BRITISH NEW GUINEA. See New 
Guinea. 

BRITTANY (brit'ta-ny), or Bretagne, an 
ancient province in western France, consisting 
of a large triangular peninsula that projects 
into the Atlantic. The region now includes the 
five departments of Morbihan, Finistere, Ille- 
et-Vilaine, Cotes-du-Nord, and Loire-Inferieurc. 
It has an area of 13,644 square miles. The 
people, called Bretons, are descendants of the 
Bretons who were expelled from England in 
the 5th century. They retained their ancient 
language, known as the Armorigion, which is 
similar to the Welsh, and is still used in the 
rural districts. The people engage largely in 
fishing and agriculture, and are noted as brave 
seamen. This region of France has not been 
interested extensively in manufacturing and 
commerce, but these industries are beginning 
to assume considerable importance. Many re¬ 
mains of the ancient Druids have been pre¬ 
served in Brittany. The folklore and songs 
of the Bretons are among the richest, many 
entering as modifying factors into the writings 
in .other languages. The district has been 
subject to many military contentions, but the 
people have shown marked loyalty to the 
French government, especially to the house ,of 
Bourbon. A majority of the people speak 
French and belong to the Roman Catholic 
Church. Population, 1916, 3,258,314. 

BROCADE (bro-kad'), a silk fabric, woven 
so the raised threads of the warp or woof 
produces figures of flowers, foliage, or other 
objects. The term is not applied to figures 
embroidered on silk textiles, but is restricted 
to those made in the loom. Originally the 
threads were made entirely of gold or silver, 
or of the two mixed, and cloth of this kind 
was used in making the most costly dresses. 


BROCK (brok), Sir Isaac, soldier, born on 
the island pf Guernsey, Oct. 6, 1769; died 
Oct. 13, 1812. He entered the British army at 
the age of fifteen, and by successive promo¬ 
tions soon reached the rank of lieutenant 
colonel. In 1799 he commanded a regiment in 
North Holland, where he took part in the Bat¬ 
tle. of Egmont-op-Zee, and subsequently fought 
with Nelson at Copenhagen. He was sent to 
Canada in 1802, but returned to England in 
1805, and again came to America soon after 
on account of the threatened hostilities with 
the United States. In 1810 he received com¬ 
mand of all the troops in Upper Canada, and 
the following year was raised to the rank of 
major general. He captured Detroit in 1812, 
for which he was made a Knight of the Bath. 
He commanded at Queenstown Heights, on 
the Niagara, where he fell mortally wounded 
on Oct. 13, while the Americans were making 
an attack. A monument surmounted by a 
statue of Brock stands on the place where he 
fell. 

BROCKEN ' 1 (brok'ken), or Blocksberg, a 
mountain of Germany, in the province of 
Saxony, 20 miles southwest of Ilalberstadt. 
It has an elevation of 3,745 feet above the 
sea and is the highest summit of the Hartz 
Mountains. From its top the observer has a 
fine view of the surrounding country. It is 
famous in folklore, owing to the fact that the 
atmospheric conditions cause shadows of the 
spectators to be projected on the fog, which 
are best seen at sunrise. See Walpurgis 
Night. 

BROCKTON (brok'tun), a city of Plymouth 
County, Massachusetts, about twenty miles 
south of Boston, called Bridgewater prior to 
1874. It is noted for its great wealth and the 
manufacture of boots and shoes, in which it 
takes very high rank. The general manufac¬ 
tures include shoe tools, machinery, paper, and 
wooden boxes. It carries a large jobbing trade 
in merchandise. Gas and electric lights, water¬ 
works, stone and asphalt pavements, and elec¬ 
tric street railways are among the improve¬ 
ments. The city library has 45,500 volumes. 
It was first settled in 1700 and received its 
charter as a city in 1881. Population, 1905, 
47,782; in 1920, 66,254. 

BROCKVILLE (brok'vil), a city in Ontario, 
county seat of Leeds County, on the Saint 
Lawrence River, about forty miles from Kings¬ 
ton. It is conveniently located on the Grand 
Trunk Railway, surrounded by a rich agricul¬ 
tural country, and engages extensively in the 
manufacture of flour, hardware, farming im¬ 
plements, engines, and large machinery. The 
chief buildings include the courthouse, the 
public library, the high school, and the town 
hall. It has a system of sewerage, waterworks, 
and electric railways. Brockville was named 
from Sir Isaac Brock. Population, 1901, 
8,940; in 1921, 10,003. 


BROGLIE 


380 


BRONTE 


BROGLIE (bro'y’), Jacques Victor Albert, 

Due de, historian and statesman, born in Paris, 
France, June 13, 1821; died Jan. 19, 1901. 
After attending public and private schools, he 
took extensive courses in the University of 
Paris, and at an early age turned his attention 
to literary work. He sided with the party that 
favored the temporal power of the Pope, being 
a leader in that movement after the Revolution 
of 1848, and was made a member of the French 
Academy in 1802- In 1873 he became premier 
in the cabinet of President McMahon, and 
served in that position until the following 
year. He was chosen a senator in 1876 and 
was leader of the reactionary party, and was 
again premier and minister of justice in 1877. 
Though eminent as a statesman and political 
leader, he is better known as a historical 
writer, his works being related chiefly to the 
period of Louis XV. and Talleyrand and the 
times of Marie Theresa. His “Church and 
the Roman Empire in the Fourth Century” is 
a history of the reign of Constantine written 
from a Catholic standpoint. 

BROKEN WIND, or Heaves, an incurable 
disease in horses, due to a rupture of the air 
cells in the lungs. It is accompanied by an 
enlargement of the lungs and heart. The 
symptoms are most noticeable when the horse 
is exercised, which causes the blood to be 
imperfectly purified, causing the nostrils to 
dilate and the breathing to become labored. 
The inspiration in breathing is rapid, but expi¬ 
ration is difficult and requires about double the 
usual time. In advanced stages of the disease 
two efforts are necessary in exhaling, one rap¬ 
idly succeeding the other. 

BROKER (bro'ker), an agent who engages 
in the business of negotiating contracts rela¬ 
tive to trade or commerce in consideration of 
a definite per cent, of the profits, or of a fixed 
salary. Brokers differ from other classes of 
agents in that they do not have the custody of 
the property they offer for sale. The com¬ 
pensation they receive is called brokerage, or 
commission. Insurance brokers are agents for 
underwriters, who insure owners of vessels 
and transporters of commodities against losses. 
Stock brokers deal in shares of stock compa¬ 
nies and monetary investments, ship brokers 
transact business for owners of vessels, and 
bill brokers buy and sell bills of exchange for 
others. 

BROMINE (bro'min), one of the nonmetal- 
lic chemical elements. It was discovered by 
Antoine Jerome Balard (1802-76), a French 
chemist, while he was extracting common salt 
from sea water. This element is not found 
in the isolated state, but occurs in minute quan¬ 
tities in sea water, in the ashes of marine 
plants, in combination with alkalis, and in the 
water of some mineral springs. It has a dark 
reddish color when in the liquid form, freezes 
at 19.4°, and boils at 145.4°. It is poisonous, 


nas o suffocating odor, and combines readily 
with metals. The most important use of bro¬ 
mine is for the manufacture of bromide of 
potassium, which is used in photography and 
medicine, and it has value as a disinfectant 
and for bleaching. It is made extensively 
from the salt water of mineral springs at Stass- 
furt, Germany, Syracuse, N. Y., the Kanawha 
region in West Virginia, and other sections of 
the United States. 

BRONCHI (bron'ki), the divisions of the 
trachea or windpipe, which conveys the air 
into the lungs. The trachea divides in the 
chest, forming two bronchi, one of which 
enters the right and the other the left lung, 
where they divide and subdivide to form mi¬ 
nute tubes. The walls of these tubes are com¬ 
posed of fibro-muscular tissue strengthened 
by plates of cartilege, and at the extremity is 
a cluster of air cells. 

BRONCHITIS (bron-ki'tis), an inflamma¬ 
tion of the bronchial tubes leading from the 
trachea to the lungs, and affecting the mucous 
membrane. There are several forms of the 
disease, designated as acute, chronic, plastic, 
mechanical, and syphilitic. All varieties are 
preceded by a cold in the chest, but later com¬ 
plications may set in and render the disease 
dangerous. The early symptoms include pain 
in the chest, shortness of breath, and the ex¬ 
pectoration of mucus. Sometimes the disease 
takes on an acute form or merges into Pneu¬ 
monia. 

BRONCHO (bron'ko), a nearly unbroken 
native horse, usually an Indian pony or one 
bred from Indian stock, also called mustang. 
The term is used commonly in the western 
part of the United States, where it is applied 
to small, active horses. It is said to be from a 
Spanish word which signifies that they can 
never be broken. 

BRONTE (bron'te), Charlotte, afterward 
Mrs. Nicholls, talented novelist, born at Thorn¬ 
ton, England, April 21, 1816; died March 31, 
1855. She was a daughter of Patrick Bronte, 
a clergyman of Irish descent, and her mother 
died when Charlotte was still a child. After 
receiving an education, she became a teacher 
and then a governess in a small family. She 
studied French and German at Brussels in 
1842, and in 1846 published a volume of poems, 
which was from the pen of the three Bronte 
sisters, under the names of Currer, Ellis, and 
Acton Bell. It did not attract much public 
interest, a circumstance which caused her to 
devote her efforts to prose writing. Her books 
include “Agnes Grey,” “Jane Eyre,” “Shirley,” 
“Villette,” and “The Professor.” The last 
named was not published until after her death. 
In most of her writings she was assisted by the 
two sisters, Emily (Ellis Bell) and Anna (Ac¬ 
ton Bell). “Jane Eyre” was translated into 
a number of European languages and was 
dramatized. In 1854 she married Rev, Arthur 


BRONZE 


381 


BROOKLYN 


Nicholls, her father’s curate. Her biography 
was published in 1857 by Mrs. Elizabeth Gas- 
kell (1810-05) under the title “Life of Char¬ 
lotte Bronte.” 

BRONZE (bronz), a fine-grained alloy of 
copper and tin, in variable proportions. It is 
harder and more fusible than copper, and is 
used chiefly in making church bells, cannon, 
statues, utensils, and various useful appliances. 
The ancients used it largely for weapons and 
utensils, and it has been found among the an¬ 
tiquities of China, Egypt, Assyria, Europe, 
and Mexico. In making the common bronze 
the proportions are about nine parts copper to 
one of tin; in instruments, twelve to one; in 
machinery, eight to one; in musical bells, six 
to one, and in large bells, three to one. The 
metals are melted separately, and they are after¬ 
ward united in a molten state and cast in molds. 
In some kinds of bronze, zinc, silver, and lead 
are added, while aluminum and copper also make 
a bronze alloy. The bronze formed of alumi¬ 
num and copper is strong, ductile, and mallea- 
1 le. The proportion is one of the former to 
nine of the latter. 

BRONZE AGE, the term used to denote 
the stage of culture of a people at the time 
of using bronze for implements and weapons. 
The classification includes the three ages in 
this order: the stone age, the bronze age, and 
the iron age. It was adopted and developed 
by Danish scholars, including Nilsson, Thomp- 
sen, and Forchhammer. The classification 
does not apply equally to all nations, nor to 
different nations in the same period. The 
stone age existed in some countries while 
others were passing through the bronze and 
iron ages. In the stone age the weapons or 
implements consisted of stone and bone, metal 
being yet unknown. In the bronze age the 
method of alloying copper and tin had been 
discovered, but iron was yet undiscovered. 
Later iron took the place of bronze. These 
views have been adopted by geologists, though 
some think the age of copper intervened be¬ 
tween that/of stone and bronze. In Denmark, 
during the age of bronze, the oak was the 
dominant tree; the Scotch fir having flourished 
in the stone age, but became extinct in the 
bronze age, while the beech was and remains 
the prevailing tree of the iron age. Among the 
tools of the bronze age of different countries are 
found saws, hammers, awls, sickles, knives, dag¬ 
gers, swords, axes, spears, arrows, anvils, gouges, 
and shields. The composition of bronze varies 
with different periods and the size and form 
of the implements were changed frequently. 
The composition of bronze consisted mostly of 
ten parts of tin to ninety of copper. In some 
cases other metals were added. 

BROOK FARM, a community established 
at West Roxbury, Mass., by George Ripley 
(q. v.) in 1841. The organizer associated with 
himself a number of men and women promi¬ 


nent in American History, and announced that 
the object was to substitute a system of broth¬ 
erly cooperation for one of selfish competi¬ 
tion. No distinction was made in regard to 
sex. After several years a number of the lead¬ 
ing members became discouraged and the com¬ 
munity sustained financial loss. In 1846 some 
of the best buildings were destroyed by fire, and 
the enterprise was finally abandoned the follow¬ 
ing year. Among the members of this socialistic 
venture were Charles A. Dana, George W. Cur¬ 
tis, W. B. Channing, Nathaniel Hawthorne, 
Bronson Alcott, Margaret Fuller, and Theodore 
Parker. Hawthorne made use of many of his 
experiences at Brook Farm in writing his work 
of fiction entitled “Blithedale Romance.” 

BROOKFIELD, a city in Linn county, Mis¬ 
souri, on Yellow Creek, twenty-four miles east 
of Chillicothe. It is on the Chicago, Burling¬ 
ton and Quincy Railroad, and is surrounded by 
a region rich in coal deposits. The chief build¬ 
ings include the public high school, the library, 
and extensive railroad shops. It has manufac¬ 
tures of brick, flour, and machinery. Electric 
lights, waterworks, and sewerage are among 
the improvements. It was incorporated in 1865. 
Population, 1900, 5,484; in 1920, 6,304. 

BROOKHAVEN, county seat of Lincoln 
County, Mississippi, 55 miles southwest of Jack- 
son, on the Illinois Central Railroad. It is sur¬ 
rounded by a farming and lumbering region and 
has an extensive trade in merchandise. The 
buildings include the court house, high school, 
city hall, and federal building. It has the Whit¬ 
more Female College. Population, 1920, 4,706. 

BROOKLINE (brook'lin), a town in Nor¬ 
folk County, Massachusetts, four miles west 
of Boston, on the Charles River. It is on the 
Boston and Albany and other railroads, and 
is connected with Boston by a system of elec¬ 
tric railways. Brookline is a suburban resi¬ 
dence portion of Boston, and was originally a 
part of that city, but was incorporated sepa¬ 
rately in 1705. The chief buildings include a 
public library with 46,500 volumes, the Riding 
Academy, and many villas and country seats. 
It has manufactories of clothing, machinery, 
and electrical supplies. With it are included 
the villages of Longwood, Reservoir Station, 
and Cottage Farm. Population, 1920, 37,748. 

BROOKLYN (brook'lm), the “City of 
Churches,” formerly one of the largest and 
most important cities in the United States, but 
united with the city of Greater New York in 
1898 by a legislative bill passed May 11, 1896. 
This portion of New York City is located on 
the west end of Long Island, and is connected 
with the other portion of the great city over 
the East River by the Brooklyn Suspension 
Bridge, the Williamsburg Bridge, and the new 
East River Bridge. Intercommunication is fur¬ 
ther facilitated by the extension of the Subway 
under the East River and by many lines of 
ferries. It is noted as a financial center, has 


BROOKS 


382 


BROUGHAM 



PHILLIPS BROOKS. 


many valuable structures, is improved by all 
modern conveniences, and is beautified by parks 
and other public improvements. The first set¬ 
tlement on its site was made by the Dutch in 
1636, and it was incorporated as a city in 1834. 
At the time of its union with New York the city 
contained a population of 995,276. It is now 
divided into twenty-one aldermanic districts 
and represented by that number of aldermen in 
the common council. Population, 1905, 1,358,- 
891; in 1920, 2,018,358. See New York. 

BROOKS, Phillips, clergyman, born in Bos¬ 
ton, Mass., Dec. 13, 1835; died Jan. 23, 1893. 
He graduated at Harvard College, and received 

training in theology at 
Alexandria Seminary. 
He was ordained as an 
Episcopal minister in 
1859, became rector of 
the Church of the Ad¬ 
vent at Philadelphia, 
and ten years later was 
made rector of the 
Trinity Church in Bos¬ 
ton. He preached on 
numerous occasions at 
Harvard Coll ege, 
where he made many 
friends, and in 1891 be¬ 
came bishop of Massa¬ 
chusetts. His lectures were thoughtful and 
popular, and he was one of the most powerful 
sermonizers of his church in America, being 
rapid in utterance and spiritual in thought. 
He published five volumes of his sermons which 
are still widely consulted. Many institutions 
of America and Europe conferred distinguished 
honors upon him. His works include the hymn 
“Oh, Little Town of Bethlehem,” “The Influ¬ 
ence of Jesus,” and “Lectures on Preaching.” 

BROOKS, Preston Smith, statesman, born 
in Edgefield District, S. C., Aug. 4, 1819; died 
Jan. 27, 1857. He attended the State Univer¬ 
sity of South Carolina. In 1844 he was elected 
to the State Legislature and later served 
through the Mexican War. In 1852 he was 
elected to Congress as a Democrat and was 
reelected in 1854. He became notorious for 
his assault upon Charles Sumner on May 22, 
1856, after the latter delivered a speech in the 
Senate on “The Crime Against Kansas,” in 
which he had referred to South Carolina with 
great severity. For this action Brooks was 
generally condemned in the North, while some 
of the people in the South passed resolutions in 
his honor. 

BROOM (broom), a plant of the bean fam¬ 
ily, native to many parts of Europe. It has 
yellow flowers and grows in heaths and sandy 
soil. Several species have been described, some 
of which are shrubs. The common broom is 
planted for its fiber and a yellow dye obtained 
from its flower. The white broom is cultivated 
in England as an ornamental shrub. It bears 


white flowers and attains a height of twelve to 
fifteen feet. 

BROOM CORN (korn), a name applied to 
two plants with jointed stems belonging to the 
order of grasses. The panicles of a species be¬ 
longing to the sorghum vulgarc are made into 
brooms for sweeping and clothes brushes. The 
seeds are valuable as food for cattle and poultry, 
It grows to a height of twelve to fifteen feet, and 
is cultivated very much like corn. There are 
numerous species, all of which are produced 
chiefly in America, where the annual production 
is valued at several million dollars. See Sor¬ 
ghum. 

BROTHERHOOD OF ANDREW AND 
PHILIP, a society organized in 1888 by Rufus 
W. Miller, a pastor of the Reformed Church 
at Reading, Pa. Its purpose is to foster good 
will and Christian fellowship and to spread the 
Christian faith by enjoining its members to 
bring people within hearing of the gospel. To 
this organization belong many members of 
evangelical denominations. In 1908 it had 920 
chapters and a membership of 32,000, and was 
promoted by organizations in the United States, 
Canada, Australia, and Asia. 

BROTHERHOOD OF SAINT AN¬ 
DREW, an organization of the Protestant Epis¬ 
copal Church. It was founded in Chicago 
in 1883, at Saint James Parish. The object is 
to spread the kingdom of Christ among young 
men. Two departments are maintained, the 
junior and the brotherhood, and the local chap¬ 
ter is the unit of organization. In 1908 the 
junior department had 8,000 members and the 
brotherhood proper had 15,000. Pittsburg, Pa., 
is the headquarters. Organization work is pro¬ 
moted in all the continents. 

BROUGH (bruff), John, statesman, born at 
Marietta, Ohio, in 1811; died in Cleveland, Aug. 
29, 1865. His education was obtained chiefly in 
printing offices, and he became publisher of 
the Washington County Republican, and later 
of the Lancaster Eagle. He early became prom¬ 
inent in State politics, acting with the Demo¬ 
crat party. He was elected Governor in 1863, 
and served the State with much patriotic devo¬ 
tion during the exciting scenes common to Ohio 
in the Civil War, on account of which he became 
known as the “War Governor.” 

BROUGHAM (brod'am), Henry, Baron 
Brougham and Vaux, born in Edinburgh, 
Scotland, Sept. 19, 1779; died in Cannes, France,. 
May 9, 1868. He was a man of good education 
and became an important factor in establishing 
the Edinburgh Review in 1802. About this 
time he was admitted to the bar and entered 
Parliament in 1810. He became a fearless and 
successful defender of Queen Caroline, in 1820, 
in the contest with George IV., and a powerful 
advocate of reforms, which placed him in the 
height of popular favor. He was raised to the 
peerage and accepted the position of lord chan¬ 
cellor in the ministry of Earl Grey, with the title 



BROWN 


383 


BROWN 


of Lord Brougham and Vaux. His able and 
eloquent opposition to slavery and his advocacy 
of progress caused the administration to be 
highly popular and resulted in the passage of 
the Reform Bill in 1832. With the dismissal of 
the Whig ministry in 1834, his official life ended, 
but he continued an active member of the House 
of Lords till some time later. Subsequently he 
became devoted to science and literature and 
published many excellent writings. He was 
regarded, next to Canning, the best orator of 
his time, and was commonly referred to as the 
“Demosthenes.” Among his writings are 
“Speeches on Social and Political Subjects,” 
“Lives of Men of Letters and Science,” and 
“Life and Times of Lord Brougham.” 

BROWN, in painting, a dark color formed 
by a mixture of red and black, and then modi¬ 
fied by a small addition of yellow. It belongs 
to the colors known as russets and olives, in 
which a black or a dark pigment modifies the 
hue. Umber, bister, and brown madder are 
among the brown pigments. 

BROWN, Benjamin Gratz, public man, born 
in Lexington, Ky., May 28, 1826; died Dec. 13, 
1885. He studied at the Transylvanian Univer¬ 
sity and at Yale, and in 1850 began the practice 
of law at Saint Louis. In 1852 he was elected 
to the Missouri Legislature, serving until 1858, 
and during that time published a Republican 
newspaper, the Missouri Democrat. He raised 
a regiment for service in the Union army during 
the Civil War, and afterward commanded a bri¬ 
gade of militia. He was United States Senator 
in 1863-67, and in 1870 became Governor of 
Missouri. In 1872 he was candidate on the 
Greeley ticket for Vice President. 

BROWN, Elmer Ellsworth, educator, 
born in Kiantone, N. Y., Aug. 28, 1861. He 
studied in the Illinois State Normal University 

and the University of 
Michigan, and subse¬ 
quently took courses at 
the universities of 
Halle and Wittenberg, 
Germany. He was 
superintendent in the 
public schools a num¬ 
ber of years, was pro¬ 
fessor in the Univer¬ 
sity of Michigan in 
1891, and the following 
year became connected 
with the University of 
California as professor 
he was made head of 
that department, in 1906 succeeded William T. 
Harris as commissioner of education for the 
United States, and was succeeded in that position 
by P. P..Claxton. He was elected to official posi¬ 
tions in many scientific associations, including 
. the International Congress of Arts and Sciences, 
in 1904. He published “Origin of American 
State Universities,” “Making of Our Middle 
Schools,” and “Secondary Education.” 


BROWN, George, statesman, born in Edin¬ 
burgh, Scotland, Nov. 29, 1818; died May 9, 
1880. He came to Canada at an early age and 
was a printer in the establishment of his father 
at Toronto. In 1844 he established The Globe, 
which was afterward converted into a daily 
paper, and later he founded the Canadian 
Farmer. He was elected to the Canadian Par¬ 
liament in 1852, and formed the Brown-Dorion 
ministry in 1858, but resigned shortly after in 
consequence of a vote of want of confidence. 
In 1864 he became leader of the Conservatives, 
which position was held by him for some time. 
In 1873 he entered the Senate, and with Sir 
Edward Thornton negotiated a treaty with the 
United States. He died from the result of a 
shot by a discharged employe. 

BROWN, Henry Billings, jurist, born at 
South Lee, Mass., March 2, 1836. He studied at 
Yale and was admitted to the Michigan bar in 
1860. President Lincoln appointed him Assist¬ 
ant United States Attorney in 1863, and Presi¬ 
dent Grant made him district judge in Michi¬ 
gan in 1875. He lectured upon admiralty law 
in the leading institutions, including the univer¬ 
sities of Yale and of Michigan. In 1891 he 
became associate justice of the Supreme Court 
of the United States. 

BROWN, Henry Kirke, sculptor, born in 
Leyden, Mass., Feb. 24, 1814; died in Newburgh, 
N. Y., July 10, 1886. He studied with Chester 
Harding in Boston and began to paint at an 
early age. At Albany, N. Y., he made portrait 
busts of several public men. In 1842 he went to 
Italy, where he traveled and studied four years, 
when he returned to New York and devoted 
himself to bronze casting. His principal pro¬ 
ductions are statues of Abraham Lincoln and 
General Nathaniel Greene; the latter is in the 
capitol at Washington. He executed equestrian 
statues of General Scott, General George Clin¬ 
ton, General Philip Kearny, and Richard Stock- 
ton. “The Seasons,” “Ruth,” and “The Pleia¬ 
des” are well-known productions in marble. 
His works are regarded among the best pro¬ 
duced in America, and some of them now adorn 
parks and public places in several important 
cities. 

BROWN, Jacob, soldier, born in Bucks 
County, Pa., May 9, 1775; died Feb. 24, 1828. 
He started his career as a surveyor and school 
teacher, studied law in New York City, and 
served as military secretary to Alexander Ham¬ 
ilton. He entered the State militia of New York, 
became brigadier general in 1810, and fought 
against the British at Ogdensburg, Sackett’s 
Harbor, Chippewa, Lundy’s Lane, and Fort Erie, 
and for bravery received the thanks and a gold 
medal from Congress. In 1821 he was made 
general in chief of the United States an,./, 
which position he held until his death. 

BROWN, John, author, born at Biggar, 
Scotland, Sept. 22, 1810; died May 11, 1882. 
After studying in the high school of Edinburgh, 
he entered the university in that city, where he 



ELMER E. BROWN. 

of pedagogy. In 1893 


BROWN 


384 


BROWNE 


was an apt and progressive student. He is 
famous on account of charming essays and 
stories well adapted to young readers. For 
some time he practiced medicine in Edinburgh, 
producing many of his writings at odd times. 
The most important include “John Leech and 
other Papers/’ “Majorie Fleming/’ “Spare 
Hours,” and “Rab and his Friends.” 

BROWN, John, eminent abolitionist, born 
at Torrington, Conn., May 9, 1800; hanged at 
Charleston, Va., Dec. 2, 1859. He was a de¬ 
scendant of the Pilgrims who landed in the 
Mayflower, and was characterized by a spirit 
of sternness. At first he intended to engage in 
church work, but was compelled to give up that 
object on account of inflammation of the eyes. 
He engaged in the business of a tanner for 
twenty years, but lost much of his property by 
unfortunate speculation, and entered the wool 
trade in Ohio, in 1840. Being unsuccessful in 
business, he removed to New York nine years 
later to redeem a tract of land given him by 
Gerrit Smith, but returned again to Ohio after 
two years to resume the business of a wool 
dealer. He removed with his four sons to 
Kansas in 1855 and became prominent as an 
opponent of slavery. In the outbreak of the 
Kansas border troubles, then attracting atten¬ 
tion, he took a prominent part and gained celeb¬ 
rity at Osawatomie by opposing marauding 
bands of proslavery men from Missouri. He 
soon conceived the idea of emancipating the 
slaves by providing them with arms and caus¬ 
ing a general uprising against their oppressors. 
His first plan was to capture an immense stock 
of arms kept at Harper’s Ferry, Va., for which 
purpose he collected a small force and seized 
the arsenal on Oct. 16, 1859. 

On the morning of the next aay he took the 
principal men of the town prisoners and awaited 
the uprising of the slaves, which did not materi¬ 
alize. Capt. Robert E. Lee, with a squad of 
United States soldiers, undertook to recover 
the arsenal, and succeeded in this on the morn¬ 
ing of the 18th, after many recruits had gath¬ 
ered, and took Brown prisoner. He was taken 
to Charleston, Va., where he was convicted 
of treason and murder and condemned to be 
hanged. The sentence was carried out on 
December 2. His daring deed was an important 
link in the chain of events leading to the Civil 
War, and he became a hero in the songs of the 
northern armies, of which a favorite was “John 
Brown’s Body Lies a Moldering in the Grave,” 
and which is still popular. His life was written 
by F. B. Sanborn. It was published in 1885 
under the title “Life and Letters of John Brown, 
Liberator of Kansas and Martyr of Virginia.” 

BROWN, John Calvin, soldier, born in 
Giles County, Tennessee, Jan. 26, 1827; died in 
Macon County, Aug. 17, 1889. After graduat¬ 
ing from Jackson College in 1846, he studied 
law and traveled extensively through Eurasia 
and Africa. In 1860 he was elected to Congress 


on the Whig ticket. The following year he en¬ 
tered the military service of Tennessee as cap¬ 
tain, but was soon made colonel of the regiment, 
and was transferred to the service of the Con¬ 
federate States, where he was promoted to the 
rank of brigadier and afterward to that of ma¬ 
jor general. He commanded at Chattanooga 
in 1862, and participated in the engagements of 
Perryville, Murfreesboro, Chickamauga, Mis¬ 
sionary Ridge, Kenesaw Mountain, and other 
important battles. He ranked as one of the 
leading generals of the Confederacy, and aided 
in many of the battles commanded by General 
Bragg. 

BROWN, John George. American painter 
born at Durham, England, Nov. 11, 1831. He 
studied at Newcastle-on-Tyne and in Edinburgh, 
and came to New York City in 1853. Several 
of his productions won medals at Boston and 
San Francisco in 1877. He exhibited some of 
his paintings at the international expositions at 
Paris in 1889. He was an influential member 
of the Water Color Society for many years 
and was made its president in 1901. Among his 
most noted paintings are “The Country Gal¬ 
lants,” “By the Sad Sea Waves,” “Rustic Milli¬ 
ner,” “Hiding in the Old Oak,” and “C r ossing 
the Brook.” He died Feb. 8, 1913. 

BROWN, Joseph Emerson, public man, 
born in Pickens County, South Carolina, April 
15, 1821; died Nov. 30, 1894. He studied at 
Yale, where he graduated in 1846, and soon 
after took up the practice of law in Georgia, 
where he was elected to the State Senate in 
1849. He was Governor of Georgia in 1857-65, 
and at the beginning of the Civil War seized 
the forts and the arsenal at Augusta, Ga. After 
the close of the war he advocated the recon¬ 
struction policy of the Republican party. In 
1868 he was made chief justice of the State 
Supreme Court and supported Horace Greeley 
for President, and in 1880 became United States 
Senator, succeeding Gen. Gordon. He made lib¬ 
eral bequests to a number of institutions in the 
Southern States, including $50,000 to the State 
University of Georgia. 

BROWNE, Charles Farrar. See Artemus 
Ward. 

BROWNE, Sir Thomas, philosopher, born 
in London, England, Nov. 19, 1605; died Nov. 
19, 1682. He studied at Oxford University and 
in Italy, and in 1633 was made doctor of medi¬ 
cine by the University of Leyden, Holland. He 
was a patron of literature and a student of the 
writings of Dante, and his works were widely 
translated. Charles II. knighted him in 1671. 
His books include “Urn Burial,” “A Physician’s 
Religion,” and “Inquiries Into Vulgar and Com¬ 
mon Errors.” 

BROWNE, Thomas Alexander, novelist, 

born in London, England, Aug. 6, 1826. He 
went to Australia at an early age, where he at¬ 
tended the Sydney College, and later became 
a pioneer in the development of Victoria. He 


BROWNING 


385 


brown-s£quard 


was police magistrate and warden of Goldfields, 
New South Wales, and held other positions lo¬ 
cally. His writings are numerous, including 
many that deal with life in Australia, and some 
of them hold a high place in the literature of 
that continent. They include “A Colonial Re¬ 
former,” “A Modern Buccaneer,” “A Canvas 
Town Romance,” “The Babes in the Bush,” “A 
Tale of the Golden West,” “Old Melbourne 
Memories.” and “A Squatter’s Dream.” 

BROWNING (broun'ing), Elizabeth Bar¬ 
rett, eminent poetess, born near Ledbury, Eng¬ 
land, March 6, 1806; died at Florence, Italy, 
June 29, 1861. She came from a family of 
good circumstances and great care was given to 
her in securing an education. At a very early 
age she gave proofs of genius. She wrote both 
in prose and verse at the age of ten, was able 
to read Homer in the Greek, and at fifteen her 
power as a writer became known to her friends. 
She possessed extremely delicate health from 
the first, and was injured by a fall from 
her pony, but her mind was vigorous and she 
enjoyed writing and well-directed physical exer¬ 
cises. Her first work was published in 1826, 
entitled “An Essay on Mind and Other Poems.” 
Her father removed to London in 1835, where 
she established her reputation by publishing 
“The Seraphim and Other Poems” She was 
constantly in delicate health, and her physical 
condition was greatly weakened by the burst¬ 
ing of a blood vessel 
in the lungs. This, to¬ 
gether with the shock 
caused by the accidental 
drowning, in 1840, of a 
favorite brother, made 
necessary her confine¬ 
ment in a sick room for 
a number of years and 
rendered her an invalid 
for a long time. With¬ 
in this time she wrote 
a number of beautiful 
poems, including “The 
Cry of the Children.” 
In 1846 she married 
Elizabeth B. browning. p 0e f. Robert Brown¬ 
ing (q. v.), though against the wishes of her 
father, and shortly afterward settled in Italy, 
where she resided the greater part of the time, 
making only occasional visits to her former 
home in England. The city of Florence was 
selected as her place of residence, where she 
continued busy in studying the works of art 
and the scenic beauties of Italian nature, which 
inspired her in writing many of her poetic pro¬ 
ductions. Among her best known and popular 
writings are “Prometheus Bound,” “Lady Ger¬ 
aldine’s Courtship,” “Poems Before Congress,” 
“Greek Christian Poets and the English Poets,” 
and “Aurora Leigh.” Perhaps the last named, 
a brilliant narrative poem, is her finest produc¬ 
tion, and has been admired by people speak- 
25 


ing various languages. On account of her ex¬ 
quisite works she has been called the “Sister 
of Tennyson” and the “Daughter of Shakes¬ 
peare.” 

BROWNING, Oscar, author and educational 
reformer, born in London, England, Jan. 17, 
1837. He studied at Eton and at King’s Col¬ 
lege, Cambridge, graduating at the latter with 
high honors in 1860. In the same year he be¬ 
came master at Eton, where he labored suc¬ 
cessfully ior fifteen years, and in 1876 was 
made lecturer on history and political science 
at Cambridge. He was made examiner at the 
University of London in 1899. He is known 
in America chiefly by his work entitled “His¬ 
tory of Educational Theories.” Other publica¬ 
tions include “Netherlands in the Sixteenth 
Century,” “England and Napoleon in 1803,” 
“The Citizen: His Rights and Responsibilities,” 
“Wars of the Nineteenth Century,” “Life of 
George Eliot,” “Life of Peter the Great,” and 
“Impressions of an Indian Travel.” 

BROWNING, Robert, celebrated poet, born 
at Camberwell, a suburb of London, England, 
May 7, 1812; died Dec. 12, 1889. He was edu¬ 
cated at the London University and began early 
in life to write verses, many of which showed 
him to be a poetic genius. One of his best 
works was published in 1836, under the title 
“Paracelsus,” a metaphysical drama, which was 
written when he was twenty-three years old. 
He married Elizabeth Barrett in 1846 and set¬ 
tled at Florence, Italy. In his poetic works he 
is ranked next to Tennyson. Charles Dickens 
regarded his “A Blot on the Scutcheon” the 
finest poem of the 19th century, and said of it 
that, if read once, it would haunt the imagination 
forever, for the reason that its power strikes 
very deep into the core and substance of the 
soul. His genius was essentially dramatic, and 
he showed a great love for compactness in ex¬ 
pression. Shunning abstraction, he labored to 
make the ideal concrete. He left an only son, 
Robert Wiedman Barrett Browning, born at 
Florence in 1849, who attained renown as a 
sculptor and painter. 

Browning was a prolific writer, producing 
very extensively. Though he was distinctly a 
realist, his writings are characterized by a spirit 
of optimism. He looked upon this life as a 
transitory state in which we are to become fitted 
for a fuller and larger life in the future. 
Among his most popular productions are “A 
Soul’s Tragedy,” “The Pied Piper of Hamelin,” 
“How They Brought the Good News from 
Ghent to Aix,” “Men and Women,” “The Ring 
and the Book,” “Aristophanes’ Apology,” and 
“Parleyings with Certain People of Importance 
in their Day.” He also translated a number of 
Greek writings; the best known of these is his 
translation ,of “Agamemnon of Aeschylus.” 

^ BROWN-SEQUARD (-s£-kar'), Charles 
Edouard, physician, born in the island of Mau¬ 
ritius, April 8, 1818; died April 2, 1894. He was 



/ 




J 


I 

BROWNSVILLE 38G BRUCE 


the son of an American sea captain from Phil¬ 
adelphia, Pa., and his mother was a French lady. 
In 1846 he graduated at the University of Paris, 
France, and was professor in the medical de¬ 
partment of Harvard University in 1864-68. 
Subsequently he lectured in the Virginia Med¬ 
ical College, and in 1878 became professor in 
the College of France. He contributed to many 
scientific journals and is the author of a num¬ 
ber of works on medicine. His best known 
work is “Archives of Scientific and Practical 
Medicine,” published with Dr. E. C. Seguin. 
He originated the “Brown-Sequard Elixir,” 
which he recommended as an injection to pro¬ 
long and invigorate human life, but practical 
tests have shown that it possesses little if any 
value. 

BROWNSVILLE, a city and port of entry 
in Texas, county seat of Cameron County, on 
the Rio Grande, opposite Matamoros, Mexico. 
It is on the Rio Grande Railroad, is surrounded 
by a stock-raising district, and has a large rail¬ 
road and navigation commerce. Besides having 
good schools, it is the seat of Saint Joseph’s 
College and Convent, a Roman Catholic insti¬ 
tution. Among the chief buildings are the post 
office, county courthouse, customhouse, and 
town hall. It has manufactures of cigars, cloth¬ 
ing, earthenware, and machinery. Electric 
lights and waterworks are among the public 
utilites. It was settled in 1848 and incorpo¬ 
rated in 1853. In November, 1863, it was cap¬ 
tured by the Federals under General Banks. 
Population, 1900, 6,305; in 1920, 11,791. 

BROWN UNIVERSITY, one of the oldest 
educational institutions in the United States, 
founded in 1764 at Warren, R. I., and moved to 
Providence four years later. It has sixteen 
buildings, eighty instructors, and about 1,000 
students. Its productive fund is about. $4,800,- 
000, with an annual income of $850,000. The 
library has 212,500 volumes. Degrees in sci¬ 
ences, arts, and engineering are conferred. It 
is under the direction of the Baptist denomina¬ 
tion, but the instruction is nonsectarian. The 
college known as the Woman’s College of 
Brown University was established in 1891. 
Nicholas Brown, in whose honor the university 
was named, was its principal benefactor. 

BRUCE (broos), Blanche Kelso, public 
man, born in Prince Edward County, Virginia, 
March 1, 1841. He was born a slave, but re¬ 
ceived some education from the tutor of his 
master, and taught school after securing his free¬ 
dom, at Hannibal, Mo. Afterward he attended 
Oberlin College. He held several county offices 
in Mississippi, where he settled after the war, 
and in 1875 was elected to the United States 
Senate and as a Republican. He served as a 
delegate to most of the national Republican con¬ 
ventions since 1868. Garfield appointed him 
Register of the Treasury in 1881, to which office 
he was again appointed by President McKin¬ 
ley in 1897. He ranks as an able speaker and 


as one of the most prominent American citi¬ 
zens of Negro descent. 

BRUCE, James, celebrated traveler, born 
in Sterlingshire, Scotland, Dec. 14, 1730; died 
April 27, 1794. He studied at Harrow and later 
at the University of Edinburgh, with the inten¬ 
tion of adopting law as his profession, but en¬ 
gaged in the business of a wine merchant. In 
1763 he was appointed consul general at Algiers. 
Subsequently he studied Oriental languages and 
the art of medicine, and entered upon a course 
of travel through Tunis, Tripoli, Alexandria, 
and Cairo, stopping for a time at Aleppo, Syria, 
for study. Later he ascended the Nile. In 1770 
he reached Gondar, capital of Abyssinia, and 
afterward the source of the Abai, then thought 
to be the main stream of the Nile. He remained 
in Abyssinia two years, when he returned to 
Alexandria, exploring the desert of Assuan on 
his way back. He published five large volumes, 
entitled “Travels to Discover the Source of 
the Nile,” in 1790. This work includes many 
interesting accounts of the habits and customs 
of the Abyssinians, together with their modes 
of life, architecture, industry, and form of gov¬ 
ernment. Many of his statements were not be¬ 
lieved at first, but they have been fully verified 
by recent explorers. 

BRUCE, Robert, famous and heroic Scottish 
king, born March 21, 1274; died June 7, 1329. 
He was the eldest son of the Earl of Carrick, 
and early favored English interests with the 
hope that his father would be preferred for the 
Scottish throne. At first he swore fealty to 
Edward I., but later abandoned his cause, gath¬ 
ered vassals, and joined the Scottish army to 
aid in securing the independence of the country. 
The Scottish army was defeated a few months 
afterward and he made peace with the English 
monarch. He continued faithful to Edward I., 
giving valuable aid to that sovereign at differ¬ 
ent times. Later information reached him that 
Edward I. had decided upon his death and he 
became hostile, and in 1306 slew John Comyn, 
claiming the throne himself, upon which he was 
crowned king, but for many years retired to the 
mountains for safety, a portion of the time hid¬ 
ing in an island off the coast of Ireland. Later 
he joined his brother Edward and with him 
started to bring the country into subjection. He 
landed in Scotland, where he gained advantage 
because of the death of Edward and the unwar¬ 
like administration of his son, who had ascended 
the throne as Edward II. He won back advan¬ 
tage after advantage until June 24, 1314, when 
the Battle of Bannockburn was fought, which 
decided the independence of Scotland. He dis¬ 
played extraordinary bravery in this decisive 
battle, which fired the hearts of his followers 
and caused the complete defeat of the English, 
although they outnumbered the Scotch about 
three to one. The war continued until 1323, 
when Edward was again defeated near Byland 
Abbey. Soon after a truce was concluded, but 


BRUGES 


387 


BRUNSWICK 


it was speedily broken. The independence of 
Scotland was not fully recognized until March 
4, 1328. Bruce was twice married, his first wife 
being Isabella, daughter of the Earl of Mar. 
His second wife, Elizabeth, was a daughter of 
the Earl of Ulster. His first wife bore a daugh¬ 
ter, Marjory, and his second wife, a son, David. 
The latter succeeded him to the throne as 
David II. 

BRUGES (bru'jez), an ancient city of Bel¬ 
gium, capital of West Flanders, about fifty-six 
miles northwest of Brussels and eight miles 
from the sea. It is known in history from the 
3d century and was the center of the world’s 
commerce in the 12th century, when it had a 
population of more than 200,000, and carried 
on an extensive trade with all the leading coun¬ 
tries known at that time. It is inclosed within 
walls, has been the seat of great military con¬ 
tentions, and was an important factor in the 
history of the Middle Ages. It is now a rail¬ 
road and canal center, commerce reaching it by 
the largest sea vessels through three canals 
which connect it with the sea. However, it 
has lost much of its importance, alike from the 
standpoint of commerce, manufactures, and 
population. There are numerous modern im¬ 
provements, including fine schools, rapid tran¬ 
sit, and several libraries. It has a remarkable 
tower 354 feet high, containing a set of excel¬ 
lent chimes. Other important structures in¬ 
clude the palace of justice, the Hotel de Ville, 
and the Church of Notre Dame. The last men¬ 
tioned is in the early Gothic style of architec¬ 
ture and contains the tombs of Mary of Bur¬ 
gundy and Charles the Bold. In the art galler¬ 
ies are many paintings and sculptures, including 
productions by Jakob van Oost, Hans Memling, 
and Cornelius van Dyck. It was the residence 
of the printer Caxton. Besides commercial in¬ 
terests, the city has manufactures of textile 
goods, laces, ornamental work, and machinery. 
The shipbuilding yards and breweries are ex¬ 
tensive. Bruges belonged to the Netherlands 
from 1814 until 1830. In 1914 it was captured 
by the Germans. Population, 1921, 54,870. 

BRUMMELL (brum'mel), George Bryan, 

man of fashion, born in London, England, June 
7, 1778; died March 29, 1840. He is best known 
as Beau Brummell, and became celebrated for 
the style of his dress and manner. He studied 
at Eton and Oxford, and was a companion of 
the Prince of Wales, afterward George IV., 
who bestowed military honors upon him. At the 
death of his father he inherited a large fortune, 
which he spent freely as a leader of fashion. 
In 1813 he had a quarrel with the Prince Regent 
and fled to Calais, France, where he afterward 
lost his mind and was confined to a lunatic asy¬ 
lum at Caen. 

BRUNELLESCHI (broo-nel-las'ke), Fil¬ 
ippo, famous architect, born at Florence, Italy, 
in 1377; died April 16,1446. He first studied the 


art of a goldsmith and afterward took up sculp¬ 
ture, but finally devoted himself entirely to 
architecture and to the revival of the ancient 
styles. His most remarkable product is the 
dome of the cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore, 
Florence, the construction of which was in¬ 
trusted to him after much discussion among 
architects. The cathedral was founded in 1296 
and completed except the dome, which was pro¬ 
posed in 1420. He finished all but the lantern, 
which remained incomplete on account of his 
unexpected death. The dome is the largest in 
diameter in the world, and served as a model 
for Michael Angelo in building the dome of 
Saint Peter’s. His other works include the 
churches of San Lorenzo and San Spirito, and 
the designs for the Pitti palace, from which 
the Tuscan Palace architecture of the 15th cen¬ 
tury originated. 

BRUNETIERE (briin-tyar'), Ferdinand, 

editor and critic, born in Toulon, France, July 
19, 1849. After studying in his native town, 
he attended universities in Marseilles and Paris, 
and in 1875 engaged as critical writer of the 
Revue des Deux Mondes, of which he became 
editor in 1895. He was chosen professor of lit¬ 
erature in the Ecole Normale at Paris in 1886. 
The following year he was made a member of 
the Legion of Honor, and became lecturer at 
the Sorbonne in 1893. As lecturer he is well 
known in America, having made a tour of Can¬ 
ada and the United States in 1897. During the 
religious discussions of France in 1904, he was 
a zealous supporter of Roman Catholicism. His 
writings include many essays and works relating 
to ethics, politics, and sociology. 

BRUNN (brim), a city of Austria, capital of 
Moravia, ninety miles north of Vienna. It is 
beautifully located at the confluence of the 
Zwittawa and Schwarzawa rivers, at the foot of 
Mount Spielberg, and is connected with Vienna 
and other cities by important railroad lines. 
The principal building is the Cathedral of Saint 
Peter and Saint Paul, built in the 15th century, 
and it has several other noted churches in the 
Gothic style. The manufactures embrace woolen 
goods, leather, chemicals, and machinery. A 
system of waterworks is owned and operated 
by the city. Many of the streets are substan¬ 
tially paved with stone and asphaltum. It is the 
seat of several schools and business colleges. 
The trade is chiefly in grain, live stock, cereals, 
and merchandise. Brimn was founded in the 9th 
century and became a free imperial city in 
1278. Population, 1920, 125,008. 

BRUNSWICK (brunz'wik), county seat of 
Glynn County, Georgia, on Saint Simon’s Sound, 
twelve miles from the Atlantic Ocean, on the 
Southern and other railroads. It has a safe 
harbor and enjoys a growing navigation and 
railroad commerce. Among the chief buildings 
are the city hall, the post office, the county 
courthouse, and the Oglethorpe Hotel. The 
manufactures include furniture, canned oysters, 


BRUNSWICK 


388 


BRUSH TURKEY 


ironware, flour, cigars, and machinery. The city 
has street railways, electric lights, and pave¬ 
ments. It is popular as a summer and winter 
resort. The first settlement was made by James 
Oglethorpe in 1735. Population, 1920, 14,413. 

BRUNSWICK, a town of Cumberland 
County, Maine, on the Androscoggin River, 
and on the Maine Central Railroad. It has sev¬ 
eral fine schools and is the seat of Bowdoin Col¬ 
lege. The manufactured products include cot¬ 
ton goods, machinery, paper, flour, and leather. 
It has a public library, waterworks, street pave¬ 
ments, and a considerable trade. The first set¬ 
tlement was made in 1628, when it was known 
as Pejepscot, and it was incorporated in 1717 
as Brunswick. Population, 1920, 5,840. 

BRUNSWICK, an important city of Ger¬ 
many, capital of the duchy of Brunswick, on 
the Oker River, thirty-two miles southeast of 
Hanover. The principal buildings are the 
Church of Saint Magnus, built in 1031; Cath¬ 
arine’s Church, 1172; the Cathedral of Saint 
Blaise, 1173; a Gothic council house; and the 
Gewandhaus. It is the seat of many fine schools, 
two museums, a public library, and a gymnasi¬ 
um. The manufactures include fabrics, machin¬ 
ery, clothing, sugar, and earthenware. Rapid 
transit, gas and electric lights, telephones, sev¬ 
eral parks, and waterworks are among the im¬ 
provements. It was founded by Bruno, Duke 
of Saxony, in the 9th century and was enlarged 
by Henry the Lion. For many years it was an 
important member of the Hanseatic League of 
cities. A large majority of the inhabitants are 
Lutherans. Population, 1920, 143,534. 

BRUNSWICK, Duchy of, a state in Ger¬ 
many, surrounded by the Prussian provinces of 
Saxony, Hanover, and Westphalia. It has an 
area of 1,418 square miles. It belongs mainly 
to the basin of the Weser River, but the south¬ 
eastern part includes ranges of the Harz Moun¬ 
tains, which rise to an altitude of 3,000 feet. 
The inhabitants consist largely of Saxons. They 
are almost entirely Protestants, and engage in 
agriculture, mining, and commerce. The mines 
yield copper, lead, iron, and coal, while the agri¬ 
cultural products consist of cereals, vegetables, 
and fruits. Large interests are vested in rear¬ 
ing live stock, in dairying, and in growing sugar 
beets. The manufactured articles include beet 
sugar, tobacco, paper, soap, fabrics, wine, and 
leather. It is penetrated by many electric and 
steam railroads, the latter of which belong 
largely to the state system of Prussia. Its gov¬ 
ernment is a constitutional monarchy, the duchy 
having two members in the national Bundesrath 
and three deputies in the Reichstag. In the 
time of Charlemagne the region was a part of 
Saxony, but it became independent in 1235. 
It was annexed to the kingdom of Westphalia 
by the Treaty of Tilsit, but again became inde¬ 
pendent in 1813. In 1866 it sided with Prussia, 
joined the German Confederation in the same 
year, and since 1871 it has been a part of the 


German Empire. Brunswick, on the Oker, is 
the capital and largest city. Population, 1905, 
485,958; in 1920, 494,387. 

BRUSA (broo'sa), or Broussa, a city of 
Asiatic Turkey, capital of a vilayet of the same 
name, about twenty miles from Mudania, its 
port on the Sea of Marmora. It is surrounded 
by a fertile plain, and in its vicinity are thermal 
springs noted for their medicinal properties. It 
has extensive manufactures of carpets and silk 
goods, which are exported to the commercial 
centers of Europe and Asia. It is a market for 
produce and merchandise and the seat of nu¬ 
merous mosques. Several sultans and Turkish 
nobles were buried in tombs in its vicinity. 
Brusa was founded by Prusias II., King of 
Bithynia, and anciently was known as Prusa. It 
was captured by Orkhan, son of Othman, the 
second Sultan of Turkey, in 1327, and made the 
capital of the Turkish empire, but later 
Amurath I. removed the capital to Adrianap- 
olis. In 1402 it was captured and plundered by 
the Tartars. The inhabitants consist mostly of 
Turks. Population, 1917,76,303. 

BRUSH, Charles Francis, inventor, born in 
Euclid, Ohio, March 17, 1849. He graduated 
at the University of Michigan in 1869, and soon 
after established a chemical laboratory in Cleve¬ 
land. Later he devoted his attention to elec¬ 
tricity. He invented the dynamo electric ma¬ 
chine known by his name, which is used ex¬ 
tensively in arc lighting, and later patented an 
arc lamp used in a series for street and general 
lighting. He made various improvements in 
electrical machinery and obtained more than 
fifty patents. In 1891 he received the decoration 
of the Legion of Honor in France. 

BRUSH TURKEY, a large bird native to 
Australia, noted for the peculiar manner in 
which its eggs are hatched. The nests are built 



BRUSH TURKEY. 


by several pairs of birds uniting in doing the 
work. They are made of grass and other veg¬ 
etable matter. The eggs are laid into the same 
mass by several females, and remain there until 
hatched by the heat of its decay. When the 
young come out of the eggs, they make their 
own way out of the nest and support them¬ 
selves. The brush turkey is about the size of a 
common turkey, and like it has wattles on its 





BRUSSELS 


389 


BRUTUS 


neck and head. About twelve species belong 
to this family of birds, which are sometimes 
called mound birds. They are hunted for 
their flesh, and when pursued fly into the 
branches of trees or escape by running through 
tangled brush. 

BRUSSELS (brus'selz), the capital of Bel¬ 
gium, in the province of Brabant, on the Senne 
River. It is one of the most beautiful cities of 
Europe. Rapid transit, gas and electric lights, 
waterworks, and pavements are maintained. 
There are railroad connections with many of 
the principal cities of the continent, and it is the 
center of an important and growing commerce. 
The older part is located on the site of former 
fortifications and has crooked and ancient 
streets, while the newer portion has many sub¬ 
stantial structures and contains the newer resi¬ 
dences and public buildings. The king’s palace, 
the palace of justice, the palace of chambers, 
the palace of fine arts, and the public library 
and museum rank among the finest structures of 
the kind in Europe. 

The city has many fine public boulevards, 
botanical gardens, and public parks, a number of 
which are adorned by monuments and statuary 
of prominent men. Its educational institutions 
include schools for all grades of instruction, 
and terminate in the University of Brussels. It 
has about 1,050 students. With it are connected 
an observatory, a conservatory of music, and a 
fine library. This library has over 400,000 vol¬ 
umes and 31,500 manuscripts. The city contains 
a large number of learned societies which main¬ 
tain departments of Flemish art, and scientific 
and philosophic courses. Among the ancient 
buildings is the Cathedral of Saint Gudule, a 
fine structure in the Gothio style. The Hotel de 
Ville, built in 1450, is in the Gothic style and has 
a spire 304 feet high, surmounted by a gilt 
statue of Saint Michael, the city’s patron saint. 
There are several historic monuments, including 
the equestrian statue of Godfrey of Bouillon. 
The Grand Place and the Place of Martyrs are 
among its many noted squares. 

The industries of the city consist, besides 
commerce, of manufacturing and jobbing. The 
production of lace, cotton and woolen goods, and 
machinery are important. It has large distil¬ 
leries, foundries, sugar refineries, and brewer¬ 
ies. Its lace production has long been important 
and its manufacture of Brussels carpets has 
given it and its suburbs renown. The language 
spoken is French, German, and Dutch. The ap¬ 
pearance of the city is modern, although it dates 
back to the Middle Ages. In 1044 a wall was 
built around it by Baldric of Lauvain, in 1380 
it was strongly fortified, and in the 15th cen¬ 
tury it was ravaged by the plague and twice 
damaged by fire. The French bombarded it in 
1695 and conquered it in 1794. Under French 
occupation it became the chief city of the de¬ 
partment of Dyle. In 1815, after the defeat of 
Napoleon, it was made the capital of the Neth¬ 


erlands. The Germans captured it in 1914 and 
held possession of it until 1918, when it was 
retaken by the Belgians. Pop., 1921, 691,580. 

BRUTUS (bru'tus), The Trojan, a mythi¬ 
cal personage, supposed to have been the first 
King of Britain. He is said to have been the 
grandson of Ascanius, the son of Aeneas, and 
accidentally killed his father, Sylvius. For pro¬ 
tection he fled to Greece, and thence went to 
Britain, where he slew the giants that inhabited 
Albion and founded New Troy, or London. 
Each of his three sons, Locrine, Albanact, and 
Cumber, received territory in the island, which 
was divided into three districts. 

BRUTUS, Lucius Junius, the Roman hero 
who overthrew monarchy and restored repub¬ 
lican government. His history is mythical, but 
he is thought to have been the son of a rich 
Roman, whose property was taken by Tarquin 
the Proud during the time of the Etruscan do¬ 
minion over Rome. His father and brothers 
were killed, while he escaped death by pretend¬ 
ing idiocy. When one of the royal family had 
wronged Lucretia and aroused all Rome to in¬ 
dignation, he threw off the mask, convoked the 
people, and drove the kings from Rome. Rome 
now became a free city, after it had been gov¬ 
erned by kings for 245 years. Two consuls 
were elected to rule, and Brutus and Collatinus 
were the first selected. His two sons plotted 
to bring Tarquin back, but Brutus, sitting in 
judgment when they were brought to trial, sen¬ 
tenced them both to death as traitors. He was 
killed in a battle with Aruns, son of Tarquin, 
in the year 509 b. c. His services to Rome were 
commemorated by the erection of a bronze 
statue with a drawn sword, and the matrons of 
Rome mourned him a whole year because he 
had so bravely avenged the wrong done to Lu¬ 


cretia. 

BRUTUS, Marcus Junius, celebrated 
Roman, born in 85 b. c. ; suicided in 42. In early 
manhood he was devoted exclusively to literary 
pursuits and did not interest 
himself in the political dis¬ 
cussions of Rome until he 
had attained a mature age. 

During the civil war between 
Porqpey and Caesar he 
sympathized with the for¬ 
mer, but after the Battle of 
Pharsalia he became friendly 
with Caesar and was made 
governor of Cisalpine Gaul, 
and later of Macedonia. Af¬ 
ter returning to Rome* he 
was divorced from his wife 
with the design of marrying 
Portia, daughter of Cato, of whom he was a 
supporter. Later he was induced by the aristo¬ 
crats to join the conspiracy against Caesar, which 
ended in his assassination. However, the 
people were enraged at Caesar’s death and 
Brutus fled from Rome and later from Italy. 



MARCUS JUNIUS 
BRUTUS. 




BRYAN 


390 


BRYANT 


I 


He was successful in joining Cassius and sub¬ 
jugating the Lycians and Rhodians. The tri¬ 
umvirs, Octavianus, Antony, and Lepidus, suc¬ 
cessfully occupied Rome and organized to defeat 
the conspirators. Brutus and Cassius, having 
gathered a large army in Asia Minor, crossed 
the Hellespont and fortified themselves at Phi¬ 
lippi in Macedonia. Antony completely defeated 
Cassius. Octavianus, though defeated tempo¬ 
rarily, succeeded in- gaining a victory over Bru¬ 
tus. When his ultimate defeat became apparent, 
he fell upon his sword, which was held by his 
friend Strabo, and thus ended his life. In speak¬ 
ing of Brutus, Shakespeare alludes to him as 
“the greatest Roman of them all.” Unhappily, 
this estimate of his life will not bear scrutiny. 

BRYAN, William Jennings, statesman, 
born in Salem, Ill., March 19, 1860. Silas L. 
Bryan, his father, was a lawyer and public man 

in Illinois, having 
served in the State 
Senate for twelve 
years and as a cir¬ 
cuit judge. The sub¬ 
ject of this sketch 
was educated at 
Whipple Academy, 
Illinois College, and 
the Union Law 
School of Chicago. 
He began the prac¬ 
tice of law at Jack¬ 
sonville, Ill., and in 
1887 removed to 
Lincoln, Neb., 
where he entered the law firm of Talbot and 
Bryan. Here he developed an interest in cur¬ 
rent political issues and demonstrated remarka¬ 
ble ability as a thinker and speaker on economic 
questions. In 1890 and 1892 he was elected to 
Congress in a district in which the Republican 
party had a large majority, and while in that 
body became prominent as an advocate of re¬ 
forms and as a worker and member of impor¬ 
tant committees. He became a prominent can¬ 
didate for the Democratic nomination for Pres¬ 
ident in 1896, and greatly impressed the con¬ 
vention at Chicago, in July, by an electric and 
perfervid oration, which was a factor in causing 
his nomination the next day. The political cam¬ 
paign was the most remarkable ever witnessed 
in the United States, in which he delivered six 
hundred speeches, traveled 18,000 miles, and 
addressed about 5,000,000 people. 

Bryan received more votes than were cast for 
a presidential candidate previous to 1896, a total 
of 6,511,073, and the electoral votes of twenty- 
two states, but was defeated for the Presidency. 
Subsequently he devoted himself to lecturing 
from the lyceum platform and to institutions 
of learning, and before State legislative assem¬ 
blies. The principal issue of the campaign of 
1896 was that of bimetallism, and afterward he 
published a book relating to it, entitled “The 



WILLIAM JENNINGS BRYAN. 


First Battle.” In 1899 he published “Republic 
or Empire,” a discussion of imperialism and 
militarism. In the national convention at Kan¬ 
sas City, held July 4, 1900, he was again nom¬ 
inated for the Presidency, but was again de¬ 
feated, receiving 6,342,514 of the popular votes 
and the electoral votes of seventeen states. In 
1901 he established The Commoner, a weekly 
publication, at Lincoln. 

He made a tour of the world in 1906, visiting 
the leading countries of Europe and Asia, and 
was received on his return to America with a 
great demonstration at New York, where he 
made an impressive speech in Madison Square 
Garden. Among other principles, he advocated 
placing on the free list all articles controlled by 
the trusts, the surrender of the Philippines, the 
passing of an income tax law, the election of 
United States senators by the people, and the 
bank guaranty bill. In 1908 he was nominated 
a third time for President at the national con¬ 
vention in Denver and was defeated by William 
IP. Taft (q. v.). Lie continued to be influential 
in the affairs of the nation and in 1913 entered 
the cabinet of President Wilson as Secretary of 
State, but resigned in 1915. In estimating Bryan 
as a statesman, it may be said that he belongs 
to the defeated presidents of the nation, which 
include Daniel Webster, Horace Greeley, and 
James G. Blaine. His work, “The Old World 
and Its Ways,” was published in 1907. 

BRYANT (brl'ant), William Cullen, poet 
and journalist, born at Cummington, Mass., 
Nov. 3, 1794; died in New York City, June 12, 
1878. When only 
eight years old 
he began to 
write verses. 

His first work, 
entitled “The 
Advance of 
K n o w 1 edge,” 
was published 
in 1805 in the 
Hampshire Ga¬ 
zette. He was 
educated at 
New Brookfield 
and Plainfield, 

Mass., and at 
Williams College, but left school in 1812 to 
study law, and was admitted to the bar in 1815. 
He practiced law at Plainfield and later at 
Great Barrington, where he was married to 
Frances Fairchild in 1821. In 1825 he left the 
legal profession and went to New York to 
assume the editorship of the New York Re¬ 
view, and later of the United States Literary 
Gazette. In 1826 he became a member of the 
staff of the Evening Post, and afterward was its 
proprietor and editor. He supported General 
Jackson in his opposition to the national banks, 
which greatly affected the prosperity of his 
paper and gave him high rank among political 



WILLIAM C. BRYANT. 






(Opp. 390) 


WILLIAM JENNINGS BRYAN 




































































■ 







II 

























I 






, 


■ 







- 


BRYCE 


391 


BRYN MAWR COLLEGE 


writers of Jackson’s time. The annexation of 
Texas and the war with Mexico met his oppo¬ 
sition, and he became an active organizer of the 
Free Soil party in 1848 and of the Republican 
party in 1856, and was a presidential elector on 
the ticket with Abraham Lincoln in 1860. At 
the outbreak of the Civil War he advocated the 
emancipation of the slaves and was a devoted 
supporter of the Union. 

Bryant made a number of visits to Europe 
for the study of language and literature. In this 
way he added greatly to his fund of knowledge 
and experience in producing valuable and inter¬ 
esting productions. His best poem, “Thana- 
topsis,” was written in his eighteenth year and 
was first published in September, 1817, in the 
North American Review. His foreign letters, 
written while abroad, were perused with much 
interest by the American people. They were 
known as “Letters of a Traveler” and “Letters 
from Spain and Other Countries,” both written 
while on foreign tours. He possessed facility 
of speech and delivered many impressive public 
addresses, including those at the banquet of 
Kossuth, at the Burns centennial, and at the 
Schiller festivities. Other great addresses in¬ 
clude an oration on Goethe and the speeches 
made at the dedication of the statues of Morse, 
Shakespeare, Scott, and Halleck. These “Ora¬ 
tions and Addresses,” as they are known, were 
published in book form in 1873. He translated 
the “Iliad” and the “Odyssey,” and published 
them in 1870-72. His last public address was 
delivered at the unveiling of the statue of 
Giuseppe Mazzini in Central Park, New York 
City, 'May 28, 1878, where he was overcome by 
the heat and greatly injured, from which he 
never recovered. Bryant was a poet of nature, 
his verse overflowing with the “religion of the 
woods,” and his prose is touched with an ex¬ 
quisite grace. He ranks with Longfellow and 
Poe. His fault lies rather in writing too little 
instead of devoting his energies to large produc¬ 
tions and bidding for an immortal fame. He is 
admired by many readers, and his works pos¬ 
sess a degree of merit that gives them a grow¬ 
ing popularity. 

BRYCE (brls), George, author and edu¬ 
cator, born at Brantford, Ont., April 22, 1844. 
Pie was educated at the Brantford high school 
and the University of Toronto, and was 
awarded many prizes and medals for efficient 
work as a student. In 1870 he was made exam¬ 
iner in natural history at the University of 
Toronto, and the following year was sent by 
the general assembly of the Presbyterian Church 
of Canada to organize a church and college at 
Winnipeg, where he established the Knox 
Church and Manitoba College. He is one of 
the founders of the University of Manitoba, 
which was established in 1877, and in this insti¬ 
tution he was examiner in science from that 
year until 1904, when he became chairman of 
the faculty of science. He has been influential 



JAMES BRYCE. 


and successful in home missionary work, having 
organized seventy churches, and was moderator 
of the general assembly of the Presbyterian 
Church in Canada, in 1902-03. In 1905 he was 
made president of the Historical and Scientific 
Society of Manitoba. Among his chief writings 
are “The Apostle of Red River,” “Manitoba: 
Infancy, Progress, and Present Condition,” 
“The Makers of Canada,” and “Remarkable 
History of the Hudson’s Bay Company.” 

BRYCE, James, author and statesman, born 
in Belfast, Ireland, in 1838. He studied at 
Glasgow and Oriel College, Oxford, and in 1870 
became regius profes¬ 
sor of civil law at Ox¬ 
ford University, in 
which position he 
served successfully un¬ 
til 1893. His political 
life began in 1880, 
when he was elected a 
member of Parliament 
as a Liberal. In 1886 
he was made under¬ 
secretary of state for 
foreign affairs, and 
was given a seat in 
Gladstone’s cabinet in 
1892. He was not only 
conspicuous as a Liberal leader and as a fol¬ 
lower of Gladstone, but took a prominent part 
in the agitation for home rule in Ireland, and 
advocated international copyright and a com¬ 
plete revision of the statute law. In 1905 he 
became chief secretary for Ireland, in the min¬ 
istry of Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman. He 
was appointed ambassador to the United States 
in 1906. His best known publication is “The 
American Commonwealth,” for which he col¬ 
lected material during three visits to the United 
States. Othe r books include “Impressions of 
South Africa,’ “Transcaucasia and Ararat,” 
“The Holy Roman Empire,” and “The Flora of 
the Island of Arran.” He died Jan. 22, 1922. 

BRYN MAWR COLLEGE (brm mar), an 
educational institution at Bryn Mawr, Pa, about 
five miles west of Philadelphia, on the main line 
of the Pennsylvania Railroad. It was founded 
for the education of women by Joseph W. Tay¬ 
lor, a member of the Society of Friends, and 
opened in 1885. The grounds include a plot of 
fifty-two acres, laid out in lawns, and beauti¬ 
fully fitted with tennis courts, hockey grounds, 
and an athletic field. The college buildings are 
of gray stone in the Jacobean-Gothic style of 
architecture. In the library building, completed 
in 1907, are 55,000 bound volumes and 8,000 
pamphlets. Full graduate and undergraduate 
instruction is offered in Greek, Latin, English, 
German, and other modern languages, and in 
Sanskrit, history, political science, philosophy, 
mathematics, physics, geology, chemistry, and 
biology. Eight competitive matriculation schol¬ 
arships are awarded annually. It has a fund 


BRYOPHYTES 


892 


BUCHANAN 


aggregating about $1,250,000. Undergraduate 
students are admitted by examination. The 
faculty consists of fifty-five professors and in¬ 
structors, who are carefully selected for the par¬ 
ticular work assigned to them, and the students 
in attendance number about 450. 

BRYOPHYTES (bri'6-fits), one of the 
four divisions of the plant kingdom, including 
the members which do not produce flowers. It 
is divided into two divisions, one including the 
mosses and the other the liverworts. The for¬ 
mer have a vertical axis and a leafy body, while 
the latter have a horizontal axis and a thalloid 
body. These plants do not have true roots, and 
propagate largely by spores and a class of cells 
known as elaters. See Mosses. 

BUBASTIS (bii-bas'tis), or Bubastus, an 
ancient Egyptian city, situated in the delta of 
the Nile, now ruined and called Tel Bast. It 
was so named from the goddess Pasht, whose 
festivals were the most important celebrated by 
the Egyptians. The ruins excavated show that 
the city had magnificent temples, solid fortifica¬ 
tions, and extensive baths. It was the seat of 
a great commerce and the center of much 
wealth. 

BUBONIC PLAGUE. See Plague. 

BUCCANEERS (buk-ka-nerz'), a celebrated 
association of pirates who plundered the West 
Indies and the Spanish colonies of South Amer¬ 
ica from the 16th to the end of the 17th 
century. They consisted mostly of French and 
English. Their occupation was largely that of 
seafaring people, and they united by common 
enmity against the arrogant pretensions of the 
Spaniards. They were first fortified on the 
Tortugas Islands, off the southern coast of 
Florida, but later divided, when the French 
established themselves in San Domingo and the 
English occupied Jamaica. The chief leaders 
of the French were Montbar, Known as the 
exterminator, and the Welshman, Henry Mor¬ 
gan. They adopted a code of laws for their 
government and organized in bands to plunder 
the Spanish vessels as they returned from Eu¬ 
rope to supply the colonies with provisions and 
manufactured articles. In 1670 they made at¬ 
tacks upon Panama, where they defeated the 
Spanish troops and secured considerable booty. 
They took possession of Vera Cruz in 1683, 
carrying off bdoty valued at $2,500,000 and 1,200 
slaves. Later Morgan became deputy governor 
of Jamaica, and for many years was a terror to 
navigation and the early settlements. In 1697 
Cartagena was taken and prizes valued at 
$8,000,000 were secured by the buccaneers. At 
the beginning of the 18th century they were lost 
sight of as common pirates and subsequently 
were exterminated or conquered. 

BUCEPHALUS (bu-sef'a-lus), the horse 
purchased for Alexander the Great in Thessaly, 
and which was his favorite steed in all his cam¬ 
paigns. It is said to have cost sixteen talents, 
about $20,000. It died in India from the effects 


of wounds received in a battle about 326 b. c., 
and the great commander built the city of Bu- 
cephala in its honor. 

BUCHANAN (buk-an'an), James, fifteenth 
President of the United States, born at Mer- 
cersburg, Penn., April 23, 1791; died at Wheat- 
land, June 1, 1868. He 
was the son of a 
Scotch-Irish farmer 
who settled in America 
in 1783. His education 
was secured in Mer- 
cersburg and at Dick¬ 
inson College, Pennsyl¬ 
vania, where he gradu¬ 
ated in 1809. He en¬ 
tered upon the practice 
of law at Lancaster, 

Pa., in 1812. His first 
public address was 
made at the age of twenty-three on the occa¬ 
sion of a popular meeting in Lancaster, after 
the British had captured Washington in 1814. 
He was twice elected to the Legislature of Penn¬ 
sylvania, beginning in 1814, and to Congress in 
1820, and remained in the House of Represen¬ 
tatives ten years; in the second administration 
of Monroe, the administration of John Quincy 
Adams, and tw r o years of Jackson’s administra¬ 
tion. He was a personal friend and a strong 
supporter of Andrew Jackson, and was ap¬ 
pointed by him to the Russian mission, in which 
position he negotiated an important commercial 
treaty with that country. In 1834 he was elected 
to fill a vacancy in the United States Senate, 
which position he held three terms consecutively, 
declining the office of Attorney General, ten¬ 
dered him by President Van Buren in 1839. He 
became Secretary of State at the beginning of 
Polk’s administration, and during his incum¬ 
bency in that office he displayed much skill in 
settling the boundary dispute between Oregon 
and the British possessions and in the annexa¬ 
tion of Texas, which resulted in the Mexican 
War. 

When Taylor succeeded to the Presidency, 
Buchanan retired from official life for a time, 
but became an unsuccessful candidate for the 
nomination for President before the national 
Democratic convention in 1852. President Pierce 
appointed him minister to England and recalled 
him in 1855, tw r o years later, at his own request. 
He was nominated for President in 1856, 
receiving 174 electoral votes, 114 being cast for 
John C. Fremont and eight for Millard Fill¬ 
more, and refused the use of his name for re¬ 
nomination in 1860. As President he was a 
strong supporter of slavery and State sov¬ 
ereignty, holding that a State had the right to 
withdraw from the Union when it saw fit to do 
so. In his administration a threatened rebellion 
in Utah by the Mormons was peaceably settled, 
the outbreak of the Civil War was delayed on 
the election of Abraham Lincoln, and consid- 



JAMES BUCHANAN. 


BUCHANAN 


393 


BUCKLAND 


erable advantage was given to the Confederacy 
by permitting the seizure of arms and ammuni¬ 
tions of war. He wrote an account of his ad¬ 
ministration, under the title “Mr. Buchanan’s 
Administration on the Eve of the Rebellion.” 
It constitutes a defense of his policy as Presi¬ 
dent and was issued in 1866. 

BUCHANAN, Robert William, writer of 
poetry and prose, born in Staffordshire, Eng¬ 
land, Aug. 18, 1841; died Jan. 10, 1901. He was 
educated at Glasgow University and went to 
London at an early age. In 1863 he published 
his first work, “Undertones,” but his first dis¬ 
tinction was secured by “London Poems,” three 
years later. His writings give evidence of 
great versatility as a critic, novelist, essayist, 
and dramatist. His range of subjects is quite 
extensive. Among his productions are “Ballads 
of Love,” “Life and Humors,” “Napoleon Fal¬ 
len,” “God and the Man,” “The Child of Na¬ 
ture,” and “Martyrdom of Madeline.” “The 
Wandering Jew,” published in 1893, is consid¬ 
ered one of his best productions. 

BUCHAREST (boo-ka-rest'), capital of 
Rumania and of the principality of Wallachia, 
on the Dimbovitza River, a tributary of the 
Danube. The chief buildings include the town 
hall, the royal palace, the university, and the 
palace of justice. Germans and Hungarians 
control the larger commercial interests. The 
city ranks as one of the largest centers of the 
Balkan peninsula. It has extensive manufac¬ 
tures, railroad facilities, a public school system, 
and a number of splendid edifices, although it 
does not hold a high place in learning and cul¬ 
ture. Its principal growth and improvements 
date since the war between Russia and Turkey 
in 1878. Within recent years electric lights, 
telephones, and rapid transit have been intro¬ 
duced. Bucharest was founded in the 13th cen¬ 
tury by Radul the Black, of Transylvania, after 
the conquest of Wallachia. In 1595 it was cap¬ 
tured by the Turks under Linan Pasha, and be¬ 
came prominent in European history in the early 
part of the 18th century. It was occupied by the 
Russians in 1828, ":aken by the Austrians in 1857, 
and made the capital of Rumania in 1861. The 
city was captured in 1916 by an Austro-German 
army. Population, 1917, 348,742. 

BUCK, Dudley, musical composer, born at 
Hartford, Conn., March 10, 1839. He studied 
at Trinity College and at the Leipzig (Ger¬ 
many) Conservatory of Music. Later he was 
instructed by Richter, Hauptmann, and Schnei¬ 
der, and for several years resided in Chicago. 
He was organist of the Music Hall, Boston, and 
of the Holy Trinity Church, Brooklyn, and 
served as organist of the Apollo Club. In 1876, 
at the inauguration of the Centennial Exposi¬ 
tion, Theodore Thomas directed the perform¬ 
ance of one of his cantatas, and in 1880 he was 
awarded the prize offered by the Cincinnati 
Music Festival for the best cantata. Among 
his chief productions are “The Light of Asia,” 


“Golden Legend,” “The Centennial Meditation 
of Columbia,” and “O Peace! On Thine Up- 
soaring Pinions.” He died Oct. 6, 1909. 

BUCKBOARD (buk'bord), a light vehicle 
with four wheels, so named because of its buck¬ 
ing or bouncing. It has a floor or platform of 
elastic boards, attached to the crossbar in front, 
fastened to the axle with a bolt, and connected 
with the hind axle by small bolts or rivets. This 
vehicle may have one or two seats, though a 
one-seated buckboard is the most common. It 
is a good conveyance for rough and rocky 
ground, and came into use when the Adiron¬ 
dack region was first visited as a resort. 

BUCKEYE (buk'i), the American horse 
chestnut. It is found widely distributed in the 
Mississippi valley, where it attains a large size. 
The tree has small flowers, strongly scented 
bark, and bears considerable quantities of large 
nuts in a prickly inclosure. Owing to its gen¬ 
eral prevalence in Ohio, that State is called 
the Buckeye State, and the inhabitants are 
known as Buckeyes. See Plorse-chestnut. 

BUCKINGHAM (buk'mg-am), George 
Villiers, Duke, born in Leicestershire, England, 
Aug. 20, 1592. He was the son of an English 
nobleman, a favorite of James I. and Charles 
I., and attained to much wealth and power 
under the Stuarts. In 1623 he accompanied 
Prince Charles, afterward Charles I., in his 
suit for the Infanta of Spain with the hope of 
securing a dowry. The mission proved unsuc¬ 
cessful, owing to the arrogance of Buckingham, 
and involved England in a war with Spain. In 
1625 he went to France as proxy for Charles I. 
to marry the Princess Henrietta Maria. The 
following year he was impeached on account of 
the Cadiz expedition, but remained safe in the 
favor of the king. His unpopularity involved 
England in war with France, and finally led to 
his assassination on Aug. 23, 1628. 

BUCKINGHAM, William Alfred, war 
Governor of Connecticut, born at Lebanon, 
Conn., May 28, 1804; died Feb. 3, 1875. He 
engaged in manufacturing enterprises at Nor¬ 
wich, where he was elected mayor four terms. 
He served as Governor of the State from 1858 
to 1866, and in the United States Senate from 
1869 until his death. During the latter part of 
his life he took much interest in promoting the 
cause of temperance. Yale Theological Semi¬ 
nary received a gift of $25,000 from him. 

BUCKINGHAM PALACE, a palace in 
London, England, one of the residences of the 
royal sovereign. It is located opposite Saint 
James’s Park, and was built in the reign of 
George IV. 

BUCKLAND (buk'land), Cyrus, inventor, 
born in Manchester, Conn., Aug. 10, 1799; died 
Feb. 26, 1891. He became interested in mechan¬ 
ical pursuits at the age of twenty-one, entered 
the United States army at Springfield, Mass., in 
1828, and made a number of valuable inven¬ 
tions useful in the manufacture of arms. On 


BUCKLAND 


394 


BUCYRUS 


retiring from the service, in 1859, Congress 
voted him $10,000. 

BUCKLAND, Francis Trevelyan, natural¬ 
ist, born in England, in 1826; died Dec. 19, 1880. 
He was educated at Christ Church College, 
Oxford, studied medicine, and was surgeon at 
Saint George’s Hospital, London. In 1865 he 
established an institution for promoting fish- 
culture at South Kensington, which was after¬ 
ward enlarged into the International Fishery 
Exhibition. His writings include “A Familiar 
Book of British Fishes,” “Fish Hatching,” 
“Curiosities of Natural History,” and “Log 
Book of a Fisherman and Zoologist.” 

BUCKLAND, William, distinguished geol¬ 
ogist, born in Devonshire, England, in 1784; 
died Aug. 14, 1856. He was educated at Oxford, 
where he afterward became distinguished for 
his researches and lectures on geology and min¬ 
eralogy. He produced many able writings on 
those subjects and published several books. Be¬ 
sides lecturing at Oxford, he was prominent in 
an official capacity in several noted associations. 
His son, Francis Trevelyan Buckland (q. v.), 
became a noted naturalist. 

BUCKLE (buk'k’l), Henry Thomas, his¬ 
torian, born in Kent, England, Nov. 24, 1821; 
died May 29, 1862. He inherited a fortune from 
his father, who was a merchant and shipowner, 
and devoted himself to the study of science and 
history. His private library was one of the 
finest in England. In 1861 he went on a tour to 
Asia and died at Damascus. His chief work is 
a philosophic production entitled “History of 
Civilization in England.” 

BUCKNER (buk'ner), Simon Bolivar, sol¬ 
dier and statesman, born in Kentucky in 1823. 
He graduated at West Point in 1844, where he 
became instructor in ethics in 1846 and of in¬ 
fantry tactics in 1848. He served with distinc¬ 
tion in the Mexican War, and joined the South¬ 
ern army at the outbreak of the Civil War, sur¬ 
rendering to General Grant at Fort Donelson 
Feb. 16, 1862, with 16,000 troops. Following this 
he was imprisoned in Boston Harbor, but later 
was exchanged, when he joined General Bragg’s 
army. He rendered services at Murfreesboro 
and Chickamauga, and surrendered at the close 
of the war to General Canby at Baton Rouge. 
He was elected Governor of Kentucky in 1887 
as a Democrat. The dissenting wing of the 
Democratic party nominated him for Vice 
President, with Senator Palmer of Illinois for 
President, at Indianapolis, in 1896, on a single 
gold standard platform, but the ticket failed to 
carry any state. He died Jan. 8, 1914. 

BUCKTAILS, a name familiar in the poli¬ 
tics of the State of New York, which originated 
from the fact that the members of the Tammany 
Society wore bucks’ tails as badges. It came 
into use about the time of the War of 1812, 
when the Democratic party was divided into 
two factions, one headed by James Madison 
and the other by De Witt Clinton, who were 
rival candidates for President. When Clinton 


was elected Governor of New York, in 1816, 
those who opposed him were known as Buck- 
tails and his supporters were called Clinton- 
ians. The Bucktails gained control of the Dem¬ 
ocratic State organization under the leader¬ 
ship of Martin Van Buren, and the State ad¬ 
ministration was styled “Albany Regency.” 

BUCKTHORN (buk'thorn), the name of a 


class of shrubs and trees common to Europe 
and America. The common buckthorn has 
serrated leaves and produces a berrylike drupe, 
containing seedlike nutlets. The berries are 
used as a cathartic, and the bark is employed 
in medicine and for making a yellow dye. The 
wood yields a light charcoal used in making 
gunpowder. Many species of this class of 
plants have been described. The alder buck¬ 
thorn is common in Southern Europe, and 
grows to a height of from six to ten feet. 

BUCKWHEAT, a plant native to Eastern 
Europe and Central Asia. It was first brought 
to Western Europe by the Crusaders and is now 
extensively cul¬ 
tivated in many 
countries. 

Buckwheat i s 
grown quite ex¬ 
tensively in the 
United States 
and Europe, 
owing to its 
ability to yield 
abundantly 
without much 
attention, even 
,on stingy soil. 

The seed 
weighs about 
fort y-eight 
pounds per 
bushel, and 
forty bushels 
per acre is a 
fair crop. It 
flowers pro¬ 
fusely, is a fa¬ 
vorite plant for 
the honey bee, 
and is cultivat¬ 
ed largely to 
feed bees. In 
Europe the seed 
is ground into flour and used for gruel, break¬ 
fast cakes, and bread. In Canada and the 
United States it is used extensively for cakes, 
which are considered a great delicacy for break¬ 
fast. The annual production in the United 
States aggregates 14,750,000 bushels, New 
York and Pennsylvania producing about two- 
thirds of the total yield. Canada is peculiarly 
fitted for the cultivation of buckwheat. On¬ 
tario, where the production is largest, has an 
annual output of about 2,750,000 bushels. 

BUCYRUS (bu-si'rus), county seat of 
Crawford County, Ohio, on the Sandusky River. 



BUCKWHEAT. 
a b, flowers; c, seed. 





BUD 


395 


BUDDHA 


about sixty-five miles north of Columbus. It is 
on the Pennsylvania and other railroads, and 
is surrounded by a fertile farming country. 
The chief buildings include the county court¬ 
house, the high school, and the city hall. It 
has manufactures of brick, wagons, and ma¬ 
chinery. In its vicinity are a number of valua¬ 
ble mineral springs. Many of the streets are 
paved with vitrified brick. It was first settled 
in 1818 and incorporated in 1829. Population, 
1900, 6,560; in 1920, 10,425. 

BUD, the germ of the future leaves, 
branches, or flowers of plants. When large 
enough to have its parts distinguishable, it is 
seen that the bud is formed of undeveloped 
leaves. Large buds that are to remain over 
winter are covered by protecting scales, within 
which the life of the plant is stored, much the 
same as the embryo in seeds. The plumule of 
the embryo is a bud that makes the main stem, 
which is carried on year after year by a bud 
called the terminal bud. The buds that are to 
form the branches appear on the side of the 
stem, at the axils of the leaves, and are called 
axillary buds. The leaf buds contain the rudi¬ 
ments of the leaves and are classed as leaf buds 
and flower buds, the flower being a modified 
leaf bud. Some of the lower animals propa¬ 
gate themselves by buds. 

BUDAPEST (boo'da-pest), one of the cap¬ 
itals of Austria-Hungary, the second largest 
city in the empire, located on both sides of the 
Danube River. It is the imperial capital of the 
kingdom of Hungary, and at one of the capitals 
of the dual empire it is of minor importance, 
since only the two delegations meet alternately 
here and at Vienna. Its name was derived 
from Buda and Pesth, formerly two cities, but 
since 1873 united as one municipality. The two 
parts of the city are united by many bridges 
across the Danube. It is the seat of an im¬ 
perial residence, has excellent transportation 
facilities by the Danube River and a large num¬ 
ber of important railroad lines, and is the cen¬ 
ter of a vast commercial trade. It ranks as one 
of the important cities of Europe, being a center 
of wealth, industry, and intelligence. 

The electric street railway system is one of 
the finest in the world, which has, instead of 
trolley wires, conduits between the tracks from 
which the power is gathered off metal strips, 
and lines are operated on all principal streets. 
Andrassy Strasse, one of the thoroughfares, 
has an underground road. It is one of the 
most beautiful streets in the world, containing 
stone pavements and having tall and well con¬ 
structed buildings on both sides. The new 
house of parliament is an excellent structure, 
and, besides it, there are the Jewish Synagogue, 
the* Leopold Basilica, a magnificent royal pal¬ 
ace, excellent public schools, and other build¬ 
ings devoted to higher education, including col¬ 
leges and universities. The library contains 
480,000 volumes and 65,000 manuscripts. There 


are well improved boulevards, public baths, and 
healthful mineral springs. The botanical gar¬ 
dens and public parks are among the most beau¬ 
tiful, while its promenades and stone quays 
along the river are delightful. The University 
of Budapest has 250 lecturers and professors 
and is attended by over 5,000 students. 

The chief manufactures consist of gold, sil¬ 
ver, copper, and iron wares, leather, silk, and 
woolen goods, tobacco, beverages, and machin¬ 
ery. It is one of the largest milling centers of 
the world, and in this respect has long ranked 
second to Minneapolis, Minn. Its sulphur 
springs have attracted health seekers and excur¬ 
sion parties from all parts of Europe, thus ren¬ 
dering the city a gathering place for many vis¬ 
itors to its baths, as well as to its libraries and 
institutions of learning. The language spoken 
is largely German, but the city has a considera¬ 
ble Bohemian and Hungarian population. Buda 
for many years contained the larger population, 
but was surpassed by Pesth in 1799, since which 
time the latter has greatly outgrown Buda in 
every respect. At that time the two cities 
contained a total population of a little over 
50,000. Buda was known to the Romans as 
Aquincum. It was made the capital of Hun¬ 
gary by Matthias Corvinus in 1444. Pesth was 
founded by the Germans in the 13th century.. 
It became the capital of Hungary after the 
Ausgleich of 1867. Since 1873 they have been 
united as one municipality. Population, 1905, 
798,692; 1917, 890,731. 

BUDDHA (bood'da), the founder of Bud¬ 
dhism. He was of Aryan descent, son of the 
King of Kapilavastu, an ancient kingdom about 
100 miles north of Benares. His family name 
was Gautama and his personal name Siddhar- 
tha, and is often called Sakya-Muni or Saint 
Sakya, meaning a sainted sage. The Chinese 
call him Fo, which is the name Buddha. The 
Aryan invaders of India were unfavorable to 
the religion of the Brahmans and developed 
the system of castes to keep their blood uncon¬ 
taminated. Buddha possessed great human sym¬ 
pathy, broke through the restraint of castes, 
and though himself an Aryan, he preached the 
equality of races, a doctrine which was at once 
embraced by the oppressed Turanians. Some 
writers place his birth at 622 b. c., and assign 
his attaining to Buddhahood to the year 580. 
His death is placed at 543, though some writers 
assign his death to about 400 b. c. Buddha did 
not deify himself, but was assigned to that 
high rank by his admiring followers. He is 
represented as a thoughtful personage. His 
father married him to a charming princess and 
surrounded him with wealth and splendor in 
order to prevent him from following a religious 
life. However, he became accustomed to medi¬ 
tate regarding old age, sickness, death, and the 
unknown eternity. He engaged in a strict reli¬ 
gious life after twelve years. At the age of 
thirty he cut off his long locks, studied the re- 


BUDDHISM 


396 


BUENA VISTA 


ligion of the Brahmans, and attained to much 
knowledge and skill in religion and history. 
His conclusion was that ignorance is the cause 
of evil, and to get rid of it is to attain to per¬ 
fection, thus becoming freed from all misery. 
He first preached his gospel at Benares, but 
later traveled for forty years in North India, 
where he gathered many converts and estab¬ 
lished a vast following. See Buddhism. 

BUDDHISM (bood'diz’m), the system of 
faith introduced or reformed by Buddha. It 
was effective in counteracting the caste system 
of the Brahmans and other Aryan invaders of 
India, and therefore fitted to become the religion 
of the Turanians. It existed in India as the 
principal religion for more than a thousand 
years, but has been almost entirely supplanted by 
Brahmanism. At present it is the religion of 
Ceylon, China, Japan, Tibet, and Burmah, and is 
the great Turanian faith of the modern as of 
the ancient world. It has existed for more than 
2,500 years and numbers as its followers from 
one-tenth to one-eighth of the entire human 
race. One of its most prominent doctrines is 
that Nirvana, a state of absolute release from 
existence, is the highest good. It is held that 
pain is inseparable from existence, thus it can 
cease only through Nirvana; and, to attain to 
this state, our desires and passions must be sup¬ 
pressed and the most extreme self-renunciation 
practiced, while personality must be entirely 
subordinated. 

The principles of Buddhism are stated in the 
so-called Four Great Truths, namely: 1. That 
misery always accompanies existence; 2. That 
all modes of existence result from passions or 
desires; 3. That there is no escape from exist¬ 
ence except by destruction of desire; 4. That 
this may be accomplished by following the four¬ 
fold way to Nirvana. The four stages, called 
the passes, begin with the awakening of the 
heart, called the first; in the second stage one 
loses all impure desires and revengeful feel¬ 
ings ; in the third, one becomes free from all 
evil desires, from ignorance, from doubt, from 
heresy, and from unkindliness and vexation; the 
fourth stage is that of Buddha, or the perfect 
state. Among the laws of the faith are those 
that require fundamental virtues to be practiced 
by all men alike, including patience, courage, 
purity, charity, contemplation, and knowledge. 
The five fundamental precepts of the moral code 
are these: Do not kill; do not steal; do not 
commit adultery; do not lie; do not give way to 
drunkenness. The greatest virtue is benevo¬ 
lence. 

Nirvana is not reached until all the condi¬ 
tions necessary have been complied with. If 
these conditions have not been met with at 
death, an individual does not attain rest until 
he is fitted for Nirvana. In that case he 
is born again as a person, a plant, a spirit, 
an animal, an insect, or as some other animated 
organism, from which state his soul transmi¬ 
grates again and again until Nirvana is eventu¬ 


ally reached. In outward form Buddhism re¬ 
sembles some of the Christian churches in at 
least a few respects. The priests wear dresses 
and caps, construct monasteries, hold to celib¬ 
acy, use bells, practice incense, use the rosary 
of beads, have lighted candles at the altar, have 
intonations in the service, believe in a purga¬ 
tory, offer prayer for departed spirits, and pray 
in an unknown tongue. However, there is no 
similarity between the two faiths. The original 
teachings of the founder have been perverted 
and distorted by a number of disciples in vari¬ 
ous ages, and now lack many virtues formerly 
common to the faith. 

BUDDING, a form of grafting in which a 
leaf bud is used instead of a young shoot. It 
is preferred for plants that throw out much 
gum when wounded, as the cherry, peach, plum, 
and apricot, and also for roses and flowering 
shrubs. It is done by cutting a bud from one 
plant and inserting it in some species closely 
allied. The bud is inserted into an incision, 
shaped like the capital T, in the stock of the 
allied tree, and then tied round by a ligature of 
matting. See Grafting. 

BUELL (bu'el), Don Carlos, military offi¬ 
cer, born near Marietta, Ohio, March 23, 1818; 
died Nov. 19, 1898. He graduated at the United 
States Military Academy in 1841, became first 
lieutenant in 1846, and won the brevet of cap¬ 
tain at Monterey and that of major at Con¬ 
treras and Churubusco, where he was slightly 
wounded. After the Mexican War he became 
an officer at Washington, where he remained 
until 1861, when he was appointed brigadier 
general and assigned to a division of the army 
of the Potomac. The department of Cumber¬ 
land being organized as that of Ohio, he was 
placed in command and accumulated a splendid 
army of 100,000 men. In 1862 he became ma¬ 
jor general of volunteers and operated with 
Major General Halleck in the South. He came 
to the aid of General Grant at Shiloh and suc¬ 
ceeded in pressing Beauregard toward Corinth. 
His forces left central Tennessee, owing to 
General Bragg’s advance into Kentucky, and 
a part of his army under General McCook 
fought at Perryville, but met disastrous defeat. 
He was held to court-martial, but acquitted, 
and transferred to the department of the Gulf, 
where his maneuvers produced no definite re¬ 
sults. After the war he became president of 
the Green River Iron Works in Kentucky, and 
later was pension agent at Louisville. 

BUENA VISTA (bu'na vis'ta), a small 
town in northeastern Mexico, in the state of 
Coahuila, noted for a celebrated battle between 
the American forces under General Taylor and 
the Mexicans under General Santa Anna. It 
was fought on Feb. 22 and 23, 1847, and the 
Mexicans were totally defeated, owing to poor 
generalship. The American army numbered 
4,767 and the Mexican 17,000. The American 
loss was 648, while the Mexicans lost nearly 
2 , 000 . 


BUENOS AYRES 


39? 


BUFFALO 


BUENOS AYRES (bo'nus a'riz), an impor¬ 
tant city of South America, capital of Argen¬ 
tina, on the La Plata River, 160 miles from the 
ocean. The city is built on a modern plan with 
regular streets crossing each other at right 
angles. It is one of the most important trade 
centers south of the equator, and enjoys a 
large oceanic commerce. It is connected with 
the interior cities of South America by numer¬ 
ous railroads. The river is thirty-six miles 
wide at the city, and quite shallow, but has been 
improved for all classes of navigation by a vast 
system of harbor works. In 1887 alone the 
sum of $20,000,000 was appropriated for harbor 
improvements, which has been expended to fit 
its wharves and dry docks for the largest vessels. 

The city contains a general school system for 
free attendance, several colleges, and a central 
university with higher courses of study. The 
university is one of the best in South America 
and is attended by about 1,250 students. It is 
the seat of a fine cathedral, the Chapel of 
Santa Felicitas, a military college, the public 
mint, and government offices. The congress 
hall stands in a fine plot of sixteen acres and 
was erected in 1887 at a cost of $8,000,000. 
About 200 periodicals are published in the city, 
principally in the Spanish, but a number in the 
French, German, English, and Italian languages. 
It has several normal schools, a number of 
medical colleges, and a public library of 50,000 
volumes. The city has 150 miles of electric 
street railway lines and extensive telephone 
systems, and is connected by cable communica¬ 
tion with Europe and the United States. There 
are substantial stone and asphalt pavements, 
waterworks, several parks, and gas and electric 
lights. 

The exports and imports are enormous, 
amounting annually to about $285,500,000. They 
consist largely of live stock, tallow, hides, 
cereals, fruits, tobacco, and minerals. The 
manufactures are expanding rapidly, being stim¬ 
ulated both by local and European capital. 
Among the chief products are carpets, furniture, 
cigars, clothing, textiles, boots and shoes, ma¬ 
chinery, musical instruments, and other articles 
of commerce. The city was founded in 1535 by 
Don Pedro de Mendoza. It was twice destroyed 
by the natives, but has grown steadily since 
1580. In 1851 it seceded from Argentina and 
organized as a separate state, remaining inde¬ 
pendant until 1859, when it rejoined the Repub¬ 
lic and became its capital. Population, 1906, 
1,029,653; in 1919, 1,691,534. 

BUFFALO (buf'fa-lo), an oxlike animal 
with long horns, found native in Asia and 
Southern Africa. The Asiatic buffalo is still 
found in a wild state in the jungles of India. 
From it the domestic kind now largely bred in 
Eurasia descended. It has short hair, is brown 
on the back with a black head, and attains a 
height of seven feet. It is a better beast of 
burden than the ox, and the female yields a 


greater quantity of milk than the common do¬ 
mestic cow. In the wild state it is vicious, but 
when thoroughly domesticated it becomes gen- 



CAPE BUFFALO. 


tie and docile. A species of this animal found 
in the Philippines is known as the carabao. The 
Cape Buffalo, found in South Africa, is larger 
than the Asiatic. It is famous for its vast 
horns, which start from a great bony mass at 
the head and often measure six or seven feet 
from point to point. The hide of the buffalo 
is useful for boots and shoes, while the meat 
is regarded a wholesome article of food. In 
India these animals are trained for exhibition 
and used for dairying. The buffalo is fond of 
marshy places and seems to enjoy standing in 
the water during the warm days with only its 
head projecting. See Bison. 

BUFFALO, the second city of New York, 
county seat of Erie County, at the eastern end 
of Lake Erie and at the head of the Niagara 
River. It is 20 miles above Niagara Falls and 
410 miles by rail northwest of New York City. 
Fifteen great trunk lines of railway center at 
Buffalo, including the most important railroads 
of the eastern part of the United States and 
Canada and it has additional transportation 
facilities by the Erie Canal, the Great Lakes, 
and urban and interurban electric railways. 
Among the chief railways are the New York 
Central, the Wabash, the Erie, the Grand 
Trunk, the Pennsylvania, the Lackawanna, and 
the Lake Shore and Michigan Southern. The 
site of the city gradually rises from the harbor 
to a height of 50 to 60 feet, and presents a view 
most beautiful from a distance on the lake. It 
is protected by an immense breakwater nearly 
a mile long, and its harbors are among the best 
on the Niagara and Lake Erie. 

Description. The area of the city is 42 
square miles, and the streets are broad and 
generally cross each other at right angles. Most 
of the pavements are constructed of asphalt, 
this class of paving having a length of 235 
miles, and the total number of miles paved 
aggregate about 400. Main Street, which ex¬ 
tends northerly from the lake front, is the prin¬ 
cipal business thoroughfare. At the center of 
the business district, which is near Lafayette 
Square, Niagara Street starts from Main 
Street, and is the main highway to Tonawanda 
and Niagara Falls. Lafayette Square, where a 



BUFFALO 


398 


BUFFALO GNAT 


number of streets meet, is surrounded by large 
and substantial business buildings and contains 
the beautiful Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Monument. 
Delaware Avenue and North Street are the 
principal avenues of the fashionable residential 
district, and here and in many other places are 
fine homes surrounded by lawns and ornamental 
shrubs and trees. 

Buffalo has numerous parks and other points 
of interest for those who seek the open air. 
At the place where the waters of Lake Erie 
form the* Niagara, south of Fort Porter, is 
the- Front, a tract of 45 acres, and near the 
Insane Hospital grounds is Delaware 
Park, whose area is 305 acres. Humboldt Park 
consists of 5G acres, and in the south are the 
three parks known as South Park, Stony Point, 
and Cazenovia Park. Forest Lawn Cemetery, 
a tract of 230 acres, is one of the numerous 
burial grounds of great beauty. Besides the 
Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Monument in Lafayette 
Square, are those of President Fillmore and 
Red Jacket in Forest Lawn Cemetery, and the 
fine monument dedicated in 1907 to President 
McKinley, who died in the city. 

Buffalo is noted for its fine public school 
system, which includes kindergartens, grade 
and high schools, and a training school for 
teachers. It is the seat of a State normal school, 
the German Martin Luther Seminary, the Uni¬ 
versity of Buffalo, the Saint Joseph’s College, 
the Academy of the Sacred Heart, and many 
other institutions, including numerous denomi¬ 
national and parochial schools. The charitable 
and philanthropic institutions include a State 
insane asylum, an orphan asylum, the Home 
for the Friendless, the Church Home for Aged 
Women, S^int Mary’s Asylum for Widows and 
Foundlings, and Ingleside Home for Erring 
Women. It has more than 175 churches, and 
these represent all the leading denominations. 
The municipality has two libraries, aggregating 
about 235,000 volumes, and in addition are 
maintained a number of libraries in the schools 
and colleges. The educational associations are 
well represented, including the Society of 
Natural Sciences, Young Men’s Christian Asso¬ 
ciation, Lutheran Young Men’s Association, 
and numerous scientific and historical societies. 

The United States government building is a 
substantial structure of gray stone, erected at a 
cost of about $2,000,000. Other large buildings 
include the Chamber of Commerce, the city 
hall, the public library, the Fidelity Trust Com¬ 
pany’s building, the Ellicott Square building, 
the Grosvenor Library, and the Roman Cath¬ 
olic and Protestant Episcopal cathedrals. The 
Iroquois, Lafayette, Lenox, and Statler are 
among its larger hotels. 

Industries. Buffalo is preeminently a man¬ 
ufacturing and commercial city. This is due 
largely to the fact that its transportation facil¬ 
ities are very advantageous. A belt-line rail¬ 
road encircles the city and furnishes facilities 


for intercommunication among the large num¬ 
ber of trunk and branch lines, and enables 
transfers of freight with boats on the Erie 
Canal and steamships in its well-improved har¬ 
bors. Though originally built for small tow¬ 
boats drawn by horses, the Erie Canal has been 
materially improved and will eventually furnish 
facilities for large vessels from the Atlantic by 
way of the Hudson River. The city has about 
fifty large grain elevators, ipcluding both trans¬ 
fer and floating elevators, and is the largest 
market for wheat y and flour in the Eastern 
States. The elevator capacity is sufficient for 
35,000,000 bushels, equipped to enable handling 
5,000,000 bushels of grain per day. It is the 
largest coal market and lumber port in the 
world. The storage capacity for coal is enor¬ 
mous, and its coal docks are sufficient to enable 
handling 30,000 tons a day. In the manu¬ 
facture of iron and iron products it ranks next 
to Pittsburg. Among the manufacturing estab¬ 
lishments are machine shops, soap works, car¬ 
riage and wagon factories, shipyards, flouring 
and grist mills, stove works, distilleries, oil 
refineries, and breweries. Enterprise in manu¬ 
facturing is facilitated greatly by electric power 
obtained from a large plant at Niagara Falls, 
which is brought through three circuits having 
a normal capacity of 30,000 horse power. It 
has a large trade in live stock, manufactures 
of all kinds, and merchandise, and is a center 
for both retailing and wholesaling. 

History. La Salle was the first European to 
visit the locality. He landed at its site in 1679, 
and near the present city built the Griffin, the 
first ship to sail on Lake Erie. The first settle¬ 
ment- was made by a trader in 1792, and the 
Holland Land Company purchased a tract of 
land and platted it into townships the following 
year. The work of surveying and platting was 
done by Joseph Ellicot, and he is regarded the 
founder of Buffalo. The village founded at 
that time was situated at the mouth of Buffalo 
Creek and named New Amsterdam, but it soon 
came to be called Buffalo. A force of British 
and Indians under Gen. Riall captured it in 
1813 and much of it was destroyed by fire, but 
it was rebuilt in 1815. Its prosperity began 
with the completion of the Erie Canal in 1825, 
when it became the center of a large trade in 
produce and raw materials. Black Rock was 
annexed in 1853. It was the home of Millard 
Fillmore and Grover Cleveland, and the latter 
was its mayor in 1882. The Pan-American Ex¬ 
position was held in Buffalo in 1901, at which 
President McKinley was assassinated. Popula¬ 
tion, 1905, 376,018; in 1920, 506,775. 

BUFFALO BILL. See Cody, William F. 

BUFFALO GNAT (nat), a small insect 
found in the western section of the valley of 
the Missouri River and other regions. It at¬ 
tacks human beings and domestic animals, but 
differs from the mosquito in that it bites in the 
daytime. Swarms of these insects are most 


BUFFALO GRASS 


399 


BUILDING STONE 


frequent when the sun shines brightly and there 
is no movement of wind. The bites are poison¬ 
ous. I he larva is aquatic and frequents well- 
lerated water. 

BUFFALO GRASS, a short grass common 
to the fertile soil of the western plains of North 
America, ranging from Texas to Alberta and 
Saskatchewan. It seldom grows higher than 
six inches, but is very important as pasture for 
domestic and wild animals, especially in the 
arid regions, to which it is best adapted. In 
the summer it covers the ground with a dense 
growth and turns brown at the first frost, but 
is eaten at all times of the year. It propagates 
by runners as well as by its seed. The male 
and female flowers grow on different plants. 

BUFF LEATHER, a kind of leather made 
originally from the skin of the buffalo, but now 
chiefly from light hides of cattle. It is naturally 
of a light-yellow color, but is sometimes 
bleached white or tanned and stained a dull 
yellow or dark brown. When dressed with oil, 
it becomes soft and does not easily crack or 
rot. It is used for making belts, gloves, pouches, 
and cartridge boxes. 

BUFFON (buf'fon), George Louis Le- 
clerc, Count de, naturalist, born at Montbard, 
France, Sept. 7, 1707; died in Paris, April 16, 
1788. He studied for the law, but traveled and 
later devoted himself to science. He was elected 
a member of the Academy of Science in 1739 
and later made superintendent of the Royal 
Gardens of Paris. His best known works in¬ 
clude “Natural History/’ “Epochs of Nature,” 
“History of Birds,” and “History of Minerals.” 
The works of Buffon have exercised a wide 
influence in nature study. His scrutinizing 
researches laid a foundation on which Cuvier 
and others built their systems. 

BUG, the name used frequently in describing 
the species of insects belonging to the order 
Hemiptera. The mouth is fitted for piercing 
and sucking, being in the form of a beak, and 
most of the species feed on the juices of plants. 
Some of these insects, such as the louse and 
bedbug, partake of animal fluid as well as that 
of plants. The cochineal and lac-dye insects, 
which belong to the bug family, secrete fluids 
valuable in commerce. The chinch bug, aphis, 
squash bug, and green bug are among the pests 
that destroy plants. 

BUGGY, the name of a four-wheeled vehi¬ 
cle, either with or without a top or hood. The 
name is one of the Americanisms , and describes 
a vehicle called a cart in England, while cart in 
the United States is properly a vehicle with two 
wheels. Buggies are fitted for one horse, and 
are intended for light driving. 

BUGLE (bu'g’l), a musical instrument made 
of brass or copper, used chiefly for signals. 
The bugle is the signal horn for the infantry, 
and has a shorter tube than the trumpet, which 
is used more generally for the cavalry. Bugle 
and trumpet calls remind the soldier in time of 


peace of daily routine duty, and in war they 
serve to direct and guide the marches and 
movements of troops. 

BUILDING. See Architecture. 
BUILDING AND LOAN ASSOCIA¬ 
TION, a society organized to promote interest 
in the accumulation of savings, and to provide 
facilities to secure the use of money at reason¬ 
able rates for those who desire to build homes. 
Associations of this kind are usually organized 
as private corporations, and are known by vari¬ 
ous names, such as cooperative banks,,-mutual 
loan associations, building societies, home aid 
associations, etc. They may be classed ui». ^ 
two general terms, the mutual and the propri¬ 
etary. Mutual societies receive deposits from 
individuals, who become stockholders to the ex¬ 
tent of their deposits. Those who wish to 
invest in land or erect a building borrow the 
amount needed and give a mortgage on the prop¬ 
erty, and, when the amount of deposits equals 
the sum borrowed plus the interest, the stock is 
surrendered and thus cancels the debt. Propri¬ 
etary societies pay interest on deposits and loan 
money for building purposes, secured by mort¬ 
gage and repayable by monthly installments. 
When the total installments amount to the loan 
plus the interest, the indebtedness is canceled. 
In this class of associations, the profit to the 
company depends upon the difference in the 
rate charged those who borrow and that paid 
to depositors. Building associations were or¬ 
ganized in Great Britain and Germany in the 
18th century, and in America they date more 
largely from the last century. All of the states, 
provinces, and nations in which they are pro¬ 
moted have laws regulating the transaction of 
business, intended as a safeguard to the peo¬ 
ple who put their savings into such organiza¬ 
tions. 

BUILDING STONE, any stone suitable for 
the construction of buildings or fitted for struc¬ 
tural engineering. Many varieties of stone pre¬ 
sent a beautiful appearance in the quarry, but 
their composition is such that they disintegrate 
rapidly from the action of air and moisture. 
The disintegration may affect the appearance 
by reason of discolorations, or it may soften or 
dissolve the stone to the extent that the struc¬ 
ture becomes unsafe. Stone of a porous na¬ 
ture, such as soft limestone, readily absorbs wa¬ 
ter, and it is greatly damaged by freezing and 
thawing. While material of this class may be 
suitable for the interior walls, it is not advisable 
to use it for exteriors. Some grades, especially 
those that contain iron, become discolored from 
the action of moisture. 

The best building stones may be classed as 
fragmentary, calcareous, and crystalline siliceous 
rocks. Among the fragmentary rocks used in 
building are sandstone and slate. Sandstone is 
composed of grains of sand, either rounded or 
angular, and held together by a cementing ma¬ 
terial, such as silica or carbonate of lime. The 


BULACAN 


400 


BULGARIA 


color depends upon the nature of the cementing 
material. In gray sandstone the cementing ma¬ 
terial is carbonate of lime, in white colored 
stone it is silica, and in brownish or reddish 
stone it is mixed with oxide of iron. Slate is 
used largely in roofing and for floors. The 
calcareous rocks include the limestones and 
marbles, and in color vary as much as sand¬ 
stones and for the same reason. Granite is the 
most familiar example of crystalline siliceous 
rock, and is one of the most durable and valu¬ 
able building materials. It is quarried exten¬ 
sively in Canada, especially near Kingston, On¬ 
tario ; near Victoria, British Columbia; near 
Saint George, New Brunswick; and near Shel¬ 
burne, Nova Scotia. Quarries are worked in 
the. United States at Berry, Vt.; Saint Cloud, 
Minn.; Concord, N. H.; Westerly, R. I.; Rich¬ 
mond, Va.; and many other localities. Granite, 
ranges from dark red to light gray, and in¬ 
cludes many shades of colors. 

BUKOWINA (bob-ko-we'na), a crownland 
of Austria-Hungary, located east of Hungary 
and south of Galicia, in the basins of the Purth 
and the Dniester rivers. The area is 4,035 square 
miles. Czernowitz is the capital. Population, 
1914, 830,681. 

BULACAN (boo-la-kan'), a town of the 
Philippine Islands, on the Island of Luzon, twenty 
miles northeast of Manila. It was important as 
a military point and the scene of several insur¬ 
rections during both the Spanish and American 
occupation of the islands. Population, 13,800. 

BULB, in botany, a broad imbricated bud, 
either above or beneath the surface of the 
ground, having roots beneath and the stalk and 

foliage above. The 
leaves or scales with 
which it is clothed 
are thickened by the 
deposition of nutri¬ 
tive matter, stored 
for the future use of 
the plant. It differs 
from the tuber, 
which is the enlarge¬ 
ment of a subterra¬ 
nean branch and 
forms the fruit or 
seed. Some plants have bulblets, or small 

aerial bulbs, as in some kinds of onions. 

Among the chief bulbous plants are the tulip, 
onion, and common lily. 

BULGARIA (bdol-ga'ri-a), a principality 

of Europe, in the eastern part of the Balkan 
Peninsula. It is situated between north lati¬ 
tude 41° 30' and 44° 15' and east longitude 
22° 30' and 28° 30'. It is bounded on the east 
by the Black Sea, south by Turkey, west by 
Servia, and north by Rumania. Most of its 
northern boundary is formed by the Danube 
River. The area of Bulgaria proper is 24,280 
square miles, and of Eastern Rumelia 13,800, or 
a total of 38,080 square miles. 



BULBS. 

1, Meadow Lily; 2, Tulip. 


Description. Bulgaria is a mountainous 
country, traversed by the Balkan Mountains. 
In the southwest corner of Rumelia are ranges 
of the Rhodope Mountains, between which arc 
deep valleys isolated from each other except 1 y 
elevated passes. The Balkans include Vitoshu, 
7,517 feet, and Musalla, 9,610 feet, which are the 
highest summits. The ranges of the southern 
section are less elevated. 

Most of the drainage is into the Black Sea, 
chiefly by the Danube and its tributaries. The 
confluents of the Danube include the Lorn, Vid, 
Osma, and Ogost. Those flowing into the Black 
Sea direct include the Devna and Kamtchik. 
The Maritza and Struma flow southward into 
the Aegean Sea. Its eastern boundary is in¬ 
dented by the Gulf of Burghas, an inlet from 
the Black Sea. 

The climate is healthful and quite pleasant, 
though a district subject to malaria extends 
along the Black Sea. It may be said that Bul¬ 
garia has a somewhat colder climate than East¬ 
ern Rumelia, since the elevated Balkan Moun¬ 
tains obstruct the passage of breezes from the 
Mediterranean. In Bulgaria the climate ranges 
from eight degrees below zero to ninety above, 
with an average temperature of about 50°. For¬ 
ests cover the mountains, but the valleys are 
mostly treeless. Among the wild animals are 
the deer, bear, boar, and many species of wild 
fowl. 

Industries. Agriculture is the chief enter¬ 
prise, and the land is subdivided in small hold¬ 
ings among the peasants, who pay a nominal 
rent to the government, to which most of the 
land belongs. About twenty-five per cent, of 
the land is under cultivation and fifty per cent, 
is in pasture. Corn and wheat are the chief 
products, and next of importance are barley, 
rye, oats, and vegetables. Grapes are grown 
extensively. The government has control of all 
the minerals and operates the mines. Coal is 
the chief mineral product, but other minerals 
of value abound, including lead, copper, zinc, 
cobalt, and petroleum. 

The Danube is important as an avenue of 
transportation. A number of its tributaries have 
been improved and canals have been con¬ 
structed, which, together with the Black Sea, 
afford considerable shipping facilities. The 
railroad lines aggregate about 1,200 miles, most 
of which are owned and operated by the gov¬ 
ernment, and telegraph and telephone lines con¬ 
nect the business centers with the cities north 
and south. Bulgaria has nine river ports and 
seven seaports, which are the seat of most of 
the trade. The exports are somewhat larger 
than the imports, and foreign trade is chiefly 
with Austria-Hungary, Germany, Great Britain, 
France, and Turkey. 

Government. Bulgaria is a constitutional 
monarchy. Chief executive power is vested in 
the sovereign, and legislative authority is vested 
in him and the national assembly, or sobranje, 




BULGARIA 


401 


BULL 


which consists of deputies elected by universal 
manhood suffrage. The sovereign is assisted by 
a ministry responsible both to him and the as¬ 
sembly. For the purpose of local government 
it is divided into twenty-two okrugs and these 
are subdivided into eighty-five okolics. An 
obligatory school attendance law is enforced 
quite generally, and the school system includes 
both grade and high schools. Special and tech¬ 
nical schools, gymnasia, and the University at 
Sofia comprise the facilities for higher educa¬ 
tional work. The Greek Catholic Church is 
recognized by the state, though a considerable 
number of the inhabitants are Mohammedans 
and Jews. 

Inhabitants. The people of Bulgaria be¬ 
long to the southern branch of the Slavic stock, 
and are made up of several more or less closely 
related branches, of which the Teuto-Slavic, 
Teutonic, and Finno-Tartaric are the most nu¬ 
merous. Some Greeks and Mussulmans are 
included, though the percentage is not large. 
The language is of Slavic origin and consists 
of the old and new dialects, the former being 
the richer and more generally spoken. Sofia is 
the capital of Bulgaria proper and of the prin¬ 
cipality, while Philippopolis is the capital of 
Eastern Rumelia. The former is the largest 
city and chief commercial and intellectual cen¬ 
ter. Other cities of note include Varna, Burg- 
has, Shumla, and Rustchuk. In 1920 the popu¬ 
lation of the country was 4,735,623. This num¬ 
ber included 497,818 Turks, 83,942 Rumanians, 
69,757 Greeks, 94,649 Gypsies, and 36,455 Jews. 

History. The history of Bulgaria is intimately 
connected with the early history of Eastern Eu¬ 
rope. Most of the early occupants came from 
the banks of the Volga and overran the coun¬ 
try in the 6th century. They built up a strong 
central government and for some time ruled 
Epirus, Thessaly, Albania, and Macedonia, and 
looked forward to the founding of a great Sla¬ 
vonic empire. However, they were conquered 
soon after the rise of the Byzantine Empire, 
and later fell under the dominion of the Turks, 
which caused them to lose much of their civi¬ 
lization, and their national spirit was broken. 
A new spirit of nationality rose about the mid¬ 
dle of the 18th century, when they established 
newspapers, developed literature, and founded 
schools and colleges, but the Turks, jealous of 
their development, continued to hold them un¬ 
der subjection. The wholesale slaughter of 
Christians in 1876 by the Turks aroused the 
spirit of Christian Europe. Russia soon after 
occupied the region with an army to defend 
them against the onslaughts of the Turks, which 
resulted in the War of 1878 and the final treaty 
of peace at Berlin. 

Bulgaria was now made an independent state, 
with the condition that the choice of its chief 
ruler must be concurred in by the powers of 
Europe and Turkey. Prince Alexander of Bat- 
tenburg was elected sovereign in 1881 and was 


authorized to convoke a constitutional conven¬ 
tion to be promulgated in 1888. Two years pre¬ 
vious to this he was kidnapped and compelled to 
abdicate on account of Russian hostility to him 
and to his followers. However, he was in touch 
with the spirit of the Bulgarians and only ab¬ 
dicated to avoid complications with Russia. In 
1887 the vacant throne was filled by the election 
of Prince Ferdinand of Saxe-Coburg, youngest 
son of Prince Augustus of Saxe-Coburg. East¬ 
ern Rumelia was united to Bulgaria proper in 
1885, which resulted in a war with Servia, but 
the latter power was defeated. In 1908 the 
sobranje, under the guidance of Prince Ferdi¬ 
nand, declared the country independent of Tur¬ 
key and the latter assumed the title of Czar of 
Bulgaria. In 1915 the country entered the great 
European War on the side of Germany and 
fought vigorously until 1918, when her armies 
surrendered and the Czar abdicated. 

BULL or Papal Bull, an edict or decree of 
the pope, equal to the proclamations of secular 
sovereigns. The bulls are written in Latin for 
most countries, and are transmitted to the 
churches that recognize the pope as their head. 
The first words of the text usually designate 
the character of the contents. They are writ¬ 
ten on parchment, and those issued as a favor 
have a leaden seal appended by means of a 
silken cord, but those issued as a matter of 
justice have the seal attached with a cord of 
hemp. Edicts issued by secular sovereigns 
were formerly called bulls. The most important 
of these was the Golden Bull of Charles IV., 
Emperor of Germany, issued in 1356, which 
fixed the laws to regulate the number and priv¬ 
ileges of electors and the election of emperors. 

BULL, John, a name used as a popular syn¬ 
onym for the English people. It originated in 
1712, when Arbuthnot published his satire, “The 
History of John Bull,” to intensify the feeling 
against the war with France and to ridicule the 
Duke of Marlborough. 

BULL, Ole Bornemann, famous violin vir¬ 
tuoso, born in Bergen, 
died Aug. 17, 1880. He 
began to show musical 
talent by his perform¬ 
ance on the violin at 
the age of five years, 
played that instrument 
at the theater where his 
father was actor when 
nine years old, and 
was sent to Paris to 
study music. Later he 
studied at Milan, Italy, 
and achieved success 
by traveling through 
Switzerland, Germany, 
and Italy. He visited 
London and traveled 
through the United States, Canada, and the 
West Indies, returning in 1848. He made a 


Norway, Feb. 5, 1810; 



26 




BULLDOG 


402 


BULLFROG 


second visit to America in 1852, and remained 
five years, endeavoring to found a Norwegian 
colony in Potter County, Pennsylvania, though 
his enterprise was not successful. His success 
in appearing before American audiences was 
remarkable. He was visited by great crowds 
night after night and made a fortune, which 
was partly lost in his colony, called Oleana, in 
Pennsylvania. He visited America again in 
1869 and was again shown great appreciation by 
the attendance of immense crowds. Critics es¬ 
timated him a man of remarkable character and 
an artist of wonderful genius. He manifested 
a great love for his native land, Norway, and 
was filled with sensitive imagination by its 
story and songs. This was reflected in his style 
of playing and rendered a poetic charm and 
originality which always enthused his audience. 
The people of Norway regarded his death a 
national loss. His biography was written by 
Sarah C. Bull, his second wife, entitled “Ole 
Bull: A Memoir.” 

BULLDOG, a kind of dog that has been 
bred as a distinct race for centuries. It is 
characterized by its thick, short, flat muzzle, a 
projecting under jaw, thick lips, half-pricked 
ears, flat forehead, and low but thick and strong 
body. It is a good watchdog on account of its 
activity, courage, and intelligence. The bull ter¬ 
rier is smaller than the bulldog, and is a cross 
between the bulldog and the terrier. Formerly 
the sport of bull baiting was practiced in Eng¬ 
land. It consisted of blowing the nose of a 
bull full of pepper and setting bulldogs upon 
him, one at a time. The sport consisted chiefly 
in seeing the dogs tossed. 

BULLDOZE (bul'ddz), a word derived 
from the practice of punishing those who, in 
1876, were stealing and killing cattle in 
Louisiana. The punishment was with a bull 
whip and a dozen lashes were called a dose, 
hence the word bulldoze. In the same year 
it was applied in the political campaign, when 
some of the Negroes were prevented from ex¬ 
ercising the elective franchise by bulldozing. 
The term now signifies to overawe, to silence 
by threat, to terrify. 

BULLER, Redvers Henry, military officer, 
born in Devonshire, England, Dec. 7, 1839. He 
entered the army at the age of eighteen years, 
fought against the Ashantees, Zulus, and Kaf¬ 
firs, and later served in the Boer War of 1881. 
The following year he engaged in the Egyptian 
campaign, in 1884-85 took part in reducing the 
natives of the Sudan, and became adjutant- 
general in 1890. In 1899 he was made su¬ 
preme commander of the British forces in 
South Africa, but was superseded by General 
Roberts after suffering serious reverses in the 
vicinity of Ladysmith, which place was be¬ 
sieged by the Boers. He was very popular 
among his men and was held in high esteem 
personally, but his ability as a military officer 
was questioned on account of advising Gen¬ 


eral White to surrender Ladysmith to the 
Boers. He died June 2, 1908. 

BULLET (bul'let), a projectile discharged 
from a rifle and other small arms. Bullets 
are made chiefly of lead, and those intended for 
smooth bore arms are usually spherical, and 
those for rifled arms are elongated with the 
apex rounded or conical. Formerly bullets 
were cast, but now they are made largely by 
being stamped in steel dies. Copper-covered 
bullets poison a wound and are not favored in 
modern warfare. 

BULLFIGHT (bul'fit), the national game 
of the Spanish and Mexicans. It was intro¬ 
duced into Spain by the Moors, and has con¬ 
tinued popular ever since. The bullfighting sea¬ 
son begins in April and ends in November. 
Bullfights take place in a kind .of arena or 
circus. In most cases the fighters mount a 
horse, and, armed with a sword or lance, they 
worry the bull until he is killed. Often a 
horse is killed by the infuriated animal, when 
the fighter mounts another or combats with the 
animal on foot. In the larger cities where bull¬ 
fighting is practiced regularly each season, there 
are three classes of fighters. They consist of 
the picadores, who are on horseback; the ban- 
derilleros, who are on foot; and the matadors, 
or the killers. When a bull has been killed, 
he is dragged away and another is brought 
from the stall into the arena. Nearly all Span¬ 
ish cities have places to carry on these games, 
which are attended by thousands of people. In 
early history the game was popular in Greece, 
Rome, and other countries, but it was forbid¬ 
den by the popes and later emperors, and was 
abolished by Charles IV., but was reinstated by 
Joseph Bonaparte, brother of Napoleon. At 
the great games of Madrid, in June, 1833, over 
a hundred bulls were killed in a single week. 
It is still popular in Mexico and Spanish Amer¬ 
ica. 

BULLFINCH (bul'fmch), a bird of the 
finch family. The male has a black tail, throat, 
bill, and head; the back is bluish-gray and the 
breast is red. It is nearly seven inches long. 
The female is less brightly colored. These 
birds feed on moss and buds of fruit. They 
are prized for their song and can be taught 
to sing musical airs. The bullfinch is found 
in Europe and on the islands adjacent to its 
coasts. Allied species inhabit Asia and one is 
found in Alaska. 

BULLFROG (-frog), a large aquatic frog 
widely distributed in Canada and the United 
States, but most abundant in the warmer re¬ 
gions. The larger species are common to the 
Southern States, and are found more com¬ 
monly in marshes and swampy lands. The 
voice is a deep bass, loud and coarse, from 
which the name was derived. They feed on 
worms, insects, and crustaceans, and the larger 
species eat other frogs and young birds. The 
hind legs are edible and considered a delicacy. 


BULLION 


403 


BULOW 


BULLION (bul'yun), the term used to de¬ 
scribe uncoined gold or silver which has been 
reduced to the standard fineness of the coinage 
of a country. It is sometimes employed to 
designate these metals whether they are coined 
or uncoined, and is likewise applied to old or 
foreign coin held for recoinage. In England it is 
quite common to report as bullion the metallic 
reserve held in banks, but such money is more 
generally referred to as coin in the United 
States. 

BULL RUN, a small stream in northern 
Virginia, a tributary of the Potomac through 
the Occoquan River, which was the scene of 
two great battles of the Civil War. The first 
was the great battle that took place on July 
21, 18G1, between McDowell, commanding 

28,000 Union soldiers, and Beauregard and 
Johnson, leading 31,000 Confederates. The 
battle commenced early in the morning, the ad¬ 
vantage remaining with the Federal forces until 
noon. They had crossed Bull Run and at¬ 
tempted to displace the enemy’s left, but the 
Confederates received reinforcements in the 
afternoon and led a vigorous attack upon the 
Union forces, causing them to retreat in.con¬ 
fusion and disorder, the panic reaching as far 
as Washington. The Confederates lost 2,000 
men and the Union loss was about 2,800. Jack- 
son rendered valuable services to the Confeder¬ 
ate side and was named “Stonewall” ever after. 
The battle had an encouraging effect upon the 
South, and clearly demonstrated that the war 
would be a long struggle instead of a skirmish 
of several months, as formerly supposed by 
the people of the North. 

The second battle of Bull Run occurred Aug. 
29 and 30, 1862. The Confederate forces were 
commanded by Jackson, who was awaiting rein¬ 
forcements at Bristoe Station, and the Union 
army, consisting of 40,000 men, was commanded 
by General Pope. McDowell was dispatched 
to intercept Lee’s conjunction with Jackson, but 
was recalled to join Pope. Jackson then moved 
to Manassas Junction and took a strong posi¬ 
tion near Gainesville behind an old railroad 
- grading. The Union attack was led by General 
Sigel at daylight on August 29. The battle 
raged furiously in the forenoon, Pope expect¬ 
ing McDowell and Porter to join with rein¬ 
forcements. However, the afternoon arrived, 
but Porter never came. The fighting ceased 
at night and was resumed the next day, but 
Pope’s troops were so wearied that he was com¬ 
pelled to retire. Porter was afterward court- 
martialed for his conduct during the battle and 
dismissed from service. The losses, though 
never accurately determined, were heavy, about 
9,500 for the Confederates and 14,500 on the 
side of the Federals. Lee took the aggressive 
immediately after the battle and invaded Mary¬ 
land. 

BULL TROUT, the name applied to certain 
species of fish belonging to the salmon family. 


They are fine game fish and are frequently 
mistaken for the salmon, from which they 
differ in having a body somewhat thicker than 
that of the salmon. The bull trout of England 
is found in large numbers in the mouths of 
rivers and approaches the salmon in size and 
habits, in some sections of the Rocky Moun¬ 
tains, where a fine species is abundant, it is 
considered a fine game fish, but is more popu¬ 
larly called the Dolly- Varden trout. 

BULOW (bii'lo), Bernhard, Count von, 
statesman, born in Klein-Flottbeck, Germany, 
May 3, 1849. After studying in his native town 
and in Lausanne, he took courses in the uni¬ 
versities of Leipsig and Berlin, and served effi¬ 
ciently in the war of 1870-71 against France. 
Subsequent to the war he entered the consular 
service and was secretary of legation at Rome, 
Saint Petersburg, and Vienna, and in 1878 rep¬ 
resented the government at Athens, Greece. 
The Berlin congress of 1878 elected him secre¬ 
tary and subsequently he represented the nation 
as ambassador to Italy. In 1899 he concluded a 
treaty with Spain by which the Pelew, Caroline, 
and Ladrone Islands became German territory. 
He was made chancellor of the empire in 1900. 
The imperial expansion policy of Germany was 
supported by him, and through his influence 
the position of Germany was strengthened in 
the Great European War which began in 1914. 

BULOW, Friedrich, military leader, born at 
Falkenberg, Germany, Feb. 16, 1755; died Feb. 
25, 1816. He entered the Prussian army at the 
age of fourteen years, was lieutenant at the 
opening of the war in 1813, and in that year 
commanded in battles at Mockern and Halle. 
He succeeded in driving the French out of 
Westphalia and Holland, and joined the allies 
in Paris, where he received the title of Count 
of Dennewitz, in recognition of his success 
against Ney at Dennewitz. In 1815 he fought 
with Bliicher at the Battle of Waterloo, and was 
an important factor in defeating Napoleon. 
Subsequently he occupied a strategic point at 
Paris. He was made a Knight of the Black 
Eagle and a monument was erected to his honor 
in Berlin. 

BULOW, Hans Guido von, distinguished 
pianist, born at Dresden, Germany, Jan. 8, 
1830; died Feb. 12, 1894. He studied law at 
the University of Leipsig, but showed early 
aptitude in music, which is regarded more as 
a diversion than a subject for study. The 
successes of Liszt and Wagner at Weimar and 
elsewhere influenced him to intrust himself to 
the personal instruction of Wagner in 1850. 
His first musical tour was made three years 
later. In 1854 he became pianist at the imperial 
court at Berlin, and ten years later was made 
pianist at the Bavarian court. In 1869 he retired 
for some time to Florence, but soon entered 
upon great concert tours through Europe and 
America, and gained a world-wide reputation. 
(On returning to Germany he entered the court 


BULRUSH 


404 


BUNION 


of Meiningen as musical director, and became 
renowned as a director in the Liszt-Wagner 
school. Among his thirty musical works the 
following may be mentioned as of high repute: 
“Nirvana,” “Der Sanger’s Fluch,” and “Over¬ 
tures to Julius Caesar.” 

BULRUSH (bul'rush), the popular name of 
an aquatic plant. It is rushlike or reedlike, with 
a cylindrical stem growing from two to ten feet 

in height. In many 
species the sheath 
bears a small awl- 
shaped leaf, and the 
culm is tipped with 
an erect and pointed 
leaf. The roots are 
creeping and have 
astringent and diu¬ 
retic properties use¬ 
ful in medicine. In 
some species the 
flowers are com¬ 
pound, with small 
spikes on t h ei r 
sides. The stems 
and leaves are the 
most useful parts of 
the plant, since their 
toughness renders 
them of service in thatching and for making 
chair bottoms and mats. The bulrushes are 
common to the rivers and ponds of many sec¬ 
tions of America and Eurasia. Large tracts of 
Southern Asia are noted for a prolific growth 
of these plants, where they are used quite ex¬ 
tensively by the natives for thatching cottages. 

BULWER-LYTTON (bul'wer-lit'tun). See 
Lytton. 

BUMBLEBEE (bum'b’l-be), or Humble- 
bee, a large bee found in nearly all parts of the 
world, except New Zealand and Australia. It 
has a hairy body and the tibiae of the hind 
legs terminate in two spines. The community 
ranges from fifty to two hundred. A large 
number of species have been described, most of 
which select as a nest some hole in the sod, 
frequently a deserted mouse nest, or an open¬ 
ing between rocks or in a log. About half of a 
colony are workers and the remainder are 
males and females. Rude cells are built by the 
workers, in which the honey is deposited and 
at the end of the season all except a few 
females die. In the spring the fertilized female 
gathers a mass of pollen and honey and de¬ 
posits her eggs, and the scant store of honey is 
laid up by the workers as they mature, while 
the mother bee confines herself to the task of 
increasing the numbers of the colony. The 
females are longer than the males and work¬ 
ers, and they live together in the same colony 
without attacking each other. These bees are 
not valuable except that they fertilize plants, 
and some species of clover depend for their 
fertilization exclusively upon these insects. 


This fact has caused the bumblebee to be in¬ 
troduced in Australia. 

BUNCE, Francis Marvin, naval officer, born 
at Hartford, Conn., Dec. 25, 1836; died Oct. 19, 
1901. He attended public schools in his na¬ 
tive town and the United States Naval Acad¬ 
emy, graduating from the latter in 1857. He 
was executive officer of the Penobscot at the 
beginning of the Civil War, had charge of the 
naval howitzers in the combined army and naval 
expedition July 10, 1863, by which a part of 
Morris Island was captured, and in the same 
year took part in the attacks on Charleston and 
Fort Sumter, For efficient services he was 
made lieutenant commander, had charge of the 
Boston navy yard until 1869, and filled other 
positions until 1898, when he retired with the 
rank of rear admiral. During the Spanish- 
American War he was in command of the 
Brooklyn navy yard. 

BUNCOMBE (bun'kum), Edward, soldier, 
born at Saint Kitts, West Indies; died in Phila¬ 
delphia, Penn., in 1777. He was educated in 
England and settled in North Carolina, where 
a county was named for him in 1791. He 
fought in the Revolutionary War and became 
a member of Congress. At one time he was 
engaged in speech making, and when an effort 
was made to cut him short he declared that 
he was “talking only for Buncombe.” From 
this the well-known phrase originated, and is 
used to express talking only for effect, or, in 
the case of an officer, to please his constituents. 

BUNDESRAT (boon'des-rat), the federal 
council of the German empire which represents 
the individual states, the nation being repre¬ 
sented by the Reichstag. It is mainly a confirm¬ 
ing body, but has power to reject measures 
passed by the Reichstag. The imperial chancel¬ 
lor is presiding officer and the members from 
each state vote as a unit. 

BUNGALOW (bun-ga-lo'), the name of a 
kind of house built in the interior of India. It 
is of light construction, one-storied, and usually 
of sun-baked brick. The roof is thatched or 
tiled, and extends some distance over the walls 
so as to prevent them from becoming exces¬ 
sively wet during a rain. Bungalows are con¬ 
structed for officer’s quarters and by many 
Europeans, who furnish them elegantly. In 
some parts of India, where the country is not 
well settled, structures of this kind are erected 
and maintained by the government for the ben¬ 
efit of travelers, who are charged a small fee 
per day when they occupy them. 

BUNION (bun'yun), an inflammation and 
enlargement of the membraneous sack situated 
over the metatarsal joint of the great toe. It is 
caused by pressure, hence may be attributed to 
a tight or badly fitting boot or shoe. The attack 
begins with a small spot and gradually enlarges, 
and may be overcome by rest and poulticing. It 
is advisable to wear a shoe that will protect the 
bunion against pressure. 







BUNKER HILL 


405 


BUNYAN 


BUNKER HILL, a small elevation in 
Charlestown, now connected with Boston, Mass., 
the site of the famous Battle of Bunker Hill. 
The battle occurred on June 17, 1775, between 
the British, commanded by Generals Clinton, 
Howe, Burgoyne, and Gage; and the American 
army, by Generals Ward and Putnam, Colonel 
Prescott, and Major Brooks. The British army 
occupied Boston with 10,000 men and intended 
to occupy Bunker Hill and fortify themselves 
on the neighboring heights. The American army 
consisted of 15,000 men stationed at Cambridge. 

Hearing of the intention of the British, the 
Americans hastened to fortify Breed’s Hill, 



VICINITY OF BOSTON. 

near Bunker Hill, and were attacked by the 
enemy from their ships and batteries in Charles¬ 
town harbor. They advanced upon the Ameri¬ 
cans from Morton’s Point, who withheld their 
fire until the British were close upon them, 
when they made a vigorous defense and repulsed 
the British with great loss. A second unsuc¬ 
cessful attack was made, and soon after fol¬ 
lowed the burning of Charlestown. The British 
led a third attack and were resisted by the 
Americans with stones and the butts of their 
rifles, on account of their ammunition being 
exhausted, but the latter finally withdrew from 
the scene of battle with small loss. The Ameri¬ 
cans lost 308 wounded, 30 prisoners, and 116 
killed, among them General Warren. The Brit¬ 
ish loss was 1,054. The Battle of Bunker Hill, 
although unfavorable to the Americans, was 
really a victory in that it taught the lesson that 
the patriots were fired with a great cause and 
that the British could be defeated. They were 
greatly encouraged in spirit and a general re¬ 
spect for their soldierly ability was inspired. 

The Bunker Hill monument is located in the 
center of Breed’s Hill. The corner stone was 
laid June 17, 1825, by General Lafayette in the 
presence of an enormous and enthusiastic 
crowd, among them many survivors of the bat¬ 
tle fought fifty years before, who had gathered 


from far and near. After singing "Old Hun¬ 
dred,” Daniel Webster delivered his famous 
address. The monument was completed June 17, 
1843, when Webster delivered another address 
before a large audience, among them President 
Tyler and a number of his cabinet members. 
This monument is of beautiful granite, 221 feet 
in height. The chamber at the top is reached 
by a spiral stairway. 

BUNKER HILL MONUMENT. See 
Boston; Bunker Hill. 

BUNSEN (boon'sen), Robert Wilhelm, 

famous chemist, born at Gottingen, Germany, 
March 31, 1811; died at Heidelberg, Aug. 16, 
1899. He studied at the Gottingen University 
and at Berlin, Paris, and Vienna. In 1836 he 
became professor at the Polytechnic Institute 
at Cassel; in 1838, at the University of Mar¬ 
burg; in 1851, at Breslau, and in 1852, at Hei¬ 
delberg. Lie is the inventor of the Bunsen 
burner and of the electric pile, and discovered 
the principles for producing large quantities of 
magnesia and magnesium light. Bunsen also 
discovered spectrum analysis. He wrote exten¬ 
sively on physics, geology, and chemistry. His 
discovery of spectrum analysis opened a field 
so new and vast that it may be regarded the 
most important scientific result of the last half 
century; upon it depends the separation and 
measurement of gases. The Bunsen burner 
consists of a tube used in burning gas, which is 
mixed with air before ignition, thus producing 
a smokeless flame of great heat. He published 
"The Reaction of Flames” and "Chemical Anal¬ 
ysis by Means of Spectral Observations.” 

BUNTING (bun'tmg), the name of several 
birds native to Asia and Europe. It resembles 
the finches, but differs from them mainly in 
having a bony knob on the palate, which is an 
enlargement of the dentary edges of the bill. 
The snow bunting is common to the colder 
regions, and the common or corn bunting is seen 
in England and continental Europe in the fields, 
where it gathers food. About twelve species 
have been described, and to these may be added 
a large number of birds very closely allied in 
habits and structure. They gather in flocks on 
the approach of winter and move toward the 
warmer regions, and in the spring go far north 
to breed. The cowbird, or cow blackbird, is a 
familiar bird of North America of this class. 
See Cowbird. 

BUNYAN (bun'yan), John, religious writer 
and minister, born at Elstow, near Bedford, 
England, in 1628; died at London, Aug. 31, 
1688. He was the son of a tinker and practiced 
that humble craft until about seventeen years 
old, when he entered the army and was pres¬ 
ent at. the siege of Leicester. His education 
was self-made; his library consisted of a Bible 
and a copy of Fox’s "Martyrs.” At the close 
of the Civil War he became interested in relig¬ 
ious subjects and began to preach to the poor 
people in Bedford and the adjacent villages. He 




BUOYS 


406 


BURDETT-COUTTS 


joined the Baptist congregation at Bedford and 
was chosen the pastor soon after, where he 
ministered with great diligence and success for 

five years, attracting 
large congregations 
by his natural skill 
and earnestness. The 
act against conven¬ 
ticles checked his la¬ 
bors and he was con¬ 
victed and sentenced 
to perpetual banish¬ 
ment. Acting in de¬ 
fiance of the law, he 
was imprisoned for 
twelve years. While 
in prison he support¬ 
ed his wife and chil¬ 
dren by making laces, 
and at the same time writing for the benefit of 
posterity. Release was offered him on the con¬ 
dition that he would quit the ministry, which he 
refused, and he was finally granted freedom by 
the act of James II., declaring liberty of con¬ 
science. He again engaged as a preacher at Bed¬ 
ford and at the same time ministered, to a con¬ 
gregation at Millane. His principal writings in¬ 
clude “The Holy War,” “Grace Abounding to 
the Chief of Sinners,” and “The Pilgrim’s Prog¬ 
ress.” The last mentioned is the most popular 
of his books, and has been translated into more 
languages than any publication except the Bible. 
It is a beautiful allegory, giving a vivid account 
of Christian as he passed through the Valley of 
Humiliation. A beautiful statue was erected to 
the memory of Bunyan at Bedford in 1874. 

BUOYS (bwoi), the floating bodies that are 
fastened or anchored at a point near the loca¬ 
tion of reefs, shoals, or other dangerous ob¬ 
jects in or near harbors as a safeguard in 
guiding ships. They are usually painted in 
bright colors, as red and white, so they may be 
easily seen. A class known as whistling buoys 
have an apparatus which is acted upon by the 
movement of the waves, causing compressed air 
to escape through a whistle. In recent years 
electric incandescent lights were introduced. 
Buoys of this class are connected by wires with 
the shore, and are securely anchored by means 
of wire-rope moorings. Formerly large steam¬ 
ers could sail into harbor only in daytime, but 
with the use of electric buoys they pass safely at 
night. The lights used are of 100-candle power, 
and are fastened to cedar buoys anchored with 
5,000-pound weights. Charts are made of the 
harbor, on which are shown the location and the 
special information to be conveyed by the buoys. 
These charts are placed in the hands of navi¬ 
gators for their instruction when entering or 
leaving the harbor. The Germans have invented 
and extensively use an electric life buoy. It is 
supplied with a storage battery that casts a 
light over a mile for six hours. It has proved 
of much value in the life-saving service. 


BURBAGE (bur'bij), Richard, actor, an 
associate of Shakespeare, born about 1567; died 
March 13, 1619. He appears to have been a 
member of a company of actors who visited 
continental Europe, and seems to have exercised 
an influence upon the development of the thea¬ 
ter in Denmark and Germany. With Shake¬ 
speare and Hemming, he took an interest in 
building the Globe Theater, and played in some 
of the leading roles in “Richard III.,” “Hamlet,” 
“Othello,” and “King Lear.” 

BURBANK (bur'bank), Luther, naturalist, 
born at Lancaster, Mass., March 7, 1849. He 
spent his boyhood on a farm, where he devoted 
much time to the study of plant life. In 1875 
he removed to Santa Rosa, Cal., where he estab¬ 
lished experimental farms for the purpose of 
originating new varieties of plants and improv¬ 
ing many of the fruits and vegetables. He origi¬ 
nated the Burbank potato; the Sugar, Stoneless, 
and Giant prunes; the Giant, Fragrance, and 
Shasta Daisy callas; the Burbank and Santa 
Rosa roses; and the America, October Purple, 
and Climax plums. Besides originating these 
and other new varieties, he improved many 
grasses, nuts, grains, flowers, and vegetables. 
He evolved a smooth and fruit-bearing cactus 
from the wild, thorn-covered variety. He im¬ 
proved the tobacco plant so it grows taller and 
yields larger leaves, and was especially success¬ 
ful in variegating the color, size, and durability 
of flowers. In carrying on this work he experi¬ 
mented extensively in cross fertilization. The 
forms originated and the plants materially im¬ 
proved by him are those selected from a vast 
number that have been studied and cross fer¬ 
tilized with much labor and care. 

BURBOT (bur'bot), a fresh-water fish of 
the cod family, the only representative of that 
class of fishes which does not enter salt waters. 
In appearance it resembles the ling, having an 
elongated form and a broad head. The skin is 
covered with imbedded scales and the mouth is 
large. It has two small barbels on the nose 
and a larger one on the chin. It inhabits the 
streams and lakes of North America, from 
Canada to Mexico, and is sometimes called eel- 
pout, coney fish, and fresh-water cod. Several 
species closely related are well known in the 
United States, where they grow to a \yeight of 
twelve pounds, but the species of Europe are 
somewhat smaller. 

BURDEKIN (bur'de-km), a river of Aus¬ 
tralia, in the northeastern part of Queensland. 
It rises in the Gilbert Range of the Australian 
Alps and flows southeast until it is joined by 
the Belyando River, when it turns abruptly and 
flows almost due north into Upstart Bay, an 
inlet from the Pacific Ocean. It is about 350 
miles long. 

BURDETT-C O U T T S (bur-det-koots'), 
Angela Georgiana, Baroness, British philan¬ 
thropist, born April 21, 1814; died Dec. 30, 1906. 
She inherited immense wealth from her grand- 




BURDETTE 


407 


BURGOS 


father, Thomas Coutts, and became deservedly 
popular for her great liberality and assistance 
rendered to churches, schools, and charities. 
She founded fifty scholarships, including the 
Burdett-Coutts scholarship at Oxford. The 
government granted her a peerage in 1871. The 
freedom of the city of London was conferred 
upon her in 1872, and the freedom of Edinburgh, 
in 1874. In 1881 she married William Lehman 
Ashmead-Bartlett, born in New Brunswick, 
N. J., in 1851, who assumed her name. He was 
elected to Parliament in 1885 as a Conservative 
member for Westminster. 

BURDETTE (bur-det'), Robert Jones, lec¬ 
turer and humorist, born in Greensboro, Penn., 
July 30, 1844. He was educated in the public 
schools of Peoria, Ill., enlisted as a private in 
1862, and served to the close of the war. In 
1869 he became connected with the Peoria 
Transcript, afterward with the Review, and 
later accepted the position of associate editor 
of the Burlington Hawkeye, at Burlington, 
Iowa. Plis humorous sketches made him a 
reputation. He entered the lecture field in 
1877, and was licensed as a preacher by the Bap¬ 
tist denomination. Among his publications are 
“Life of William Penn,” “Innach Garden,” 
“Chimes from a Jester’s Bells,” and the famous 
production “The Rise and Fall of the Mus¬ 
tache.” He died Nov. 19, 1914. 

BURDOCK (bur'dok), a coarse-looking 
weed with hooked flower heads that adhere to 
the wool of sheep, the hair of other animals, 
and to clothing. By these means the ripened 
seeds are widely distributed. It is regarded 
troublesome in Canada and the United States, 
but in some countries is cultivated for food. 
The roots and young shoots are the edible parts. 
It yields medicine useful for rheumatism and 
cutaneous diseases. 

BUREAU (bu'ro), in government, a depart¬ 
ment of public business requiring a force of 
clerks, who labor under the direction of a chief. 
The term is confined to inferior and subordi¬ 
nate departments of England and the United 
States, such as the pension bureau, but most 
governments on the continent of Europe apply 
the term to the higher departments, as the bu¬ 
reau of the minister of foreign affairs. In Rus¬ 
sia the administration is carried on through a 
series of officials, each of which is at the head 
of a bureau, and from this has arisen the term 
bureaucracy. 

BUREAU OF THE AMERICAN RE¬ 
PUBLICS, a bureau maintained in the United 
States with the view of collecting and distribut¬ 
ing commercial information concerning the 
republics of America. It was established under 
the recommendation of the Pan-American Con¬ 
ference held at Washington in 1889, of which 
James G. Blaine, then Secretary of State, was 
the president. It is controlled by the Depart¬ 
ment of State and the chairmanship of the 
executive committee is vested in the Secretary of 


State. The general director of the Bureau of 
the American Republics has charge of its busi¬ 
ness and must be a. citizen of the United States, 
but the executive committee is made up of one 
representative for each country that has mem¬ 
bership in the union. The bureau is supported 
by the several American republics in proportion 
to their population. 

The bureau continues to publish monthly bul¬ 
letins of general information relative to com¬ 
merce, resources, and political matters of gen¬ 
eral interest. A series of useful handbooks are 
issued as well as directories and bulletins treat¬ 
ing of the patent, copyright, land, mining, and 
tariff interests of the countries concerned. In 
1905 the members from the United States took 
position with those who favored a reduction of 
tariffs on some articles and reciprocity in trade, 
which, if successfully carried out, would no 
doubt increase the trade among the American 
republics. 

BURGESS (bur'jes), Frank Gelett, author, 
born in Boston, Mass., Jan. 30, 1866. He at¬ 
tended the Massachusetts Institute of Technol¬ 
ogy, where he graduated in 1887, and for three 
years worked as draughtsman on the Southern 
Pacific Railway. In 1894 he became instructor 
of drawing in the University of California, and 
subsequently established several periodicals. He 
removed to New York in 1897 and the following 
year went to London, but returned to San Fran¬ 
cisco in 1900. Many of his drawings are fan¬ 
tastic and his writings are delightfully whim¬ 
sical. His works include “The Nonsense Alma¬ 
nack,” “The Reign of Queen Isyl,” “The Purple 
Cow,” “A Gage of Youth,” “Goops and How to 
be Them,” and “Burgess Nonsense Book.” 

BURGESS, T. J. W., physician and educa¬ 
tor, born in Toronto, Can., March 11, 1849. He 
studied at the Upper Canada College and To¬ 
ronto University, and in 1870 became surgeon 
of the North American Boundary Commission, 
in which position he rendered efficient services 
and was thanked by the imperial government. 
In 1875 he became assistant physician of the 
London Asylum for the Insane and in the mean¬ 
time filled other responsible positions. He was 
made professor of mental diseases at McGill 
University, Toronto, in 1893, and was chosen 
president of the American Medico-Psychologi¬ 
cal Association in 1904. His publications are 
very numerous and include many works on 
botany and historical and psychological sub¬ 
jects. Among his books are “How to Study 
Botany,” “A Historical Sketch of' Canadian 
Institutions for the Insane,” “A Botanical Hol¬ 
iday in Nova Scotia,” “The Beneficent and 
Toxic Effects of the Various Species of Rhus,” 
“Art in the Sick Room,” and “The Insane in 
Canada.” 

BURGOS (boor'gos), a city of Spain, capital 
of a province of the same name, 130 miles north 
,of Madrid. It is on the Arlanzon River, near 
the Sierra de Oca, and has railroad and electric 


BURGOYNE 


408 


BURIAL 


railway facilities. The surrounding country 
produces cereals and fruit, and it is important 
as a market for wool, merchandise, and ma¬ 
chinery. Hat making and weaving are among 
the chief industries. It has a Gothic cathedral 
founded in 1221, and contains the tombs of Cid 
and Don Fernando, who resided at Burgos. It 
was the capital of the kingdom of Castile until 
1087, when Alfonso VI. removed the seat of 
government to Toledo. Population, 1905, 
31,425; in 1920, 31,489. 

BURGOYNE (bur-goin'), John, one of the 
chief commanders of the British in the Ameri¬ 
can Revolution, born in 1722; died in London, 
Aug. 4, 1792. He entered the army in 1759 as a 
subordinate, serving first at Belle Isle, and later 
took part in the war against Portugal and Spain. 
He became a member of Parliament in 1761. In 
1776 he came to America and took a prominent 
part in the Revolution. He served as a com¬ 
mander in the Battle of Bunker Hill, and wrote 
a description of it for the benefit of his friends 
in England. In 1777 he took charge of a large 
force to penetrate from Canada into the districts 
south, then in a state of revolution. He cap- 


changes in the ruling dynasties occurred which 
passed the title of their domain to various 
rulers. A portion of the region passed to Aus¬ 
tria by the marriage of Mary of Burgundy to 
Maximilian, and a large part was acquired by 
Louis XI. as a male fief of France. 

The first dynasty of Burgundy included twelve 
personages, who succeeded each other and 
ranked among the most powerful princes of 
their time; most of them were friendly with 
the kings of France. After the extinction of 
their line, the ruling influence passed to Philip 
the Bold, son of the French King John, and from 
him to his three successors: John the Fearless, 
Philip the Good, and Charles the Bold. These 
three sovereigns ranked among the most famous 
characters in the history of their time. During 
the reign of the last two mentioned, Burgundy 
included the Netherlands and several other 
countries. 

The region included within Burgundy is fer¬ 
tile and productive. It is now penetrated by 
many railroads and contains the cities of 
Chalon-sur-Saone, Dijon, and Macon. The de¬ 
partment of Cote-d’Or is noted for its large 



EGYPTIAN SCULPTURE, SHOWING FUNERAL PROCESSION. 


tured Ticonderoga, but was surrounded by the 
Americans under Gen. Gates at Saratoga and 
was compelled to surrender. Soon after he 
returned to England, where he was denied an 
audience by the king and became unpopular be¬ 
cause of his ill success at Saratoga. A change 
of administration occurring, he was appointed 
commander in Ireland, but he resigned the posi¬ 
tion after two years and engaged in literature. 
He wrote an account of his campaigns in Amer¬ 
ica, as a matter of defense, and published “The 
Maid of the Oaks” and “The Heiress.” The 
latter is still a popular play. 

BURGUNDY (bur'gun-dT), once an inde¬ 
pendent kingdom of Europe, but now included 
chiefly in the French provinces of Yonne, Cote- 
d’Or, Ain, and Saone-et-Loire. The ancient 
Burgundians were a Germanic tribe that settled 
on the banks of Vistula and Oder, and afterward 
spread to the Rhine and Neckar. In the year 
407 a. d. they penetrated into Roman Gaul. 
Their kingdom was divided about 451, after a 
defeat of their King Gundicar by Attila the 
Scourge. In 534 they were conquered by the 
Franks, but a portion of their country became 
independent in 832. They again became power¬ 
ful in 930, but in 1038 were annexed to the Ger¬ 
man Empire. Subsequently a number of 


output of Burgundy wines, which are celebrated 
for their rich flavor and delicate qualities. 

BURIAL (ber'ri-al), the disposal of the 
bodies of the dead. The disposition of the dead 
and the funeral rites differ greatly. They are 
influenced more or less by the state of civiliza¬ 
tion and the moral and religious sentiments of 
the people. A natural tenderness is felt for the 
bodies of those who were dear in life, from 
which fact the mode of burial has been greatly 
influenced, and the need of removing from 
sight the body after life has departed has 
caused the subject to be considered with con¬ 
cern and interest. The pagan Greeks and 
Romans had elaborate burial ceremonials, and 
from them came the practice of three-fold sprin¬ 
kling with earth, which is now practiced exten¬ 
sively when the casket is lowered in the grave 
or set in the tomb. The three principal meth¬ 
ods practiced by mankind are mummification, in¬ 
cineration, and interment. 

Many savage people expose the body of their 
dead to be devoured by animals and birds of 
prey, a custom still in vogue among the Bush¬ 
men and other natives of Australia, who expose 
their dead in the limbs of trees. In India many 
bodies are thrown into the Ganges River, which 
the Hindus consider sacred as a stream flowing 


























































BURIATES 


409 


BURLINGAME 


toward immortality. Mummification was the 
chief method in Egypt, where the bodies were 
embalmed and kept inviolate in expensive tombs, 
a custom that originated from the practice of 
burying in earthen jars, which was practiced to 
a great extent by the Babylonians. The Greeks 
and Romans patterned after the Egyptians to 
some extent in embalming the dead, but inhu¬ 
mation was a more general method, and later 
cremation came to be practiced. In some coun¬ 
tries, especially in Assyria and Babylonia, the 
dead were buried very generally by placing the 
bodies on the surface of the ground and cov¬ 
ering them with a mound, which was surrounded 
with stone and covered with decorations. 

Interment* in ancient times was more largely 
in tombs, and these were built on the property 
belonging to the family, but later burial grounds 
were set apart for the interment of persons 
belonging to a certain society or church, and 
subsequently community 01 municipal cemeteries 
were established. The popular plan at present is 
to inter the bodies in the ground to a depth of 
from four to seven feet, but in many places 
tombs are erected to receive the bodies, which 
are invariably placed in caskets made of wood 
or metal. Tombs are usually large enough for 
a number of persons or even a number of 
families, and where the ground is low and wet, 
as in New Orleans, this method of disposal is 
very popular. Many cemeteries are established 
and maintained by churches, but the tendency 
now is toward municipal ownership and con¬ 
trol. Cremation, though practiced very exten¬ 
sively among the Greeks and Romans, went 
out of use with the rise of Christianity, but it is 
now gaining in favor on the ground that it is a 
more sanitary method. See Cemetery; Crema¬ 
tion; Embalming. 

BURIATES (boo-re-hes'), a nomadic race 
of people native to southern Siberia. They are 
Tartars, a branch of the Kalmucks, and have 
been subject to Russia since 1664. They inhabit 
the region about Lake Baikal and support them¬ 
selves by farming and stock raising, but more 
recently they have taken up mechanic arts and 
some branches of trade. A number have been 
converted to the Greek Church, though the 
larger portion retain a preference for their 
worship of idols. Their dwellings consist 
largely of huts, or yurts, and these are protected 
from the colds of winter by coverings of leather 
and felt. These people number about 250,000. 

BURKE (burk), Edmund, philosopher and 
statesman, born in Dublin, Ireland, Jan. 1, 1729; 
died July 9, 1797. He entered the University 
of Dublin in 1744, graduated after four years 
of study, and secured a master’s degree in 1751. 
Later he studied in London and became devoted 
to literary work. His first production was pub¬ 
lished in 1756, entitled “The Philosophical In¬ 
quiry Into the Origin of Our Ideas on the Sub¬ 
lime and Beautiful,” which attracted much atten¬ 
tion and secured him the friendship of many 


noted men, among them Dr. Samuel Johnson. 
He became a member of Parliament in 1765, 
where he secured distinction from the first on 
account of his excellent speeches and wide 
knowledge of human government and litera 
ture. The Rockingham ministry became dis¬ 
solved in 1766, and he held no office in the min¬ 
istry of Lord North. He published two pam¬ 
phlets in 1769-70, entitled “Thoughts on the 
Cause of the Present Discontent” and “The 
Present State of the Nation.” He delivered a 
number of speeches that thrilled all England, 
in which he advocated a liberal policy of justice 
and conciliation toward the colonies, including 
“On Conciliation with America.” 

Burke showed wonderful eloquence and mas¬ 
tery of detail in a number of speeches delivered 
in connection with the impeachment of Hast¬ 
ings, in which he was the prime mover. A 
strong opponent to the French Revolution, he 
published his famous pamphlet, “Reflection on 
the Revolution of France,” in 1790, which was 
widely read, but it severed his friendship with 
many of the advocates of the Revolutionary 
party. He withdrew from Parliament in 1794. 
He is regarded one of the best orators of Eng¬ 
land, but his speeches were usually lengthy and 
failed to hold the attention. His writings are 
exquisite examples of beautiful rhetoric. 

BURLESON, Albert Sidney, statesman, 
born at San Marcos, Texas, June 7, 1863. He 
practiced law at Austin, where he was city attor¬ 
ney and district judge, and in 1891 was elected 
to Congress. Later he was reelected, serving 
continuously until 1913, when he entered Presi¬ 
dent Wilson’s Cabinet as Postmaster-General. 

BURLESQUE (bur-lesk'), a dramatic or 
literary composition tending to excite contempt 
or laughter by extravagant images, or by a 
contrast between the subject and the manner 
of treating it. In this form of composition, in¬ 
significant things are described in glowing terms, 
while elevated and important subjects of 
thought are treated in the most commonplace 
language. The writings of William Schwenck 
Gilbert (q. v.) contain good examples of bur¬ 
lesque in which fads and affectations play an im¬ 
portant part, and the highest dramatic excel¬ 
lence is attained in the works of Moliere. Chau¬ 
cer’s “Rime of Sir Thopas” is a burlesque on 
the tales of the Middle Ages, and Cervantes’ 
“Don Quixote” is a popular work intended to 
ridicule the romantic tales of chivalry. Vaude¬ 
ville is of French origin and corresponds to 
burlesque, but more recently it, like burlesque, 
has become a mixture of ballet and travesty. 

BURLINGAME (bur'ling-gam), Anson, 
statesman, born in New Berlin, New York, Nov. 
14, 1820; died at Saint Petersburg, Russia, Feb. 
23, 1870. His education was secured at the Uni¬ 
versity of Michigan and the Harvard Law 
School, and he practiced law in Boston. In 1852 
he was elected to the State Senate of Massa¬ 
chusetts. He was elected to Congress in 1854, 


BURLINGTON 


410 


BURMA 


where he became noted as an able speaker and 
an ardent opponent of slavery. President Lin¬ 
coln appointed him minister to Austria, but the 
government declined to receive him in that 
capacity because he had spoken in favor of 
Hungarian independence. However, he was 
made minister to China in 1861, and, when his 
term expired, he was appointed special envoy to 
the United States and the principal powers of 
Europe by Prince Kung to make treaties with 
different nations, a distinction never before con¬ 
ferred upon a foreigner. The Burlingame 
- Treaty was made between the United States and 
China in 1868, which was accepted by both na¬ 
tions, being based on the principles of interna¬ 
tional law. It conveyed to both nations certain 
privileges, among them the right to found 
schools and the freedom of religion. Burlingame 
visited Denmark, Sweden, England, Germany, 
Holland, and other European countries, and in 
1870 reached Saint Petersburg, Russia, to nego¬ 
tiate a Chinese treaty, where he died. 

BURLINGTON (bur'lmg-tun), a city in 
Iowa, county seat of Des Moines County, on the 
Mississippi River, 135 miles southeast of Des 
Moines, on the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy 
and other railroads, and has connection by 
steamers with ports on the Ohio, the Mississippi, 
and the Gulf. The chief buildings include the 
courthouse, the city hall, the opera house, the 
Federal building, and the central high school. 
It has a public library of 22,500 volumes, 
and is the seat of Burlington Institute Col¬ 
lege. The municipal improvements include 
systems of gas and electric lighting, central 
heating, sewerage, and street pavements of brick 
and asphalt. An extensive system of electric 
railways supplies urban and interurban com¬ 
munication. Near the city are rich coal de¬ 
posits. The manufactures include furniture, 
packed meat, machinery, implements, flour, 
cigars, ironware, and soap. It has a large trade 
in lumber, cereals, and merchandise. It was first 
settled in 1833 and was chartered as a city in 
1838. From 1837 until 1840 it was the capital of 
Iowa. Owing to its fine location and many 
parks and gardens it is called “Orchard City.” 
Population, 1905, 25,318; in 1920, 24,057. 

BURLINGTON, a city of New Jersey, in 
Burlington County, on the Delaware River, 
eighteen miles northeast of Philadelphia. It is 
on the Pennsylvania Railroad. It is sur¬ 
rounded by a fertile agricultural and fruit 
country, and has extensive manufactures of 
implements, ironware, flour carriages, and 
shoes. The chief buildings include Burling¬ 
ton College, Saint Mary’s Hall, Saint Mary’s 
Church (Episcopal), and a public library. The 
city has several fine schools and modern munici¬ 
pal facilities. It is the birthplace of James Fen- 
imore Cooper. Quakers settled it in 1677, and it 
was incorporated in 1733. Population, 1920, 9,049. 

BURLINGTON, county seat of Chittenden 
County, Vermont, on Lake Champlain, 35 miles 


northwest of Montpelier, on the Vermont Cen¬ 
tral and the Rutland railroads. It occupies a 
fine site on high ground overlooking the lake. 
In the center of the city is a large square, near 
which are the city hall, the county courthouse, 
the post office, the public library, and the custom¬ 
house. It has a large trade by steamboat navi¬ 
gation. The manufactories include cotton and 
woolen mills, marble and stone works, and flour¬ 
ing mills. The surrounding country is agricul¬ 
tural. Gas and electric lights, street railways, 
pavements, and waterworks are among the im¬ 
provements." It is the seat of the State College 
of Agriculture, the University of Vermont, the 
Vermont Episcopal Institute, and many fine pub¬ 
lic schools and churches. Burlington was char¬ 
tered in 1763, became a town in 1797, and was 
incorporated as a city in 1865. Population, 1900, 
18,640; in 1920, 22,779. 

BURMA (bur'ma), a country of Southeast¬ 
ern Asia, the largest province of British India. 
It lies between north latitude 10° and 28°, and 
east longitude 92° and 101°. The boundary on 
the north is formed by Tibet; on the east by 
China, French Indo-China, and Siam; south by 
the Bay of Bengal; and west by the Bay of 
Bengal, Bengal, Manipur, and Assam. From 
north to south it has a length of 1,250 miles, and 
its breadth in the southern part is only 30 miles, 
while in the central part it broadens to a width 
of 550 miles. The area is 168,550 square miles, 
exclusive of dependent states, which have an 
area of about 68,500 square miles. 

Description. Lower Burma, which extends 
south from about latitude 22°, is a narrow strip 
along the coast of the Sea of Bengal and has a 
level surface, while Upper Burma is diversi¬ 
fied by level lands near the gulf and elevated 
plateaus in the northern part. It is separated 
from Tibet by ranges of the Himalaya Moun¬ 
tains, which approximate altitudes of 15,000 feet 
above the sea. The ranges diminish in height 
toward the south, and at Mandalay, situated 
near the central part, the altitude is about 6,500 
feet. The chief ranges are the Patkoi Moun¬ 
tains in the north and the Garo Hills in the 
northwest. 

Burma lies chiefly in the basin of the Irra¬ 
waddy River, which rises in the Himalayas and 
flows south into the Bay of Bengal by an exten¬ 
sive delta. Near Mandalay it is joined by the 
Chindwin, its largest tributary. The delta is very 
extensive, covering an area of 18,000 square 
miles, and during the rainy season this section 
overflows. In the eastern part the drainage is 
chiefly by the Salwin and its tributaries. The 
Salwin flows south and discharges into the Bay 
of Bengal near Maulmain. 

The climate is various, ranging from the tor¬ 
rid in the southern part to the temperate in 
the higher altitudes of the north. In most 
sections the climate is tropical and the rainfall 
is very heavy. The coast ranges have a precipi¬ 
tation equal to 120 to 165 inches, and in some 


BURMA 


411 


BURMA 


regions of the northern part the rainfall is ir¬ 
regular, ranging from 30 to 150 inches. The 
temperature in the lowlands has a mean average 
of about 85°, and in the interior the summers 
vary from 80° to 95°, while the winters are 
about 30° lower. Europeans find the lowlands 
unhealthful and the monsoons unpleasant. 
These winds blow from the sea in the sum¬ 
mer, causing heavy precipitation, and in the 
winter they move from the north toward the 
sea, hence a dry season in winter and excessive 
moisture in summer. 

Flora and Fauna. Burma is rich in dense 
tropical forests, which include the valuable teak, 
ironwood, palm, betel, and bamboo. The cocoa- 
nut, palmyra, mango, and other varieties abound. 
Crotons, screw pines, balsams, oranges, pineap¬ 
ples, begonias, and many others are cultivated. 
Wild animals are abundant, both in the jungles 
and the mountains. They include the crocodile, 
tapir, goat, gibbon, buffalo, elephant, and many 
varieties of birds and monkeys. 

Minerals. Though rich in mineral wealth, 
Burma has not developed mining to any great 
extent. Ruby, amber, and sapphire are obtained 
in the sand of many streams, which is also a 
source of gold. Some mining is done for cop¬ 
per, iron, silver, lead, and antimony, but the 
output is not large. Coal and petroleum are 
abundant and considerable interest has been 
developed in quarrying white marble. This 
produce is obtained largely near Mandalay and 
is favored by the Buddhists in making sculptures 
and for decorating temples. 

Industries. Farming is the chief industry. 
The land is owned by the state and is leased to 
the farmer, who is required to pay a tax based 
on the extent and fertility of the land worked. 
Rice is the chief product and may be cultivated 
in about one-tenth of the country. Indeed, 
Burma takes first rank in the cultivation of this 
cereal. Other products embrace cotton, sugar 
cane, indigo, tea, rye, and vegetables. 

The elephant is used extensively as a beast 
of draft and burden, but more recently the horse 
and mule have come to occupy an important 
place in farming. Cattle are grown extensively 
for dairying purposes, but the flesh is not eaten 
by the natives, since their religion prohibits meat 
eating. 

Though quite important in the enterprises of 
manufacturing, no large establishments are main¬ 
tained. The weaving of silk and cotton is a 
growing enterprise and is practiced in all of the 
cities. Earthenware of various kinds, jewelry, 
clothing, agricultural implements, and furniture 
are among the leading manufactures. Trans¬ 
portation is facilitated by the Irrawaddy, the 
Salwin, and a number of other rivers, some of 
which have been improved by embankments and 
connected with centers of trade by canals. A 
railroad line extends from Rangoon to Man¬ 
dalay and other points of the interior and the 
northern section. Many highways haye been im¬ 


proved and the chief cities have been fortified 
in modern style. The exports exceed the im¬ 
ports, and foreign trade is largely with China, 
Great Britain, Germany, and the United States. 
Rice, cotton, hides, India rubber, and lumber are 
exported. The chief imports include textiles, 
raw silk, fish, and metal products. 

Inhabitants. The inhabitants consist chiefly 
of Burmese, who are related to the Chinese. 
They constitute an important branch of the 
Mongolian race, and probably descended from 
people who came from Tibet. In stature they 
are medium and heavy-set, and have black hair, 
brown skin, broad skull, and black eyes. The 
language is monosyllabic, much like the Chinese, 
and their characters in writing are more or less 
circular. The civilization is stationary and 
stereotyped, maintaining its characteristic fea¬ 
tures from century to century. A large amount 
of wealth is lavished on temples, which are of 
much greater concern to the average Burmans 
than highways and public utilities. The religion 
is Buddhism, and their monks, numbering about 
20,000, have a marked influence socially and 
politically. Rangoon, on the Rangoon River, 
and Mandalay, on, the Irrawaddy, are the chief 
commercial centers. Other cities of importance 
are Maulmain and Myitkyina. The total popu¬ 
lation, including that of the dependent states, 
is 10,650,000. 

Government. The government of Burma is 
under the viceroy of India, and is administered 
locally under a lieutenant governor, who is as¬ 
sisted by a legislative council at Rangoon. For 
the purpose of local government the country is 
divided into eight divisions, each of which is 
presided over by a commissioner, who is the 
chief executive and judicial officer. The divi¬ 
sions are subdivided into townships and villages, 
and these are presided over by Burman magis¬ 
trates. The educational work is conducted 
largely through monasteries, of which there are 
many in all parts of the country, but the gov¬ 
ernment is promoting training in public schools 
and institutions of higher learning. 

History. The ancient and modern history of 
Burma is not important as it affects the history 
and civilization of the East. It is thought that 
the Burmans came to the valley of the Irra¬ 
waddy more than 2,000 years ago. The region 
was long divided into two kingdoms, those of 
Pegu and Ava, which contended against each 
other for mastery many years. The former 
seems to have attained its zenith about 1580, 
when the Peguans became dominant over all 
Burma, and they held sway until 1752, when a 
temporary decline began through European in¬ 
fluence in the delta of the Irrawaddy. About 
that time the kingdom of Ava began to rise and 
overthrew the domain of Pegu. In 1755 the 
city of Rangoon was founded by Alompra, an 
energetic Ava chief, who made it the commer¬ 
cial center of Burma, which attained its greatest 
power as an independent nation in 1822. 


BURNAND 


412 


BURNS 


The British East India Company gained a 
strong foothold in the latter part of the 18th 
century, when it founded factories and opened 
an important trade in the interest of Great 
Britain. Difficulties in consequence of disputes 
about trading privileges and the frontier were 
numerous in the early part of the 19th cen¬ 
tury, and in 1824 the British invaded Burma with 
a large army. This resulted in Assam being 
relinquished by the Burmese, and a second war 
in 1852 resulted in the annexation of Pegu as 
British territory. The British again invaded 
Burma in 1885 on account of disputes in regard 
to commercial concessions, relating chiefly to the 
transportation of timber, and the following year 
the remainder of Burma was proclaimed a part 
of Great Britain. In 1896 a treaty was con¬ 
cluded between France and Great Britain, by 
which the Mekong was made the boundary be¬ 
tween Burma and Laos, a part of French Indo- 
China. 

BURNAND (bur'nand), Sir Francis Cow¬ 
ley, barrister and author, born in England, Nov. 
29, 1836; died April 21, 1917. He studied at Eton 
and Trinity College, Cambridge, and took up 
theology to become a clergyman, but decided to 
take up the study of law and was admitted to 
the bar in 1862. His literary efforts at first con¬ 
sisted of contributions to periodicals, but he 
soon became successful in writing several dra¬ 
matic pieces. In 1880 he bacame editor of 
Punch. His “Mokeanna” is a burlesque on 
sensational romance writing, and this was soon 
followed by “More Happy Thoughts,” which 
went through more than twenty editions. His 
burlesque entitled “Black-Eyed Susan” was 
dramatized and ran 800 nights at the Royal 
Theater. Other productions include “His 
Majesty,” “Quite at Home,” “New Light on 
Darkest Africa,” and “Cox and Box.” 

BURNE-JONES (burn-jonz), Sir Edward 
Coley, artist, born in Birmingham, England, 
Aug. 28, 1833; died in London, June 17, 1898. 
He graduated from Exeter and Oxford, and was 
assisted in his study of art by Dante Gabriel 
Rossetti. He was elected to the Royal Academy 
of Arts in 1885, aided in establishing the New 
Gallery of Art in 1887, and was made a baronet 
in 1895. Among his works most noted are “Days 
of the Creation,” “The Golden Stairs,” “The 
Brazen Tower,” “Aurora,” “Love Among the 
Ruins,” and “Legends of Briar Rose.” 

BURNETT (bur-net'), Frances Eliza 
Hodgson, writer, born in Manchester, England, 
Nov. 24, 1849. Her parents settled at Knoxville, 
Tenn. She began writing for periodicals at an 
early age, one of her early stories being published 
in Scribner’s Magazine in 1872. She married Dr. 
Luan M. Burnett in 1873, visited Europe, and on 
her return located in Washington, D. C. Her 
novels are extensively read; a number have been 
dramatized. Among her best productions are 
“Little Lord Fauntleroy,” “Haworth’s Louis¬ 
iana,” “Polly Pemberton,” “Lass o’ Lowries,” 


“Little Saint Elizabeth,” “A Lady of Quality," 
and “The Making of a Marchioness.” 

BURNHAM, Sherbourne Wesley, astrono¬ 
mer, born at Thetford, Vt., in 1838. tie studied 
at Thetford Academy, took up the work of a 
stenographer, and for many years was a short¬ 
hand reporter in Chicago. He gave much atten¬ 
tion to the study of astronomy while pursuing 
his stenographic work, and discovered a num¬ 
ber of double stars. In 1876 he became con¬ 
nected with the Chicago Observatory and later 
with the Lick Observatory. He attracted wide 
attention by his successful work in these insti¬ 
tutions and was made professor of practical 
astronomy in the University of Chicago. In 
1874 he was made a fellow in the Royal Astro¬ 
nomical Society of England. He catalogued 
1,274 new double stars, more than were observed 
by any other one astronomer, and published 
a general catalogue of these stars. 

BURNING GLASS, an instrument to con¬ 
centrate the rays of the sun. It consists of a 
double convexed lens, hence is thick in the cen¬ 
ter and thin at the edges, and brings the rays 
of solar heat to a focus at nearly the same point 
to which it brings the l ays of light. This instru¬ 
ment is used to set fire on various substances, 
such as paper and wood. Burning glasses were 
made by the ancients, and Aristophanes and 
several writers declare that Archimedes fired 
the Roman ships by means of burning mirrors. 
George Buffon (q. v), the French naturalist 
and philosopher, made a large reflector with 
which he set fire to wood at a distance of 
210 feet, proving the possibility of Archimedes 
having thus burned the Roman fleet. 

BURNLEY (burn'le), a city of England, in 
Lancashire, 24 miles north of Manchester. It 
is located on the Burn River and the Leeds and 
Liverpool Canal, and has transportation facili¬ 
ties by numerous railway and electric railroad 
lines. The chief manufactures include textiles, 
clothing, machinery, and ironware. Slate quar¬ 
ries and iron mines are worked in the vicinities. 
The municipality owns most of the public utili¬ 
ties, including the gas and waterworks, slaugh¬ 
terhouses, public markets, and the electric light¬ 
ing plant. It has public baths, a sanatorium, and 
several hospitals and technical schools. The 
trade is brisk, especially in cotton and worsted 
goods, machinery, and merchandise. Burnley is 
comparatively a modern city, and has regularly 
platted streets and many fine buildings of stone 
and cement. It was incorporated as a town in 
1861. Population, 1921, 106,337. 

BURNS, Robert, Scotland’s great lyric poet, 
born near Ayr, Jan. 25, 1759; died July 21, 1796. 
He was a son of poor peasants, who manifested 
remarkable eagerness for his intellectual im¬ 
provement. He was fond of reading and in¬ 
terested in writing poetry from early youth. 
Every effort was made to give him and his 
brothers and sisters a good education, but ow¬ 
ing to a want of means his instruction was nec- 


BURNS 


413 


BURR 


essarily restricted. His library consisted of a 
small collection of poems and the Bible. He 
assisted in the labors of the farm in connection 

with his brother Gil¬ 
bert, and devoted his 
spare moments to 
writing poetry and 
short sketches. In the 
meantime he learned 
French, the elements 
of Latin, and the pop¬ 
ular songs of Scot¬ 
land. in 1785 he 
formed a liaison 
marriage with Jean 
Armour, a person 
somewhat above his 
own position in life, 
and three years later he was legally married to 
her His literary work was more successful 
than his farming, which proved an unprofitable 
enterprise, and he resolved to leave his native 
land and emigrate to Jamaica. For the purpose 
of securing means to pay his passage, he pub¬ 
lished a number of his poems at Kilmarnock in 
1786. These were received with much favor and 
his genius became recognized in several localities. 

As he was about to leave Scotland he received 
words of encouragement from Dr. Blacklock, of 
Edinburgh, by whom he was advised to publish 
another edition of his poems. Accordingly, a 
revised edition was published and it met with 
a warm reception, netting him about $2,500. In¬ 
stead of going to Jamaica he remained in his 
native country and made a number of valuable 
acquaintances. In the meantime he loaned a 
part of his money to his brother and with him 
rented a farm near Dumfries. In 1788 he was 
given the position of an exciseman with a gov¬ 
ernment salary of $350, which he held in con¬ 
nection with the work of the farm. Here he 
continued his diligent labors with his pen, pro¬ 
ducing some of the most beautiful songs 
adapted to Scottish tunes, and many of his pop¬ 
ular and immortal poems. It was unfortunate 
for him that he was located in so small a vil¬ 
lage as Dumfries, surrounded by a class of idle 
people, as this circumstance was at least one 
of the reasons why he was led to dissipate. His 
constitution was broken by irregularities, pas¬ 
sions, and care. He began prematurely to de¬ 
cline, and became afflicted with rheumatic fever 
at the early age of thirty-seven. His intimate 
friends and admirers supported his wife and 
four children by subscription, and four volumes 
of his poems were published in 1800 by Dr. 
Currie, of Liverpool, for the purpose of furnish¬ 
ing additional support to them. 

Burns ranks among the best Scottish writers. 
His works are characterized by a vigorous im¬ 
agination and a vein of purity and honesty so 
deeply manifested in his heart. A monument 
was erected to his honor in 1833 at the town of 
Dumfries. His centenary was celebrated with 


unparalleled enthusiasm in 1859 in every village 
of Scotland and many of the cities of England, 
Australia, America, and India. Among his most 
noted productions are “The Cotter’s Saturday 
Night,” “Auld Lang Syne,” “On Turning a 
Mouse’s Nest with the Plough,” “Scots wha hae 
wi’ Wallace Bled,” “Tam O’Shanter,” “The 
Jolly Beggars,” “Highland Mary,” and “Ye 
Banks and Braes.” Thus he expressed his 
fondest wish: 

“That I for poor auld Scotland’s sake 

Some useful plan or book could make. 

Or sing a sang at least.” 

BURNSIDE (burn'sid), Ambrose Everett, 

soldier and statesman, born at Liberty, Ind., 
May 23, 1824; died in Bristol, R. I., Sept. 3, 1881. 
His first occupation was that of a tailor. Later 
he studied at West Point, where he graduated 
in 1847, and served with distinction in the 
Mexican War. At the close of the war he in¬ 
vented a breech-loading rifle and began manu¬ 
facturing it at Bristol in 1853. He enlisted at 
the beginning of the Civil War, commanding a 
brigade at Bull Run. In 1862 he captured the 
Confederates’ garrison at Roanoke Island with 
2,500 men, and later forced Forts Macon and 
Beaufort to surrender. He was transferred to 
the Army of the Potomac in 1862, and was pro¬ 
moted to be a major general, and engaged the 
Confederates in a battle at South Mountain 
Sept. 14, 1862. In the same year he took an 
active part in the Battle of Antietam, after 
which he succeeded Gen. McClellan in command, 
and was superseded by Maj. Gen. Hooker and 
transferred to the department of the Ohio. 
After 1863 he devoted himself to recruiting, and 
resumed command of an army of 20,000 men in 
1864 under Gen. Grant. He took part in the 
battles of the Wilderness, Cold Harbor, and 
Petersburg, and resigned from the army on 
April 15, 1865. In 1866 he was elected Governor 
of Rhode Island, became interested in railroad 
construction, and went to Europe to act as envoy 
in the peace negotiations between Germany and 
France. He returned to America and was 
elected to the United States Senate from Rhode 
Island in 1875, and was reelected in 1880. His 
public service was distinguished by devotion 
to public interest. 

BURNT OFFERING, the object offered as 

an atonement for sins and burnt on the altar as 
a sacrifice. The practice of burning objects of 
value was in vogue both among pagans and the 
Jews, the former offering their sacrifices to 
idols and the Jews to Jehovah. Both animals 
and vegetable products were burned. When the 
whole offering was consumed upon the altar, it 
was known as the whole burnt offering. The 
peace offerings consisted usually of parts of ani¬ 
mals, of which portions were given to the 
priests for their families. See Sacrifice. 

BURR (bur), Aaron, statesman, born at 
Newark, N. J., Feb. 6, 1756; died on Staten 
Island, N. Y., Feb. 13, 1836, He was the grand 



BURR 


414 


BURROUGHS 


son of Jonathan Edwards, the son of a noted 
clergyman, and was left an orphan at an early 
age. After graduating at Princeton College, he 
joined the Revolutionary army as a private near 
Boston. He accompanied Benedict Arnold to 
Quebec, was promoted to the rank of major, and 
attained a high reputation. Washington invited 
him to his headuarters in New York, but 
he preferred to become aid to Gen. Putnam, 
which caused a break in Washington’s friend¬ 
ship. Burr was made lieutenant colonel in 1777, 
distinguished himself at Monmouth in 1778, be¬ 
came a commander at West Point, and resigned 
in 1779 on account of impaired health. He 
studied law at Albany, and was admitted to the 
bar in 1782. He married Mrs. Augustine Pre- 
vost, a lady with British sympathies, and settled 
at Richmond Hill. In 1784 he became a member 
of the General Assembly in New York and five 
years later was made attorney general, which 
position he held two years. In 1791 he was 
elected to the United States Senate, serving six 
years, acting with the Republican-Democrat 
party, the name then given to the Anti-Federal- 
ists/- 

He was a candidate for President in 1800. 
Though the party received the largest support in 
the election, there was no choice, and he was 
elected Vice President, with Thomas Jefferson 
as President. Four years later he was a candi¬ 
date for Governor of New York, but failed to 
secure the support of the leading men of his 
party and was defeated. His defeat was the 
direct cause of a duel with Hamilton, in which 
the latter was killed. Burr fled to the home of 
his daughter, Theodosia, in South Carolina, but 
was apprehended and tried for murder and ac¬ 
quitted. All his political prospects being dis¬ 
sipated, he turned his attention to founding an 
empire in the southwest. In 1805 he met Har¬ 
man Blennerhassett and interested him in his 
schemes, surrounded himself with adventurers 
from East and West, and traveled through Ken¬ 
tucky and Tennessee to solicit recruits. His 
plans were discovered by Gen. James Wilkinson, 
a veteran of the Revolution, who reported them 
to the President. President Jefferson promptly 
issued a proclamation warning his followers to 
withdraw from the project. He was twice ar¬ 
rested, but finally acquitted. 

In 1808 he sailed to Europe with the intention 
of soliciting support to found an empire in 
Mexico, but was expelled from England, and 
then made fruitless efforts in the interest of his 
scheme in Sweden, Germany, and France. In 
this enterprise he failed and came to Boston in 
May, 1812, under the name of Arnot, in a pen¬ 
niless condition. Later he settled in New York 
and practiced law with good prospects, but in 
1813 his daughter, Theodosia, one of the most 
accomplished women of America, was lost at 
sea while traveling from Charleston to New 
York to visit her .father. This sad incident 
broke his spirits, but later, at the age of seventy- 


eight years, he married Mme. Jumel, the widow 
of a French merchant. He was a man of fas¬ 
cinating address and polished manner, to which 
his success was largely due. 

BURRARD INLET, a narrow inlet of Brit¬ 
ish Columbia, an arm of the Strait of Georgia, 
a short distance north of the mouth of the 
Fraser River. It is nine miles long and on its 
northern shore is the city of Vancouver. Its 
shores are covered with forests of firs, cedars, 
and pines, and it is noted for its fisheries. 

BURRILLVILLE (bur'ril-vil), a town of 
Rhode Island, in Providence County, 22 miles 
northwest of Providence. It is situated on the 
New York, New Haven and Hartford Railway, 
and near it is Wallum Lake, a popular summer 
resort. The manufactures include textiles and 
machinery. Population, 1920, 8,606. 

BURRITT (bur'rit), Elihu, known as the 
‘‘Learned Blacksmith,” born in New Britain, 
Conn., Dec. 8, 1810; died March 6, 1879^. He 
learned the trade of a blacksmith and settled 
at Worcester, Mass. He devoted his leisure to 
the study of languages, mathematics, and sci¬ 
ences. Later he became editor of the Christian 
Citizen, advocating temperance, peace, education, 
and the emancipation of the slaves. Later he 
traveled in America and Europe, lecturing and 
seeking converts to his doctrines. He was ap¬ 
pointed consul to Birmingham, England, in 1865. 
Among his best known works are “The Mission 
of Great Suffering,” “Works in the Black Coun¬ 
try,” “Chips from Many Blocks,” and “Hand¬ 
book of the Nations.” 

BURROUGHS (bur'roz), John, essayist, 
born at Roxbury, N. Y., April 3, 1837. He was 
the son of a farmer and received an academic 
education. At the 
age of fourteen he 
began to write es¬ 
says, and at nine¬ 
teen he became a 
contributor to The 
Atlantic Monthly. 

In the meantime he 
was engaged as a 
teacher and jour¬ 
nalist. Later he was 
appointed to a clerk¬ 
ship in the Treasury 
Department at 
Washington, D. C., 
which he held from 
1864 to 1873. On re¬ 
tiring, he settled on a farm at Esopus, N. Y.. 
and devoted his attention to literature and fruit 
culture. To be able to study nature by per¬ 
sonal observation, he built Slabsides, a rustic 
house of boards, near his garden and celery 
farm. Here he observed the mysteries of the 
birds, insects, and flowers, and became able to 
impart to his descriptive phrases a distinctly 
literary flavor. Among his published works are 
“Locusts and Wild Honey,” “Signs and Sea- 



JOHN BURROUGHS. 









BURROWS 


415 


BURY 


sons,” “Wake Robin,” “The Ways of Nature,” 
and “Birds and Poets.” He died Mar. 29, 1921. 

BURROWS, Julius Caesar, statesman, born 
in Northeast, Pa., Jan. 9, 1837. He studied law, 
was admitted to the bar, and served in the 
Union army in 1862-64. After the close of the 
var he was prosecuting attorney of Kalamazoo 
County, Michigan, and in 1873 was elected to 
Congress as a Republican. He served twelve 
years as a member of the House of Repre¬ 
sentatives, and in 1895 was elected to the Senate 
as the successor of Francis B. Stockbridge. He 
was reelected to the Senate in 1899 and in 
1905 by unanimous vote of the Legislature. 
During his service in the Lower House he was 
twice elected speaker pro tern. He died Nov. 
16, 1915. 

BURT, Mary Elizabeth, educator and 

author, born in Lake Geneva, Wis., in 1848; 
died Oct. 17, 1918. Became a teacher in the 
schools of Chicago, where she taught success¬ 
fully ten years, after which she was chosen 
as a teacher in the Cook County Normal School. 
She was a member of the Chicago Board of 
Education three years, and after 1893 gave her 
attention largely to editorial writing. Her work 
as editor of the “Scribner School Reading 
Series” is well known among teachers. She 
addressed many educational associations and 
organizations in America and Europe. Among 
her chief writings are “Seed Thoughts from 
Robert Browning,” “Stories from Plato and 
Other Classic Writers,” “Eugene Field Book,” 
“German Iliad,” “Cable Story Book,” “Howell’s 
Story Book,” “The World’s Literature,” “The 
Lanier Book,” and “Literary Landmarks.” 

BURTON (bur'tun), Sir George, jurist, 
born at Sandwich, England, in 1819; died Aug. 
22, 1901. He came to Canada at the age of 
seventeen years, where he was educated and 
studied law. In 1842 he was called to the bar, 
and through diligent work built up a success¬ 
ful practice. For 23 years he was member of 
the court of appeals and in 1897 became chief 
justice of Ontario. His efficient services as 
chairman of the commission which revised and 
codified the statutes of Ontario were recog¬ 
nized by the government, and in 1898 he was 
made a baronet. 

BURTON, John Hill, historian, born in 

Aberdeen, Scotland, Aug. 22, 1809; died Aug. 
10, 1881. He studied at Marischal College, 
Aberdeen, and was admitted to the bar, but gave 
attention chiefly to literary work. Many of his 
writings consist of contributions on law and 
history to prominent periodicals, and he con¬ 
tributed to a large number of works of refer¬ 
ence, including Chambers’s Encyclopaedia. 
Among his books are “History of Queen Anne's 
Reign,” “Life and Correspondence of David 
Hume,” and “History of Scotland from Ari- 
cola’s Invasion to the Revolution of 1688.” 

BURTON, Sir Richard Francis, traveler, 


born in Hertfordshire, England, March 19, 1821; 
died at Trieste, Austria, Oct. 20, 1890. He was 
educated in his native country and France, en¬ 
tered the Indian service in 1842, and explored 
Arabia in the disguise of an Afghan pilgrim, 
having previously learned to speak Arabic like 
a native. He was master of thirty-six languages 
and dialects. He served in the Crimean War, 
was consul at Fernando Po; at Santos, Brazil; 
at Damascus; and at Trieste, where he died. 
Plis many works include “The Nile Basin,” 
“First Steps in East Africa,” “Wanderings in 
West Africa,” and a translation of the “Thou¬ 
sand and One Nights.” He was accompanied 
by his wife, Isabel Burton, who died March 23, 
1896. She was also a writer, and among other 
books published “The Inner Life of Syria” and 
“Arabia, Egypt and India.” 

BURTON, Robert, clergyman, born at Lind- 
ley, England, Feb, 8, 1577; died Jan. 25, 1640. 
He studied at Brazenose College, Oxford, and 
became vicar in that city. His “Anatomy of 
Melancholy” has gone through many editions. 
It is a medley of reflections and quotations from 
the pen of a genius and scholar. 

BURTON-ON-TRENT, a town of Staf¬ 
fordshire, England, on the Trent River, twenty 
miles east of Stafford. It is surrounded by a 
level country, producing cereals, fruits and 
live stock. The river is crossed by a 
stone bridge with twenty-nine arches, and it 
has transportation facilities by several railroads 
and the Grand Trunk Canal. Among the pub¬ 
lic buildings are a public library, a college, and 
many fine churches and hospitals. The manu¬ 
factures include ale, clothing, cotton goods, and 
machinery. The breweries are among the 
largest in the world. Burton was incorporated 
in 1878. Population, 1921, 48,275. 

BURWASH, Rev. N., educator, born in 
Argenteuil, Quebec, July 25, 1839. He was edu¬ 
cated at Victoria College, Coburg, and Yale 
University, and received his theological instruc¬ 
tion at the Garrett Institute. In 1860 he entered 
the ministry of the Methodist Church, and six 
years later was appointed professor in Victoria 
College, where he became dean of the faculty 
of theology in 1873. He was made president and 
chancellor of Victoria University in 1887, and 
held important positions in the Methodist con¬ 
ference of Canada. As a member of the coun¬ 
cil of education for the province of Ontario he 
exercised a wide influence. His publications in¬ 
clude “Wesley’s Doctrinal Standards,” “Inductive 
Studies in Theology,” “Plandbook on the Epistle 
to the Romans,” “Manual of Christian Theol¬ 
ogy,” and “Life and Times of Egerton Ryer- 
son.” 

BURY (ber'i), a town in Lancashire, Eng¬ 
land, eight miles north of Manchester. It is the 
seat of immense manufactures of woolen goods, 
fabrics, machinery, ironware, and dyestuffs. A 
fine stone statue of Sir Robert Peel, who was 
born near here, adorns the public park. It has 


BUSH BUCK 


416 


BUTLER 


many fine churches and school buildings, several 
hospitals, and good municipal improvements. 
Freestone quarries and coal mines are worked 
in the vicinity. It was incorporated in 1876. 
Population, 1921, 58,649. 

BUSH BUCK, or Boshbok, an antelope of 
South Africa, so named from its habit of fre¬ 
quenting the thick underbrush. It is easily 
caught in the open country. The body is from 
four to five feet long and about three feet high, 
and the horns are triangular. It is esteemed for 
its venison. A similar animal known as white- 
backed bush buck is native to Sierra Leone. 

BUSHEL (bush'el), a measure of capacity, 
containing eight gallons or four pecks, used in 
measuring dry quantities. The bushel contains 
2,150.42 cubic inches, and the standard cylinder 
used is eight inches deep and I 8 V 2 inches in 
diameter, inside measurement. This particular 
bushel is used in the United States, while the 
imperial bushel of Great Britain has a capacity 
of 2,211.192 cubic inches, equal to eighty pounds 
of distilled water. 

BUSHMEN, or Bosjesmans, a native race 
of South Africa, who dwell in the region of 
the Orange River. They are low in the scale 
of mankind and have made little progress in 
the arts of civilization. Their habitations are 
caves and clefts in the mountains, or holes in 
the ground covered with roofs of reeds. They 
support themselves chiefly by hunting and trap¬ 
ping and by gathering berries, roots, insects and 
reptiles, which they eat about half cooked. The 
dog is their favorite domestic animal. They 
have numerous legends and do a rude form of 
painting, but their language is very simple. 

BUSHRANGERS (bush'ran-jerz), a gang of 
escaped convicts who frequented the forests of 
New South Wales in 1810-80. They robbed 
banks, plundered villages, and laid tribute on the 
settlers. Subsequently they infested Van Die- 
man’s Land and frequented the mountainous 
districts of eastern Victoria. They were exter¬ 
minated under martial law proclaimed by the 
governor in 1815, but the last of their gang was 
not executed until 1880, when three were shot 
at Melbourne. 

BUSINESS COLLEGE, an institution in 
which students of both sexes are trained for 
commercial employment. These schools have 
been promoted for many years, or departments 
doing similar work have been maintained in 
public schools or normal colleges, but since the 
middle of the last century they have multiplied 
greatly. This is due to the fact that stenog¬ 
raphy, typewriting, and telegraphy have de¬ 
manded more attention, and through these 
branches of study all lines of office work have 
been modified to a great extent. Business col¬ 
leges do not only teach the three branches men¬ 
tioned, but in addition provide courses in book¬ 
keeping, commercial arithmetic, commercial law, 
commercial geography, and one or more modern 
languages, especially German, French, or Span¬ 


ish. All the larger cities of the United States 
and Canada have one or more business colleges, 
and in these countries commercial departments 
are maintained in a large number of high 
schools. Writers of text-books have supplied 
outlines and texts suitable for class work in 
all the branches taught, and these are quite as 
numerous as those offered for use in public 
schools and colleges. 

BUST, in sculpture, the representation of the 
chest and the upper part of the body. The ear¬ 
liest bust known is that of Scipio Africanus the 
Elder. Busts were very common in the literary 
period of Greece and quite extensive in Rome. 
By means of them we have good representations 
of the faces of Plato, Socrates, Demosthenes, 
and many other Greek characters; and of Caesar, 
Cicero, Cato, and other eminent Romans. How¬ 
ever, they are less common among the latter. 
King Louis I., of Bavaria, made the most cele¬ 
brated collection that exists, now at the Wal- 
halla, about seven miles east of Regensburg 
(Ratisbon), Germany. Among the busts are 101 
-representations of eminent Germans. 

BUSTARD (bus'terd), a bird of the Eastern 
Hemisphere, belonging to the order of runners. 
The great bustard was once common to the 
British Isles, and is still found in the south¬ 
eastern part of Europe and in Tartary. It 
measures six to seven feet from wing to wing 



GREAT BUSTARD. 


and weighs thirty pounds. The little bustard is 
common to Europe. Several species are found 
in Africa and one is native to Australia^ but 
none is found in America. The bustard family 
is esteemed for food, but attempts to domesti¬ 
cate these birds have failed. 

BUTCHER BIRD. See Shrike. 

BUTLER, a borough in Pennsylvania, 
county seat of Butler County, about twenty- 
three miles north of Pittsburg, on the Bessemer 
and Lake Erie, the Pennsylvania, and other rail¬ 
roads. It has a growing trade in minerals and 




















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